Osorkon I
| Osorkon I | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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praenomen, discovered at Byblos; the statue itself is probably from the 19th Dynasty | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pharaoh | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | 922–887 BC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Shoshenq I | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Shoshenq II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Consort | 22nd Dynasty | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sekhemkheperre Osorkon I was an
22nd Dynasty. Osorkon's territory included much of the Levant
.
The Osorkon Bust found at Byblos is one of the five Byblian royal inscriptions.
Biography
According to the
nomen and prenomen: Osorkon Sekhemkheperre.[2] This date can only belong to Osorkon I since no other early Dynasty 22 king ruled for close to 30 years until Osorkon II. Other mummy linens, which belong to his reign, include three separate bandages dating to his regnal years 11, 12, and 23 on the mummy of Khonsmaakheru in Berlin. The bandages are anonymously dated but definitely belong to his reign because Khonsmaakheru wore leather bands that contained a menat-tab naming Osorkon I.[3] Secondly, no other king who ruled around Osorkon I's reign had a 23rd regnal year including Shoshenq I
who died just before the beginning of his 22nd.
While Manetho gives Osorkon I a reign of 15 years in his Ægyptiaca, this is most likely an error for 35 years based on the evidence of the second Heb Sed bandage, as Kenneth Kitchen notes. Osorkon I's throne name, Sekhemkheperre, means "Powerful are the Manifestations of Re".[4]
Succession
Although Osorkon I is thought to have been directly succeeded by his son
Tanis aside from Shoshenq II himself. These objects are inscribed with either Shoshenq I's praenomen Hedjkheperre Shoshenq (though this is not certain as it requires reading the objects as a massive hieroglyphic text), or Shoshenq, Great Chief of the Meshwesh
, which was Shoshenq I's title before he became king. Since Derry's forensic examination of his mummy reveals him to be a man in his fifties upon his death, Shoshenq II could have lived beyond Osorkon's 35-year reign and Takelot I's 13-year reign to assume the throne for a few years. An argument against this hypothesis is that most kings of the period were commonly named after their grandfathers, and not their fathers.
While the British scholar
royal titulary along with a distinct prenomen Heqakheperre and his intact tomb at Tanis was filled with numerous treasures including jeweled pectorals and bracelets, an impressive falcon-headed silver coffin and a gold face mask—items which indicate a genuine king of the 22nd Dynasty. More significantly, however, no mention of Osorkon I's name was preserved on any ushabtis
, jars, jewelry or other objects within Shoshenq II's tomb. This situation would be improbable if he was indeed Osorkon I's son, and was buried by his father, as Kitchen's chronology suggests. These facts, taken together, imply that Sheshonq II ruled on his own accord at Tanis and was not a mere coregent.
Tutkheperre, whose existence is now corroborated by an architectural block from the Great Temple of Bubastis, where Osorkon I and Osorkon II are well attested monumentally.[8]
Osorkon I's reign in Egypt was peaceful and uneventful; however, both his son and grandson, Takelot I and Osorkon II respectively, later encountered difficulties controlling Thebes and Upper Egypt within their own reigns since they had to deal with a rival king: Harsiese A. Osorkon I's tomb has never been found.
See also
- Pi-Sekhemkheperre – a now-lost stronghold in Middle Egypt, founded by Osorkon I
Gallery
-
King Osorkon I, ca. 924–889 BC Brooklyn Museum
References
- ISBN 0-85668-298-5, table 19.
- ^ G.P.F. Broekman, The Egyptian Chronology from the Start of the Twenty-Second until the End of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty: Facts, Suppositions and Arguments, Journal of Egyptian History 4 (2011) Issue 1, p. 49 online PDF
- ^ Altenmüller, 2000
- ^ Clayton, p. 185
- ^ Kitchen, 1996, §269
- ^ Beckerath, Chronologie, pp. 94–98
- ^ Beckerath, Chronologie, p. 95
- ^ Eva Lange, GM 203, pp. 70
Bibliography
- Mostafa El-Alfi, "A Donation Stela from the time of Osorkon I", Discussions in Egyptology 24 (1992), 13-19
- Hartwig Altenmüller, "Lederbänder und Lederanhänger von der Mumie des Chonsu-maacheru" and "Die Mumienbinden des Chonsu-maacheru " in Alt-Ägypten 30(2000), pp. 73–76, 88–89, 102–114. [1]
- Jürgen von Beckerath, Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten or 'Chronology of the Egyptian Pharaohs,'(Mainz: 1997), Philip Zon Zabern
- Peter Clayton, Chronology of the Pharaohs, Thames & Hudson Ltd, 1994
- Kenneth Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100–650 BC) 3rd ed, (Warminster: 1996), Aris & Phillips Limited
- Helen K. Jaquet-Gordon, The illusory year 36 of osorkon I, JEA 53 (1967), 63–68
- Eva Lange, "Ein Neuer König Schoschenk in Bubastis", GM 203 (2004), pp. 65–71
- Eva Lange, "Legitimation und Herrschaft in der Libyerzeit", Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 135 (2008), 131-141
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Osorkon I.
- Osorkon Dynasty at ancientworlds.net