View source for Harsiese B

{{cleanup-date|August 2005}}
The first Harsiese, King Hedjkheperre Setepenamun [[Harsiese A]], is generally assumed to be a High Priest of Amun(HPA) and the son of the High Priest Shoshenq C before he became a king at [[Thebes (Egypt)|Thebes]]. He is thought to have held Upper Egypt in the first decade of Osorkon II's reign and probably even earlier under [[Takelot I]]. While he was most likely [[Shoshenq C]]'s son and, therefore, the grandson of [[Osorkon I]],(a Year 13 [[stela]] from his reign was recently discovered in 2005), more recent studies by the [[Egyptologist]] Karl Jansen-Winkeln have shown that all the monuments of the first (King) Harsiese demonstrate that he was never a High Priest of Amun in his own right. While he was certain a king at Thebes, he is a different person from the Harsiese who is attested as a High Priest of Amun. Secondly, Jansen-Winkeln also shows that Harsiese A's son, [...du], was only an ordinary Priest of Amun based on the inscriptions of his funerary lid at Koptos.


It is Harsiese B, who is attested as a High Priest of Amun late under Osorkon II on Statue CGC 42225. This statue was dedicated by the Letter Writer to [[Pharaoh]] Hor IX, who is mentioned on the walls of Temple J at [[Karnak]], which was built in the final years of Osorkon II's reign by the then serving High Priest of Amun, Takelot F. Hor IX later served under Pedubast I and Usermaatre Meryamun [[Shoshenq VI]], who were direct contemporaries of Shoshenq III of the 22nd Dynasty. Shoshenq III once even dispatched his second son, Pashedbast B, to Thebes where the latter "added a vestibule door to Pylon X at Karnak, dating it to the reign of Pedubast."(see D. Aston, JEA 75(1989), p.150) Hor IX served beyond the 25 Year reign of Pedubast I and lived into Shoshenq VI's reign under whom his funerary cones were inscribed(see Aston, above, p.152). Consequently, the High Priest Harsiese can only be Harsiese B rather than Harsiese A since he was a close contemporary of Hor IX.  Harsiese B likely assumed the office of High Priest of Amun at Thebes when the serving High Priest, Takelot F, proclaimed himself as king [[Takelot II]] in the final 3 Years of Osorkon II's reign. The High Priest Harsiese B is also attested in office in Year 6 of Shoshenq III in Nile Quay Text No.6 and is last documented in office during Year 18 and 19 of Pedubast I as Nile Quay Text No.27 shows. During the prolonged civil war which erupted between the forces of Osorkon B and Pedubast I for control of Thebes, Harsiese B sided with Pedubast's faction since he became the latter's High Priest at Thebes as the Karnak Quay Texts demonstrate. He died before Year 23 of Pedubast I when this King's new High Priest is revealed to be a Takelot(see [[Nile]] Quay Text No.29) 

Harsiese B therefore served as High Priest of Amun for almost 3 decades under [[Osorkon II]] (final 3 Years), Shoshenq III (first 7-8 Years) and Pedubast I (at least 18-19 Years), and must have been Crown Prince Osorkon B's chief rival for this office at Thebes since he was affiliated with Osorkon's rival. Harsiese B must have been a fairly young man perhaps in his early 30s when he first assumed the Office of High Priest judging by his long career.


'''REFERENCES:'''
*Karl Jansen-Winkeln, JEA 81(1995), pp.129-49
*David Aston, JEA 75(1989), pp.139-153