Osorkon I
Osorkon I was the second king of Egypt's 22nd Dynasty and ruled around 922 BC-887 BC. He succeeded Shoshenq I, his father, who died within a few years of his successful campaign against both Israel and Judah. Osorkon I's reign was known for many temple building and was a relatively long and prosperous period of Egypt's History. His Highest known date is a Year 33 Second Heb Sed inscription found on the bandage of Nakhtefmut's Mummy which held a bracellet inscribed with Osorkon I's cartouche: Sekhemkheperre. This date can only belong to Osorkon I since no other early Dynasty 22 king ruled for close to 30 years until much later on under Osorkon II. While Manetho gives him 15 Years in his Epitome, this is most likely an error for 35 Years based on the evidence of the bandage, as Kenneth Kitchen has argued.
Although Osorkon I is thought to have been directly succeeded by his son Takelot I, it is possible that another ruler, Heqakheperre Shoshenq II, intervened briefly between these two Pharaohs because Takelot I was a lesser son of Osorkon through a secondary wife--Queen Tashedkhons. In contrast, Osorkon I's senior wife was Queen Maatkare, who may have been Shoshenq II's mother. However, an examination of Shoshenq II's mummy reveals him to be in a man in his 50's on his death which suggests that he could equally have been another son of Shoshenq I. This situation is possible because Shoshenq II's monuments from his intact royal tomb at Tanis mention only Hedjkheperre Shoshenq I or Shoshenq, Chief of the Ma--which was Shoshenq I's title before he became king.
While K.A. Kitchen, in his invaluable Third Intermediate Period in Egypt books, views Shoshenq II as the High Priest of Amun at Thebes Shoshenq C, and a short-lived coregent of Osorkon I who predeceased his father, the equally well respected German Egyptologist J. Von Beckerath, in his 1997 book Chronology of the Egyptian Pharaohs, argues that he was more far more likely to be an independent king of Tanis who ruled the 22nd Dynasty in his own right for approximately 2 years (see page 94-98 for Beckerath's treatment here of the 22nd Dynasty). This hypothesis is supported by the fact that Shoshenq II employed a complete royal titulary (with his own distinct prenomen) and his intact tomb at Tanis was filled with numerous treasures including jewelled pectorals and bracellets, an impressive falconheaded silver coffin and a gold face mask. More significantly, no trace of Osorkon I's name was preserved on any ushabtis, jars or jewellry within Shoshenq II's tomb which is a good indication that he was not a son of this king. These treasures and the king's distinct prenomen, Heqakheperre, imply that he did rule at Tanis and was not a mere coregent although no other monuments from his reign are known due to its relative brevity.
Manetho's Epitome states that Osorkon I was succeeded by 3 kings before Takelot I assumed the throne.(see p.95 of Beckerath's book) This may be an indirect allusion to the memory of Shoshenq II's intervening reign and suggests that Takelot I did not immediately succeed his father. It may also be an reference to the recently discovered early Dynasty 22 king Tutkheperre Sheshonq, whose existence has been established beyond doubt by E.R. Lange, in an ostraca from Abydos and on an architectural fragment from the Great Temple of Bubastis.
Osorkon I's reign in Egypt was generally peaceful and uneventful; however, both his son and grandson, Takelot I and Osorkon II, later encountered difficulties controlling Thebes and Upper Egypt in their own reigns.
See also
External links
- Osorkon Dynasty at ancientworlds.net
- Eva Lange, "Ein Neuer Konig Schoschenk in Bubastis," GM 203(2004), pp.65-71
- J. Von Beckerath, Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten(Chronology of the Egyptian Pharaohs), (Mainz: 1997)