Osorkon I

Osorkon I
Osorkon I
	TheOsorkon Bust,inscribed with the pharaoh'spraenomen,discovered atByblos;the statue itself is probably from the 19th Dynasty
Pharaoh
Reign	922–887 BC
Predecessor	Shoshenq I
Successor	Shoshenq II
Horus name
Horus name
	Kanakht Merira; kȝnḫt mr-r՚; Strong bull, beloved ofRa
Prenomen (Praenomen)
Nomen
	Userken Meriamun; wsr.kn-mri-jmn; Osorkon, beloved ofAmun
	;
Consort	Maatkare B,Tashedkhonsu,Shepensopdet A
Children	Shoshenq C,Shoshenq II?,Iuwelot,Smendes III,Takelot I
Father	Shoshenq I
Mother	Karomama A
Died	887 BC
Dynasty	22nd Dynasty

Sekhemkheperre Osorkon Iwas anancient Egyptianpharaoh of the22nd Dynasty.Osorkon's territory included much of theLevant.

TheOsorkon Bustfound atByblosis one of the fiveByblian royal inscriptions.

Biography[edit]

According to thestela of Pasenhor,Osorkon I was the son ofShoshenq Iand his chief consortKaromama A,^[1]and the second king of ancient Egypt's 22nd Dynasty who ruled around 922 BC – 887 BC. He succeeded his father Shoshenq I, who probably died within a year of his successful 923 BC campaign against the Philistines and the kingdom ofIsrael.Osorkon I's reign is known for many temple building projects and was a long and prosperous period of Egypt's history. His highest known date is a "Year 33" date found on the bandage of Nakhtefmut's mummy, which held amenat-tab necklace inscribed with Osorkon I'snomenandprenomen:Osorkon Sekhemkheperre.^[2]This date can only belong to Osorkon I since no other early Dynasty 22 king ruled for close to 30 years untilOsorkon 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 amenat-tabnaming Osorkon I.^[3]Secondly, no other king who ruled around Osorkon I's reign had a 23rd regnal year includingShoshenq Iwho died just before the beginning of his 22nd.

WhileManethogives Osorkon I a reign of 15 years in hisÆgyptiaca,this is most likely an error for 35 years based on the evidence of the second Heb Sed bandage, asKenneth Kitchennotes. Osorkon I's throne name,Sekhemkheperre,means "Powerful are the Manifestations of Re".^[4]

Succession[edit]

Although Osorkon I is thought to have been directly succeeded by his sonTakelot I,it is possible that another ruler, HeqakheperreShoshenq II,intervened briefly between these two kings because Takelot I was a son of Osorkon I through Queen Tashedkhons, a secondary wife of this king. In contrast, Osorkon I's senior wife was Queen Maatkare B, who may have been Shoshenq II's mother. However, Shoshenq II could also have been another son ofShoshenq Isince the latter was the only other king to be mentioned in objects from Shoshenq II's intact royal tomb atTanisaside from Shoshenq II himself. These objects are inscribed with either Shoshenq I's praenomenHedjkheperre Shoshenq(though this is not certain as it requires reading the objects as a massive hieroglyphic text), orShoshenq, Great Chief of theMeshwesh,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 scholarKenneth A. Kitchenviews Shoshenq II to be the high priest of Amun at ThebesShoshenq C,^[5]and a short-lived coregent of Osorkon I who predeceased his father, the German EgyptologistJürgen von Beckerathin his 1997 bookChronologie des Pharaonischen Ägyptenmaintains that Shoshenq II was rather an independent king of Tanis who ruled the 22nd Dynasty in his own right for about two years.^[6]Von Beckerath's hypothesis is supported by Shoshenq II's employment of a completeroyal titularyalong 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 anyushabtis,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.

Manetho's Epitome states that "3 Kings for 25 years" separate Osorkon I from a Takelot (Takelothis).^[7]This could be an error on Manetho's part or an allusion to Shoshenq II's reign. It may also be a reference to the recently discovered early Dynasty 22 kingTutkheperre,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 IandOsorkon IIrespectively, later encountered difficulties controlling Thebes andUpper Egyptwithin their own reigns since they had to deal with a rival king:Harsiese A.Osorkon I's tomb has never been found.

Gallery[edit]

King Osorkon I, ca. 924–889 BCBrooklyn Museum

References[edit]

^Kenneth Kitchen,The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100–650 BC),1996, Aris & Phillips Limited, Warminster,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. 49online 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[edit]

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[edit]

Osorkon Dynastyat ancientworlds.net

[1] Kenneth Kitchen,The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100–650 BC),1996, Aris & Phillips Limited, Warminster,ISBN 0-85668-298-5,table 19.

[2] 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. 49online PDF

[3] Altenmüller, 2000

[4] Clayton, p. 185

[5] Kitchen, 1996, §269

[6] Beckerath, Chronologie, pp. 94–98

[7] Beckerath, Chronologie, p. 95

[8] Eva Lange, GM 203, pp. 70

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