SET OF EGYPTIAN PHARAOS

SET OF EGYPTIAN PHARAOS

In Dynasty XXI, we will see Egypt's long slide continue into two simultaneous dynasties-one in Thebes and one in the Delta. The descendants of Heri-Hor rule in Thebes, while in the Delta, the "official kings" rule. Egyptian history has become a tale of two cities. But there is more in them of peaceful coexistence than a state of war.

Priest kings ruled from Thebes (1080-945 BC). Heri-Hor (1080-1074 BC) died before Ramses XI, but he set the stage for other priest kings.
Piankh (1074-1070 BC) was both king and high priest of Amun. He died around the same time as Ramses XI. Pinedjem I (1070-1032 BC) married the daughter of Ramses XI (Henetowey I), so these are not warring factions. He inspected the Valley of the Kings and restored damaged mummies. This was a sign that Egypt was weak and couldn't protect the royal necropolis. Egyptians dated years according to who was king -a "pharaoh centric" calendar. Pinedjem dated his reign as during the rule of Smendes I, the real king, in the Delta-another sign of peaceful coexistence. When Pinedjem's ushabtis began appearing on the antiquities market in the 1870s, the search for a royal tomb began in earnest. The ushabtis still occasionally appear on the market. Masaherta (1054-1046 BC) was Pinedjem's son and High Priest of Amun but wasn't very important. Menkheperre (1045-992 BC) was another son of Pinedjem and also a High Priest of Amun. The pattern had been set. Smendes II (992-990 BC) was a son of Menkheperre. G. Pinedjem II (990-969 BC) was another son of Menkheperre.
He carried out an inspection of the royal tombs and found that virtually all of them had been robbed. He brought the royal bodies together for safety away from the Valley of the Kings. His burial was found intact in the same royal cache, probably his original burial place.

Of Psusennes "III" (969-945 BC), nothing is known; his name appears in many different forms because a consistent transliteration for it is lacking. This is the last of the high priests ruling out of Thebes. The kings of Tanis (1069-945 BC) ruled from the Delta in the north. These
were the "official" kings.Smendes I (1069-1043 BC) declared himself king after the death of Ramses XI.He moved the capital from Piramesse to Tanis. Many of Ramses 11's works (statues, obelisks) were transferred with him. This caused early excavators to think Tanis was Piramesse. Amenemnisu (1043-1039 BC) was the son of Heri-Hor, the high priest of Thebes, another sign that Thebes and Tanis were cooperating. Psusennes I (1039-991 BC) was the longest reigning king of this dynasty.

His intact tomb was discovered, rivaling even Tutankhamen's. He had been buried in the sarcophagus of Merneptah in nested coffins. He also had his own silver coffn with a gold mask. They were not poor! Another cache of royal mummies was preserved by these Theban priestkings of Dynasty XXI. In 1898, Victor Loret discovered the tomb of Amenhotep II, a discovery that would eventually lead to Loret's having a nervous breakdown. The tomb had been plundered in antiquity. But in a side room, Loret found the mummies of an old woman, a prince, and a young woman. Because they all had holes in their heads, he began to wonder if he had found a case of human sacrifce. In another scaled-off side-chamber he found the biggest surprise: nine more mummies in coffins.
Loret had found another royal cache, similar to the one at Deir el Bahri. Here were the mummies of Amenhotep III, Merneptah, and seven others! This explains how Psusennes came to be buried with the lid of Merneptah's sarcophagus. The latter's body had been moved to the tomb of Amenhotep II for safe-keeping, but not the huge sarcophagus. Instead, it was shipped north to Tanis. Amenemope (993-984 BC) was the son of Psusennes I. Buried at Tanis in his mother's tomb, next to his father's, he too had a gold face mask. Osorkon the Elder (984-978 BC) is a puzzle. Not much is known about him.Siamum (978-959 BC) seems to have been quite active.He built extensively at the Temple of Amun (god of Thebes) at Tanis.

There is an interesting consequence of these kings of Dynasty XXI, who hid the bodies of their ancestors in places no one could have predicted. When Victor Loret frst entered the tomb of Amenhotep II, he found three mummies. An Egyptologist noticed that the left arm of one of them-"the elder lady"-was placed across the chest in a position often reserved for royalty. All three mummies were of the New Kingdom. But it was unclear who they might be. Among the thousands of items found in Tutankhamen's tomb, it turned out, was a tiny mummy-shaped box with the name of Queen Tiye on it. Inside was a lock of hair, a keepsake from Tutankhamen's grandmother. Because hair is chemically unique, it was decided to compare the hair in the box with that of the "elder lady."