• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Dynasty XXII - 946-712

High Priests of Amun at Thebes

Libyan kings ruling in Tanis and Bubastis, recognized in all of Egypt until 828, when a rival Libyan dynasty arose in Thebes. In 814 another rival dynasty arose in Leontopolis in the Delta. Dynasty XXII was still recognized in Memphis and parts of the Delta until 735 and intermittently in Thebes until 787/783.

In a unique power-sharing arrangement between the royal government and the temple hierarchy, the High Priests of Amun were often appointed from among the royal princes of Dynasties XXI and XXII (until the Thebans established their own Dynasty XXIII in 828). The high priests were the virtual rulers of Thebes, usually autonomous of the royal government in the Delta. While many high priests took on the outward trappings of kingship, most apparently recognized the Egyptian king as a nominal overlord.

Ramesses I
Shoshenq I
(Hedjkheperre-setepenre)(Sheshonq)
945-924 B.C.
Shoshenq I was the first king of the Twenty-second Dynasty who ruled for twenty-one years. His name appeared first in a long inscription found at Abydos while he was the ’great chief of the Meshwesh, prince of princes.’ His father was Nemrat, who was the son of the lady Mehetemwaskhe, died and Shoshenq asked the king at that time to allow a funerary cult to be built at Abydos in his honor.

The king must have been the last Psusennes of the Twenty-first Dynasty. Shoshenq’s son had married Psusennes’ daughter, Makare. It is possible that the transition from the Twenty-first to the Twenty-second Dynasty was a peaceful one. Shoshenq’s wife, Karoma, was the mother of Osorkon I who was Shoshenq’s successor. Shoshenq did considerable building in Egypt.

He added a new colonnaded forecourt with a triumphal gate that formed an extension of the hypostyle hall in the Amun temple. No work had been done at Karnak since the end of the Nineteenth Dynasty. He also had a successful campaign against the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel. His tomb is located at Tanis

Osorkon
(Sekhemkheperre-setepenre)
924-909 B.C.
Osorkon I is in the second king of the Twenty-second Dynasty. Between the reigns of Osorkon I and Takelot I, a Shoshenq II is often shown as a co-regent for a brief period of time.

Takelot I
(Usermare-setepenamun)
909-? B.C.
Takelot I was the third king of the Twenty-second Dynasty. He was the successor to Osorkon I, but is shown to have had a co-regent, Sheshonq II, for a brief period before his reign began.

Shoshenq II
(Heqakheperre-setepenre)
?-883 B.C.
Shoshenq II is thought to have been the co-regent during the period between Osorkon I and Takelot I during the Twenty-second Dynasty. His mummy was found at Tanis in the tomb of Psusennes I.

Psusennes II
(Titkheperure-setepenamun)(Psibkhaemne)
959-945 B.C.
Osorkon II was the fifth king of the Twenty-second Dynasty. There are inscriptions in the hypostyle hall of the Luxor temple that indicate that there was a very high inundation of the Nile during the third year of his reign. The inscription says, "All the temples of Thebes were like marshes."

During his twenty-second year, he celebrated the Sed Festival. He built a granite gateway at the great temple at Bubastis and decorated the gateway with scenes of this festival. During his reign, there was weakness internally and there were threats from the Assyrians.

Egypt’s borders did not extend as far as they once had and tried to resist the increasing pressures from the east by joining the states of Palestine and Syria. It is possible that a co-regent ruled with Osorkon II named Harsiese, who was the high priest of Amun at Thebes.

It is possible that Harsiese was the son of Osorkon. His tomb was found at Tanis. It was constructed of large stones with several chambers inside. Several other bodies were found inside such as King Takelot II.

Takelot II
(Hedjkheperre-setepenre)
860-835 B.C.
Takelot II was the sixth king of the Twenty-second Dynasty. He was the father to the high priest of Amun, Osorkon. This Osorkon was responsible for the longest inscription on the Bubastite Gate. According to his inscription, during the fifteenth year of Takelot’s reign, there was warfare in the North and South and a great convulsion broke out in the land.

The remains of Takelot II were found in a usurped sarcophagus from the Middle Kingdom in Tanis. His canopic jars and ushabti-figures were found with him as well.

Shoshenq III
(Usermare-setepenre)
835-783 B.C.
Shoshenq III was the seventh king of the Twenty-second Dynasty. He is thought to have ruled for fifty-two years. During the twenty-eighth year of his reign, an Apis bull was born. This is recorded on the Serapeum stela by a priest named Pediese. His tomb was found at Tanis and was similar in structure to those of Psusennes I and Osorkon II.

Pami
(Usermare-setepenre Pimay)(Pemay)
783-773 B.C.
Pami was the eighth king of the Twenty-second Dynasty. He reigned for approximately six years following the fifty-two year reign of Shoshenq III. Pemai is translated to "The Cat".

Shoshenq IV
(Akheperre-setepenre)
773-735 B.C.
Shoshenq IV was the ninth king of the Twenty-second Dynasty. The Serapeum stela of Pasenhor is dated as the thirty-seventh year of Shoshenq IV.

This shows that he reigned at least this long. In the year 732, toward the end of his reign, an Assyrian, Tiglath-pileser III took Damascus and killed Rezin. He then captured many cities of northern Israel and took the people to Assyria.

The Egyptian troops had at one time joined forces with Damascus, Israel and some other states to resist Shalmaneser III at Qarqar. There is no indication that Shoshenq IV made any attempt to help the former allies.