Osorkon I in Wikipedia
The son of Shoshenq I and his chief consort, Karomat A, Osorkon I was the second king of
Egypt's 22nd Dynasty and 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 kingdoms of
Israel and Judah. 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
Second Heb Sed" inscription found on the bandage of Nakhtefmut's Mummy which held a
bracellet inscribed with Osorkon I's praenomen: Sekhemkheperre. This date can only belong
to Osorkon I since no other early Dynasty 22 king ruled for close to 30 years until the
time of Osorkon 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 a menat-tab naming Osorkon I.[1]
Secondly, no other king who ruled around Osorkon I's reign had a 23rd Regnal Year
including Shoshenq I who died just before the beginning of his Year 22.
While Manetho gives Osorkon I a reign of 15 Years in his Ægyptiaca, this is most likely
an error for 35 Years based on the evidence of the second Heb Sed bandage, as Kenneth
Kitchen notes. Osorkon I's throne name--Sekhemkheperre--means "Powerful are the
Manifestations of Re." [2]
Osorkon I's successor
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 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 of
Shoshenq I since the latter was the only other king to be mentioned in objects from
Shoshenq II's intact royal tomb at Tanis aside from Shoshenq II himself. These objects
are inscribed with either Shoshenq I's praenomen Hedjkheperre Shoshenq (though this is
not certain as it requires reading the objects as a massive hierogylyphic text), or
Shoshenq, Great Chief of the Meshwesh, 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 assumed the throne for a few short years. An argument
against this hypothesis is the fact that most kings of the period were commonly named
after their grandfathers, and not their fathers.
While the British scholar Kenneth A. Kitchen views Shoshenq II to be the High Priest of
Amun at Thebes Shoshenq C,[3] and a short-lived coregent of Osorkon I who predeceased his
father, the well-respected German Egyptologist Jürgen von Beckerath in his seminal 1997
book, Chronologie des Pharaonischen Ägypten, maintains that Shoshenq II was rather an
independent king of Tanis who ruled the 22nd Dynasty in his own right for c.2 Years.[4]
von Beckerath's hypothesis is supported by the fact that Shoshenq II employed a complete
royal titulary along with a distinct prenomen Heqakheperre 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–items which indicate a genuine
king of the 22nd Dynasty. More significantly, however, no mention of Osorkon I's name was
preserved on any ushabtis, 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).[5] 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 king
Tutkheperre, 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.[6]
Aftermath
Osorkon I's reign in Egypt was peaceful and uneventful; however, both his son and
grandson, Takelot I and Osorkon II respectively, later encountered difficulties
controlling Thebes and Upper Egypt within their own reigns since they had to deal with a
rival king: Harsiese A. Osorkon I's tomb has never been found.
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