Scope: Here we will see Egypt united, but by foreigners, the Libyans. Because they ruled from the Delta city of Bubastis, this dynasty is often called the Bubastite Dynasty. For 200 years—as long as the United States has existed—Egypt would be ruled by Libyans fighting to restore Egypt’s greatness. We will see Egypt’s involvement with the Biblical kingdoms of Judah and Israel. In the end, there will be a divided Egypt once more, not fighting internally but ruling independently.
Outline
I. We have several sources of information for this dynasty.
A. French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette’s 1851 excavation of the Serapeum provided details of kings’ reigns.
B. Delta monuments, now mostly underground because of the high water table in the area, provide fragmentary clues.
C. The Bubastite Portal at Kamak tells of conquests by these kings and depicts bound captives with their towns of origin.
II. Sheshonq I (945-924 BC) married the daughter of Psusennes II.
A. As commander-in-chief of all the army, he was called “Great Chief of the Meshwesh.”
1. During this time, Libyan mercenaries were used in Egypt as a police force. As is often the case, when there’s turmoil, the military steps in.
2. Sheshonq himself was likely the descendant of captives that Ramses III had brought back to Egypt. The Libyan mercenaries gradually became integrated into Egyptian society.
B. Sheshonq appointed sons to key positions to keep power in the family, as Sneferu of the Old Kingdom had done.
1. Iuput was Sheshonq’s Governor of Upper Egypt, High Priest of Amun, and Commander-in-chief of Armies.
2. Djedptahaufankh was Third Prophet of Amun.
3. Nimlot was military commander at Herakleopolis, in middle Egypt.
C. Sheshonq launched a military campaign, mentioned in the Bible, after the death of Solomon in 930 BC.
1. In Palestine, there were the divided kingdoms of Judah (under Solomon’s son, Rehoboam) and Israel (under Jeroboam I).
2. Sheshonq (the Biblical Shishak) was bought off by Rehoboam (925 BC) and left Judah. One of the things he wasn’t given was the Ark of the Covenant.
3. He chased out Jeraboam and marched north to Megiddo, where he erected a stela, just as Tuthmosis III had done, claiming the land for his own.
D. He built on a grand scale, erecting the largest pylon at Karnak, on the river. You can still see the ramp used in building it.
E. He was buried at Tanis, but his tomb was plundered.
III. Osorkon I (924-889 BC) was Sheshonq’s son.
A. He gave 487,000 pounds of silver to the temples.
B. He appointed his son (Sheshonq II) as High Priest of Amun at Karnak.
C. He took Sheshonq II as coregent, but the son died before the father and was buried at Tanis.
IV. Much of what we know about this dynasty is due to Pierre Montet, a French Egyptologist who excavated at Tanis.
A. Montet believed Tanis was the Biblical “Peramses.”
B. In 1939 he found the tombs of the kings of Dynasties XXI and XXII. They had been buried in the precinct of the main temple of Amun.
1. Hieroglyphs in one room revealed it was the tomb of Psusennes I, but the silver coffin with a falcon’s head contained a previously unknown king, Sheshonq II.
2. In 1940, Montet found another chamber, sealed with a granite block that took six days to chip away. This was the tomb of Psusennes II.
3. Montet opened another sealed room, on orders of King Farouk himself, to find the intact burial of Psusennes’s son Amenemope.
C. In 1946, Montet found another hidden chamber where he discovered the intact burial of Psusennes’s general.
D. Had these treasures not been found during World War II and published only in French, public fascination would have been enormous.
V. Takelot I (889-874 BC) was the son of Osorkon I by a minor wife; little is known about him. He was succeeded by Osorkon II, who ruled from 874- 850 BC.
A. Osorkon’s cousin, Harsiese, High Priest at Kamak, declared himself King of the South (year 4)!
B. When Harsiese died, Osorkon II appointed one of his sons, Nimlot, to the office.
C. Assyria at this time was growing strong, moving into Syria. Egypt aligned itself with Byblos and Israel to stop Assyria at the Orontes River.
VI. Takelot II (850-825 BC) was the son of Osorkon II.
A. The great wealth of Egypt—her agriculture—was almost impossible to kill.
B. During Takelot’s reign, there was a stability of wealth that reflected Egypt’s power.
C. But his reign was also troubled by civil war. In one case, he killed the leaders of a rebellion and burned their bodies, denying them immortality.
D. A competing dynasty, XXIII, arose (year 8) in the central Delta town of Leontopolis and “ruled” in the Delta.
VII. Osorkon IV (730-715 BC) concluded the Bubastite Dynasty XXII. Thus, the unification brought by the Libyans ended in some divisiveness. But Egypt was soon to be reunited—from a surprising place.
Essential Reading:
Aidan Dodson, Monarchs of the Nile, Chapter XV.
Supplementary Reading:
Peter A. Clayton, Chronicle of the Pharaohs, pp. 182-189.
Questions to Consider:
1. How did Libyans become kings of Egypt?
2. What connection is there between the Libyans and the Bible?