Psusennes I

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Psusennes I, or [Greek Ψουσέννης], Psibkhanno or Hor-Pasebakhaenniut I [Egyptian ḥr-p3-sb3-ḫˁỉ--nỉwt] was the third king of the Twenty-first dynasty of Egypt who ruled between 1047 – 1001 BC. His birth name Pseusennes means "The Star Appearing in the City" while his prenomen, Akheperre Setepenamun, translates as "Great are the Manifestations of Re, chosen of Amun. He was the son of Pinedjem I and Henuttawy, Ramesses XI's daughter by Tentamun.

Professor Pierre Montet discovered Psusennes' intact tomb (No. 3 or NRT III in Tanis) in 1940. Unfortunately, due to its moist Lower Egypt location, most of the "perishable" wood objects were destroyed by water — a fate not shared by KV62, the tomb of Tutankhamun in the drier climate of Upper Egypt. However, the king's magnificient funerary mask was recovered intact; it proved to be made of gold and lapis lazuli and held inlays of black and white glass for the eyes and eyebrows of the object. Psusennes' outer and middle sarcophagi had been recycled from previous burials in the Valley of the Kings, a state-sanctioned tomb-robbing that was common practice in the Third Intermediate Period. A cartouche on the red outer sarcophagus shows that it had originally been made for Pharaoh Merneptah, the nineteenth dynasty successor of Ramesses II.

Dr. Douglass Derry, who worked as the head of Cairo University's Anatomy Department, examined the king's remains in 1940. Derry noted that Psusennes I's teeth were badly worn and full of cavities, and observed that the king suffered from extensive arthritis and was probably crippled by this condition in his final years. Psusennes' precise reign length is unknown because different copies of Manetho's records credit him with a reign of 41 or 46 Years. Some Egyptologists have proposed raising the 41 year figure by a decade to 51 years to more closely match certain anonymous Year 48 and Year 49 dates in Upper Egypt. However, the German scholar Karl Jansen-Winkeln has suggested that all these dates should be attributed to the serving High Priest of Amun Menkheperre instead who is explicitly documented in a Year 48 record. Jansen-Winkeln notes that "in the first half of Dyn. 21, [the] HP Herihor, Pinedjem I and Menkheperre have royal attributes and [royal] titles to differing extents" whereas the first three Tanite kings (Smendes, Amenemnisu and Psusennes I) are almost never referred to by name in Upper Egypt with the exception of one graffito and rock stela for Smendes. In contrast, the name of Psusennes I's Dynasty 21 successors such as Amenemope, Osochor and Siamun appear frequently in various documents from Upper Egypt while the Theban High Priest Pinedjem II who was a contemporary of the latter three kings never adopted any royal attributes or titles in his career.. Hence, two separate Year 49 dates from Thebes and Kom Ombo should rather be attributed to the ruling High Priest Menkheperre in Thebes instead. Psusennes I's reign has been estimated at 46 years by the editors of the Handbook to Ancient Egyptian Chronology. Psusennes I must have enjoyed cordial relations with the serving High Priests of Amun in Thebes during his long reign since the High Priest Smendes II donated several grave goods to this king which was found in Psusennes II's tomb.

While some authors, including New Chronology followers claim that Psusennes I may actually be identical with Psusennes II, this is impossible because Psusennes II is clearly distinguished from Psusennes I by Manetho and is given an independent reign of 14/15 years in the author's Epitome. Moreover, Psusenness II's royal name has been found associated with his successor, Shoshenq I in a graffito from tomb TT18, and in an ostracon from Umm el-Qa'ab. This shows that Shoshenq I was Psusennes II's successor. In contrast, Psusennes I died almost 40-45 years before Shoshenq I's appearance as Chief of the Ma (the Meshwesh), let alone King of Egypt.

References

Référence:Nos ancêtres de l'Antiquité, 1991, Christian Settipani, p. 168 and 173

Psusennes I

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Further Reading