Osorkon III
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Usimare Setepenamun Osorkon III Si-Ese was the famous Crown Prince and High Priest of Amun Osorkon B, son of Takelot II by Queen Ka(ro)mama-Merytmut. Prince Osorkon B composed his 'Chronicle' document--which consists of a series of texts documenting his activity at Thebes--on the Bubastite Portal at Karnak. He later reigned as king Osorkon III in Upper Egypt for 28 Years after defeating the rival forces of Pedubast I/Shoshenq VI who had stubbornly resisted his father's authority here. Osorkon ruled the last 5 Years of his reign in co-regency with his son, Takelot III, according to Karnak Nile Quay Text No.13.
Accession
Osorkon III's precise accession date is unknown. Various Egyptologists have suggested an accession date for Osorkon III from around the mid-790's BC to as late as 787 BC in Kenneth Kitchen's book, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt. (Kitchen, p.543) This issue is complicated by the fact that Prince Osorkon B did not immediately declare himself king after his successful conquest of Thebes as is evidenced by the fact that he dated this seminal event to Year 39 of Shoshenq III rather than Year 1 of Osorkon III. This suggests that Osorkon waited for a minimum of one or two years before proclaiming himself as a Pharaoh of the Theban 23rd Dynasty. Osorkon would have had to defeat or pacify any remaining supporters of the Pedubast I/Shoshenq VI faction in other regions of Upper Egypt whether they were in Elephantine, the Western Desert Oasis area--where Pedubast I is monumentally attested--or elsewhere in order to consolidate his position. Hence, Year 1 of Osorkon III is likely equivalent to Year 1 or Year 2 of Shoshenq IV instead, rather than Year 39 of Shoshenq III.Identity
Osorkon III is attested by numerous impressive donation stelas and stone blocks from Herakleopolis through to Thebes. He is generally thought to have been a contemporary of the Lower Egyptian Twenty-Second Dynasty kings, Shoshenq IV, Pami, and the first decade of Shoshenq V's reign. Osorkon III's chief wife was Queen Karoadjet but his second wife was named Tentsai. A stela of Prince Osorkon B calls his spouse Tent[...] with part of the name being lost. The latter name can be rendered as either Tentsai or Tentamun. Significantly, however, both men have a daughter called Shepenupet. Secondly, according to both the British scholar M.A. Leahy and the German Egyptologist Karl Jansen-Winkeln, one important donation stela** which was discovered in 1982 at Tehna el-Gebel (ancient Akoris) by Japanese archaeologists, reveals that Osorkon III was once a High Priest of Amun in his own right. (Leahy, Libya and Egypt, p.192 & Jansen-Winkeln, JEA 81(1995), p.138) The document explicitly calls Osorkon III, the first Prophet of Amun. Osorkon III, thus, was almost certainly the High Priest Osorkon B, who defeated his father's opponents at Thebes in Year 39 of Shoshenq III, as Leahy notes. This theory has been accepted by the majority of Egyptologists today including J. Von Beckerath in GM 144, pp.9-11, Karl Jansen-Winkeln in JEA 81(1995), pp.141-142, Gerard Broekman in JEA 88(2000), pp.174 and Aidan Dodson among others with the notable exception of KA Kitchen in his 1996 TIPE book. Osorkon probably lived into his 80's, which explains why he appointed his son Takelot as the junior co-regent to the throne in his final 5 years. He would have been in failing health by this time. Osorkon III's coregency with Takelot III is the last attested royal co-regency in Ancient Egyptian history. Later dynasties from Nubia, Sais, Assyria, and Persia all ruled Egypt with a single king on the throne.Finally, Karnak Quay Texts No. 6 and 7--from Year 5 and 6 of Osorkon III--calls his mother the "Chief Queen Kamama Merymut." (Kitchen, TIPE, p.93) Similiarly, Prince Osorkon B's mother was Queen Ka(ro)mama Merymut, wife of Takelot II. (Kitchen, TIPE, p.328) The slightly different renderings of this Queen's name almost certainly refers to the same person here: Osorkon B/III.
Wives:
According to Kenneth Kitchen, Osorkon III's chief Queen Karoadjet was the mother of Shepenupet I, the God's Wife/Adoratice of Amun, while his lesser wife Tentsai was the mother of Osorkon III's two sons: Takelot III and Rudamun. (Kitchen, TIPE 1996, p.352) Shepenupet I would outlive both her half-brothers as the serving God's Wife of Amun at Thebes and survive into the reign of the Nubian ruler, Shebitku, where she is depicted on the Temple Walls of Osiris-Heqadjet, which was decorated by this king.References:
- G. Broekman, The Reign of Takeloth II, a Controversial Matter, GM 205 (2005), pp.21-35
- Karl Jansen-Winkeln, "Historische Probleme Der 3. Zwischenzeit," JEA 81(1995), pp.129-149
- M.A. Leahy, 'Appendix: The Twenty-third Dynasty, p.192' in M.A. Leahy(ed.), "Libya and Egypt c.1300–750 BC." London: School of Oriental and African Studies, Centre of Near and Middle Eastern Studies, and The Society for Libyan Studies (1990)
- K.A. Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (c.1100--650 BC), 3rd ed., Warminster: 1996
- **The Paleological Association of Japan, Preliminary Report. Second Season of the Excavations at the Site of Akoris, Egypt 1982 (Kyoto:1983), 13-14 plate 11
| Preceded by: Shoshenq VI | Pharaoh of Egypt Twenty-third dynasty of Egypt | Succeeded by: Takelot III |
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