TEFNAKHT

'Shepsesre Tefnakht' (in Greek known as 'Tnephachthos'), was a Libyan-descended prince of Saïs, Great Chief of the Meshwesh and Great Chief of the Libu, and founder of the relatively short Twenty-fourth dynasty of Egypt. He is thought to have reigned roughly 732 BCE - 725 BCE or 7 years. He first began his career as the "Great Chief of the West" and Prince of Saïs, and was a late contemporary of the final of the 22nd dynasty: Shoshenq V. Tefnakht I was actually the second ruler of Saïs; he was preceded by Osorkon C, who is attested by several documents mentioning him as this city's Chief of the Ma and Army Leader, according to Kenneth Kitchen.^[1]

Contents

Biography

Reference

External links

Biography

Tefnakht erected two donation stelas in Years 36 and 38 of Shoshenq V as a Prince at Saïs. His Year 38 stela from Buto is significant not only because Tefnakht employs the rather boastful epithet of "Great Chief of the entire land" but due to its list of his religious titles as 'prophet of Neith, Edjo and the Lady of Imay'.^[2] This reflects his control over Sais, Buto to the north and Kom el-Hish to the southwest even prior to the end of the 22nd Dynasty--with the death of Shoshenq V--and reflects Tefnakht's political base in the Western Delta region of Egypt. The 22nd Dynasty was politically fragmenting even prior to the death of Shoshenq V. Tefnakht established his capital at Sais, and formed an alliance with other minor kings of the Delta region in order to conquer Middle and Upper Egypt, which was under the sway of the Nubian king Piye. He was able to capture and unify many of the cities of the Delta region, thus making Tefnakht considerably more powerful than any of his predecessors in either the 22nd or 23rd dynasties.
Tefnakht was likely never a member of the Tanite based 22nd Dynasty of Egypt since Tanis was located in the Eastern Delta whereas his local city of Sais was in the Western Delta closer to Libya. His modest title 'Great chief of the West' also hints at a non-royal background. Prior to assuming the title of "Great Chief of the West", Tefnakht managed to extend his control southward, capturing the city of Memphis and besieging the city of Herakleopolis, which was an ally of the Kushite king Piye of Nubia. This caused him to face considerable opposition from Piye, especially after Nimlot, the local ruler of Hermopolis defected from Piye's sphere of influence, to his side. A pair of naval engagements in Middle Egypt soon checked any further advances by Tefnakht's coalition into Piye's territories, and Memphis was soon recaptured by Piye. After further campaigns, Tefnakhte's allies surrendered to Piye and Tefnakht found himself isolated. He finally submitted to Piye and swore loyalty to him, but refused to see Piye face to face. These details are recounted in the Great Victory stela which Piye erected on the New Year's Day of his 21st Regnal Year. Shortly afterwards, Piye returned home to Nubia at Gebel Barkal, and never returned to Egypt.
Despite this setback, Tefnakht was left alone as the king of his region and, over time, he managed to reassert his kingdom's control in the Delta region. It is unclear, however, if he ever formally adopted an official royal title, unlike his successor Bakenranef.
While some scholars such as Kenneth Kitchen have argued that Manetho's Tefnakht was the king Shepsesre Tefnakht II of Sais who is attested by the Year 8 Athens donation stela, a recent article by Olivier Perdu^[3] has suggested that this Tefnakht was Tefnakht II, a much later king of Sais who ruled during the Nubian 25th Dynasty era. In his paper, Perdu published a newly discovered stela from the second year of Necho I's reign, which is very similar in style, text and format to the Year 8 stela of Shepsesre Tefnakht thereby demonstrating that these two kings of Sais were close contemporaries. With this new evidence, Shepsesre Tefnakht II, an unknown king Nekauba (678-672 BCE), and Necho I (672-664 BC) would all be local rulers of Sais. These kings are all mentioned by name in Manetho's ''Epitome'' and assigned individual reign lengths of seven, six and eight years respectively.

Reference

1. KA Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100–650 BC), 3rd ed. 1996, Aris & Phillips Limited., pp.351 & p.355
2. Kitchen, op. cit., p.362
3. Olivier Perdu, "La Chefferie de Sébennytos de Piankhy à Psammétique Ier", ''Revue d'Égyptology'' 55 (2004), pp. 95-111.

External links

★ Egyptian Pharaohs: Third Intermediate Period: Dynasty 24: Tefnakht I