| Preceded by: Osorkon |
Pharaoh of Egypt 21st Dynasty |
Succeeded by: Psusennes II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Siamun | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Manetho: Psinaches | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Relief of Siamun from Memphis (Flinders Petrie 1911). | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 986-967 BC (19 years) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Legacy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Osorkon (?) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Consort(s) | Karimala (?)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Issue | Tentsepeh (?)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 967 BC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Burial | NRT III, Tanis (reburial?) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- For other pages by this name, see Siamun.
Netjerkheperre-Setepenamun Siamun (transliteration: sꜣ-ỉmn, meaning: "Son of Amun"), was the penultimate Pharaoh of the Twenty-first Dynasty during the Third Intermediate Period.
Origins and Family[]
Very little is known of the family relationships of Siamun. His predecessor Osorkon was of Libyan descent, though in Siamun's case there seems to be no direct evidence to doubt whether he was a native Egyptian.
Chris Bennett has suggested in 1999 that Osorkon could be the father of Karimala, who is known from an inscription in the temple of Semna in Nubia where she is called both "King's Daughter" and "King's Wife".[1] Her name suggests she may indeed have been of Libyan origin. Given the Year 14 date of the inscription, she might have been the queen of either Siamun or Psusennes II. Bennett prefers a marriage to Siamun, because in that case she could have taken over the position of the Viceroy of Kush, Neskhonsu, as a religious figurehead in Nubia after the death of the latter in Year 5 of Siamun. Furthermore, Siamun as the son-in-law of Osorkon would also serve as an explanation for their succession.
Siamun may have been the father of Tentsepeh, a late 21st dynasty King's Daughter who married the High Priest of Ptah Shedsunefertem. However, her father is not specified by name and may therefore be Psusennes II instead.[2]
Dates and Length of Reign[]
The highest attested year for Siamun is a Year 17 on I Shemu [day lost], mentioned in fragment 3B, lines 3-5 from the Karnak Priestly Annals.[3] It records the induction of Hor, son of Nespaneferher into the Priesthood at Karnak.[4] This date was a lunar Tepi Shemu feast day. Based on the calculation of this lunar Tepi Shemu feast, Year 17 of Siamun has been shown by the German Egyptologist Rolf Krauss to be equivalent to 970 BC.[5] Hence, Siamun would have taken the throne about 16 years earlier in 986 BC.[6] A stela dated to Siamun's Year 16 records a land-sale between some minor priests of Ptah at Memphis.[7]
Siamun is often identified with the last king of Manetho's 21st Dynasty, "Psinaches". This king is credited with a reign of only nine years, which subsequently had to be amended to [1]9 years on the basis of the inscription from the Karnak Priestly Annals. However, there is no real basis for interpreting the name "Psinaches" as a corruption of the name Netjerkheperre-setepenamun Siamun. Recently, it has been suggested that Manetho's "Psinaches" might rather be a reference to king Tutkheperre Shoshenq as the direct successor of Manetho's Osorkon the Elder.[8]
Policy[]
The Year 17 inscription in the Karnak Priestly Annals is an important palaeographical development because it is the first time in Egyptian recorded history that the word pharaoh was employed as a title and linked directly to a king's royal name: as in Pharaoh Siamun here. Henceforth, references to the pharaohs Psusennes II (Siamun's successor), Shoshenq I, Osorkon I, and so forth become commonplace. Prior to Siamun's reign and all throughout the Middle and New Kingdom, the word pharaoh referred only to the office of the king.
Burial and Succession[]
Siamun was succeeded on the throne by Psusennes II, who already held the position of High Priest of Amun at Thebes. Now pharaoh as well, Psusennes controlled both Upper and Lower Egypt, thus reuniting the country under centralised rule.
Although Siamun's original royal tomb has never been located, it has been proposed that he is one of "two completely decayed mummies in the antechamber of NRT-III (Psusennes I's tomb)" on the basis of ushabtis found on them which bore this king's name. Siamun's original tomb may have been inundated by the Nile which compelled a reburial of this king in Psusennes I's tomb.[9]
References[]
Bibliography[]
- Bennett, C., 1999: Queen Karimala, Daughter of Osochor? Göttinger Miszellen, Vol. 173.
- Dautzenberg, N., 2014: On the identity of King Psinaches. GM 240.
- Derry, D., 2003: The missing tombs of Tanis. In: Manley, Bill (Hrsg.), The seventy great mysteries of Ancient Egypt. London.
- Dodson, A., 2012 (Revised and Updated 2019 Edition): Afterglow of Empire: Egypt from the Fall of the New Kingdom to the Saite Renaissance. The American University in Cairo Press.
- Hornung, E./Krauss, R./Warburton, D.A., 2006: Ancient Egyptian Chronology. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1: The Near and Middle East, Vol. 83.
- Kitchen, K.A., 1996: The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100-650 BC). 3rd ed. Aris & Phillips, Warminster.
| Predecessor: Osorkon |
Pharaoh of Egypt 21st Dynasty |
Successor: Psusennes II |