Djedkhonsuefankh was a
High Priest of Amun
The High Priest of Amun or First Prophet of Amun ('' ḥm nṯr tpj n jmn'') was the highest-ranking priest in the priesthood of the ancient Egyptian god Amun. The first high priests of Amun appear in the New Kingdom of Egypt, at the beginning ...
in
Thebes believed to have been in office from 1046–1045 BC.
It is often assumed that he was a son of
Pinedjem I
Pinedjem I was the High Priest of Amun at Thebes in Ancient Egypt from 1070 to 1032 BC and the ''de facto'' ruler of the south of the country from 1054 BC. He was the son of the High Priest Piankh. However, many Egyptologists today believe that t ...
who succeeded his brother
Masaherta
Masaharta or Masaherta was the High Priest of Amun at Thebes between 1054 and 1045 BC.
Biography
His father was Pinedjem I, who was the Theban High Priest of Amun and de facto ruler of Upper Egypt from 1070 BC, then declared himself pharaoh in 10 ...
during a time of great turmoil in the city of Thebes. Von Beckerath has even suggested that it is possible that he died a violent death, accounting for his very short reign. Kitchen considered this possibility as well, but also stated that "this may be an over-dramatic interpretation of his brief rule".
All we actually know of his existence is the bare mention of his name on the
coffin
A coffin is a funerary box used for viewing or keeping a corpse, either for burial or cremation.
Sometimes referred to as a casket, any box in which the dead are buried is a coffin, and while a casket was originally regarded as a box for jewel ...
of his son (now lost). There it reads, according to Cecil Torr:
"
..e, son of the first prophet of Amun, Djed-Khons-ef-ankh, son of the Lord of the Two Lands, Pinedjem, Beloved of Amun, first prophet of Amun", with the name Pinedjem enclosed in a
cartouche
In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the fea ...
.
Djedkhonsuefankh is supposed to have been succeeded as High Priest by his brother
Menkheperre
Menkheperre, son of Pharaoh Pinedjem I by wife Duathathor-Henuttawy (daughter of Ramesses XI by wife Tentamon), was the High Priest of Amun at Thebes in ancient Egypt from 1045 BC to 992 BC and ''de facto'' ruler of the south of the country. ...
, which seems to imply that his son "
..e" either predeceased him, was too young to succeed or was simply passed over for other reasons.
However, Andrzej Niwiński has suggested that Djedkhonsuefankh was not the son of Pinedjem I, but rather of
Pinedjem II
Pinedjem II was a High Priest of Amun at Thebes in Ancient Egypt from 990 BC to 969 BC and was the ''de facto'' ruler of the south of the country. He was married to his full sister Isetemkheb D (both children of Menkheperre, the High Priest of ...
, and as such the great grandson of Pinedjem I
Niwiński identifies him with the main official mentioned with the burials of
Neskhons
Neskhons (“She Belongs to Khons”), once more commonly known as “Nsikhonsou”, was a noble lady of the 21st Dynasty of Egypt.
Biography
She was the daughter of Smendes II and Takhentdjehuti, and wed her paternal uncle, High Priest Pinedje ...
in year 5 of king
Siamun
Neterkheperre or Netjerkheperre-Setepenamun Siamun was the sixth pharaoh of Egypt during the Twenty-first Dynasty. He built extensively in Lower Egypt for a king of the Third Intermediate Period and is regarded as one of the most powerful ruler ...
and of Pinedjem II in year 10 of the same king.
He postulates that
(in this model his brother), who probably succeeded his father Pinedjem II as High Priest and succeeded in uniting this title with that of king had Djedkhonsuefankh act as his deputy in Thebes. The title of High Priest on his coffin would then be given posthumously by his son "
..e"
Niwiński also points out that theophoric names as Djedkhonsuefankh mainly appear very late in the 21st Dynasty.
Djedkhonsuefankh's wife is likely to have been Djedmutesankh, a Singer of Amun, who was buried in Tomb MMA60 in
Deir el-Bahari
Deir el-Bahari or Dayr al-Bahri ( ar, الدير البحري, al-Dayr al-Baḥrī, the Monastery of the North) is a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt. This is a part of ...
.
[Dodson and Hilton: The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt , London, 2004]
References
Ancient Egyptian priests
Theban High Priests of Amun
People of the Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt
11th-century BC clergy
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