Smendes II 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 ...

at Thebes in Ancient Egypt. He briefly governed from about 992 to 990 BC., p.207

Biography

The name ''Smendes'' is a

hellenization Hellenization (other British spelling Hellenisation) or Hellenism is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonization often led to the Hellenization of indigenous peoples; in the ...

of the Egyptian name ''Nesbanebdjed'' (''"He of the ram, lord of

Mendes Mendes ( grc-gre, Μένδης, ''gen''.: ), the Greek name of the ancient Egyptian city of Djedet, also known in ancient Egypt as Per-Banebdjedet ("The Domain of the Ram Lord of Djedet") and Anpet, is known today as Tell El-Ruba ( ar, تل ال ...

"''), while the ordinal number distinguishes him from the founder of the 21st Dynasty

Smendes I Hedjkheperre Setepenre Smendes was the founder of the Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt and succeeded to the throne after burying Ramesses XI in Lower Egypt – territory which he controlled. His Egyptian nomen or birth name was actually Nesban ...

, and from the later, namesake High Priest of Amun,

Smendes III Smendes III was a High Priest of Amun at Thebes during the reign of pharaoh Takelot I of the 22nd Dynasty. Biography The name ''Smendes'' is a hellenization of the Egyptian name ''Nesbanebdjed'' (''"He of the ram, lord of Mendes"''), while the ...

. Smendes was one of the sons of High Priest

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. ...

and Princess Isetemkheb, the daughter of

Psusennes I Psusennes I ( egy, pꜣ-sbꜣ-ḫꜥ-n-njwt; Greek Ψουσέννης) was the third pharaoh of the 21st Dynasty who ruled from Tanis between 1047 and 1001 BC. ''Psusennes'' is the Greek version of his original name Pasibkhanu or Pasebakhaenniu ...

.Dodson & Hilton, pp.200-201 He married his sister

Henuttawy C Henuttawy or Henettawy, was an ancient Egyptian princess and priestess during the 21st Dynasty. Biography Henuttawy was probably a daughter of the Theban High Priests of Amun, Theban High Priest of Amun Menkheperre and of Isetemkheb C, herself d ...

and had a daughter, Isetemkheb E; another wife, Takhentdjehuti bore him

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 ...

, who would be the wife of his brother and successor

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 ...

. His pontificate was short and left few traces, missing, for instance from the annals of Egyptian historian

Manetho Manetho (; grc-koi, Μανέθων ''Manéthōn'', ''gen''.: Μανέθωνος) is believed to have been an Egyptian priest from Sebennytos ( cop, Ϫⲉⲙⲛⲟⲩϯ, translit=Čemnouti) who lived in the Ptolemaic Kingdom in the early third ...

. He is mentioned on an inscription in

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (, which was originally derived from ar, خورنق ''Khurnaq'' "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construct ...

, on mummy bandages and on a few bracelets found on the mummy of Psusennes I. Two extra objects bears the name of a ''High Priest of Amun Smendes'' but it is not possible to determine if these refers to Smendes II or the later Smendes III: these are a

scribe's palette The ancient Egyptian Scribe equipment hieroglyph 𓏞 ( Gardiner no. Y3), or its reversed form 𓏟 ( Gardiner no. Y4), portrays the equipment of the scribe. Numerous scribes used the hieroglyph in stating their name, either on papyrus docume ...

now at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

(47.123a–g), and a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

kneeling statuette exhibited at the

Musée royal de Mariemont The Royal Museum of Mariemont (french: Musée royal de Mariemont) is a museum situated in Mariemont, near Morlanwelz, in Belgium. It is constituted around the personal collection of art and antiquities owned by the industrialist Raoul Warocqué ( ...

(ref. B242).Claire Derriks, ''Choix d'œuvres 50'', Égypte. Mariemont, 1990, n.26 He was succeeded by his brother

References

Theban High Priests of Amun People of the Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt 10th-century BC clergy {{AncientEgypt-bio-stub