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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 rulers of the Twenty-first Dynasty after
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 Pasebakhaenniut ...
. Siamun's prenomen, Netjerkheperre-Setepenamun, means "Divine is The Manifestation of Ra, Chosen of
Amun Amun (; also ''Amon'', ''Ammon'', ''Amen''; egy, jmn, reconstructed as (Old Egyptian and early Middle Egyptian) → (later Middle Egyptian) → (Late Egyptian), cop, Ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ, Amoun) romanized: ʾmn) was a major ancient Egyptian ...
" while his name means 'son of Amun.'


Family

Very little is known of the family relationships of Siamun. In 1999, Chris Bennett made a case for a Queen
Karimala Karimala (sometimes written as Katimala or Kadimalo) was a Nubian queen. She is known from a relief found at the temple in Semna in Nubia. Karimala had the title of Great Royal Wife and princess. In the scene at Semna, the queen is shown with doubl ...
known from an inscription in the temple of
Semna The region of Semna is 15 miles south of Wadi Halfa and is situated where rocks cross the Nile narrowing its flow—the Semna Cataract. Semna was a fortified area established in the reign of Senusret I (1965–1920 BC) on the west bank of the N ...
being the daughter of
Osorkon the Elder Aakheperre Setepenre Osorkon the Elder was the fifth king of the 21st Dynasty of Ancient Egypt and was the first Pharaoh of Meshwesh (Ancient Libyan) origin. He is also sometimes known as Osochor, following Manetho's ''Aegyptiaca''. Biography ...
.Chris Bennett, Queen Karimala, Daughter of Osochor? GM 173 (1999), pp.7-8 She is called both 'King's Daughter" and "King's Wife". Her name suggests she may have been Libyan, which would fit in with her being the daughter of Osorkon the Elder ( Manetho's Osochor). Given the date of the inscription (a year 14), she might have been the queen of either king Siamun or king Psusennes II. Bennett prefers a marriage to Siamun, because in that case she could have taken over the position of
Viceroy of Kush The former Kingdom of Kerma in Nubia, was a province of ancient Egypt from the 16th century BCE to eleventh century BCE. During this period, the polity was ruled by a viceroy who reported directly to the Egyptian Pharaoh. It is believed that the ...
Neskhons as a religious figurehead in Nubia after the death of the latter in year 5 of king Siamun. What is more, a marriage to her might explain how Siamun, an Egyptian, judging by his nomen, came to succeed a clearly Libyan Osochor.


Manetho

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 years on the basis of an inscription from the
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. Construc ...
Priestly Annals mentioning a ''Year 17'' of king Siamun. 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 Aakheperre Setepenre Osorkon the Elder was the fifth king of the 21st Dynasty of Ancient Egypt and was the first Pharaoh of Meshwesh (Ancient Libyan) origin. He is also sometimes known as Osochor, following Manetho's ''Aegyptiaca''. Biography ...
.


Reign length

The highest attested year for Siamun is a ''Year 17 the first month of Shemu day ost', mentioned in fragment 3B, lines 3-5 from the Karnak Priestly Annals. It records the induction of Hori, son of Nespaneferhor into the Priesthood at
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. Construc ...
. 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. Hence, Siamun would have taken the throne about 16 years earlier in 986 BC. A stela dated to Siamun's Year 16 records a land-sale between some minor priests of
Ptah Ptah ( egy, ptḥ, reconstructed ; grc, Φθά; cop, ⲡⲧⲁϩ; Phoenician: 𐤐𐤕𐤇, romanized: ptḥ) is an ancient Egyptian deity, a creator god and patron deity of craftsmen and architects. In the triad of Memphis, he is the ...
at Memphis. The Year 17 inscription 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 Pharaoh Psusennes II (Siamun's successor), Pharaoh
Shoshenq I Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq I ( Egyptian ''ššnq''; reigned c. 943–922 BC)—also known as Shashank or Sheshonk or Sheshonq Ifor discussion of the spelling, see Shoshenq—was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Twenty-seco ...
, Pharaoh 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.


Monuments

According to the French
Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious ...
Nicolas Grimal, Siamun doubled the size of the Temple of Amun at Tanis and initiated various works at the Temple of Horus at Mesen.Nicolas Grimal, A History of Ancient Egypt, Blackwell Books: 1992, pp.318 He also built at Heliopolis and at
Piramesse Pi-Ramesses (; Ancient Egyptian: , meaning "House of Ramesses") was the new capital built by the Nineteenth Dynasty Pharaoh Ramesses II (1279–1213 BC) at Qantir, near the old site of Avaris. The city had served as a summer palace under Seti I ...
where a surviving stone block bears his name. Siamun constructed and dedicated a new temple to Amun at Memphis with 6 stone columns and doorways which bears his royal name. Finally, he bestowed numerous favours onto the Memphite Priests of Ptah. In Upper Egypt, he generally appears eponymously on a few Theban monuments although Siamun's High Priest of Amun at Thebes, Pinedjem II, organised the removal and re-burial of the New Kingdom royal mummies from the Valley of the Kings in several hidden mummy caches at
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 ...
Tomb
DB320 The Royal Cache, technically known as TT320 (previously referred to as DB320), is an Ancient Egyptian tomb located next to Deir el-Bahri, in the Theban Necropolis, opposite the modern city of Luxor. It contains an extraordinary collection of mu ...
for protection from looting. These activities are dated from Year 1 to Year 10 of Siamun's reign. One fragmentary but well known surviving triumphal relief scene from the Temple of Amun at Tanis depicts an Egyptian pharaoh smiting his enemies with a mace. The king's name is explicitly given as '' Neterkheperre Setepenamun) Siamun, beloved of Am(un)' in the relief and there can be no doubt that this person was Siamun as the eminent British Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen stresses in his book, '' On the Reliability of the Old Testament''. Siamun appears here "in typical pose brandishing a mace to strike down prisoners(?) now lost at the right except for two arms and hands, one of which grasps a remarkable double-bladed ax by its socket."Kitchen, OROT, pp.109 & p.526 The writer observes that this double bladed axe or 'halberd' has a flared crescent shaped blade which is close in form to the Aegean influenced double axe but is quite distinct from the Palestinian/Canaanite double headed axe which has a different shape that resembles an X.Kitchen, OROT, pp.109-110 Thus, Kitchen concludes Siamun's foes were the Philistines who were descendants of the Aegean-based
Sea Peoples The Sea Peoples are a hypothesized seafaring confederation that attacked ancient Egypt and other regions in the Eastern Mediterranean, East Mediterranean prior to and during the Late Bronze Age collapse (1200–900 Common Era, BCE).. Quote: ...
and that Siamun was commemorating his recent victory over them at Gezer by depicting himself in a formal battle scene relief at the Temple in Tanis. Paul S. Ash has challenged this theory, stating that Siamun's relief portrays a fictitious battle. He points out that in Egyptian reliefs Philistines are never shown holding an axe, and that there is no archaeological evidence for Philistines using axes. He also argues that there is nothing in the relief to connect it with Philistia or the Levant.


Burial

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 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 Pasebakhaenniut ...
'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 The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ri ...
which compelled a reburial of this king in Psusennes I's tomb.


Siamun and Solomon

It has been suggested that Siamun was the unnamed pharaoh of the Bible who gave in marriage his daughter to king Solomon in order to seal an alliance between the two (), and later conquered Gezer and gave it to Solomon as well (). This identification is supported by Kenneth Kitchen and
William G. Dever William Gwinn Dever (born November 27, 1933, Louisville, Kentucky) is an American archaeologist, Old Testament scholar, and historian, specialized in the history of the Ancient Near East and the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah in biblical ...
, but has been challenged by other scholars such as Paul S. Ash and Mark W. Chavalas, with the latter stating that "it is impossible to conclude which Egyptian monarch ruled concurrently with David and Solomon".
Edward Lipiński suggested that "The attempt at relating the destruction of Gezer to the hypothetical relationship between Siamun and Solomon cannot be justified factually, since Siamun's death precedes Solomon's accession." Lipiński also argued that the then-unfortified Gezer was destroyed late in the 10th century, and that its taker was most likely pharaoh Shoshenq I of the
22nd Dynasty The Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt is also known as the Bubastite Dynasty, since the pharaohs originally ruled from the city of Bubastis. It was founded by Shoshenq I. The Twenty-first, Twenty-second, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, and Twenty-fi ...
. Dever, however, challenges these positions, arguing that Siamun reigned from 978 to 959 BCE, coinciding with Solomon's early years of reign and that such diplomatic marriages are well attested in the ancient Near East; he also states that archaeological excavations in Gezer show that the site had been fortified in 950 BCE, during Solomon's reign, only to be later destroyed by Shoshenq I, during his raid against Israel. Moreover, according to Kenneth Kitchen, the occupation of Gezer by Pharaoh Siamun is attested by a triumphal relief scene from the Temple of Amun at Tanis depicts an Egyptian pharaoh smiting his enemies with a mace. The king's name is explicitly given as '' Neterkheperre Setepenamun) Siamun, beloved of Am(un)' in the relief and there can be no doubt that this person was Siamun. Siamun appears here "in typical pose brandishing a mace to strike down prisoners(?) now lost at the right except for two arms and hands, one of which grasps a remarkable double-bladed ax by its socket." The writer observes that this double bladed axe or 'halberd' has a flared crescent shaped blade which is close in form to the Aegean influenced double axe but is quite distinct from the Palestinian/Canaanite double headed axe which has a different shape that resembles an X. Thus, Kitchen concludes Siamun's foes were the Philistines who were descendants of the Aegean-based
Sea Peoples The Sea Peoples are a hypothesized seafaring confederation that attacked ancient Egypt and other regions in the Eastern Mediterranean, East Mediterranean prior to and during the Late Bronze Age collapse (1200–900 Common Era, BCE).. Quote: ...
and that Siamun was commemorating his recent victory over them at Gezer by depicting himself in a formal battle scene relief at the Temple in Tanis. However, Paul S. Ash has challenged this theory, stating that Siamun's relief portrays a fictitious battle. He points out that in Egyptian reliefs Philistines are never shown holding an axe, and that there is no archaeological evidence for Philistines using axes. He also argues that there is nothing in the relief to connect it with Philistia or the Levant.


References

{{authority control 10th-century BC Pharaohs Pharaohs of the Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt 967 BC deaths Year of birth unknown