Osorkon the Elder

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Akheperre Setepenre Osorkon the Elder was the fifth king of the twenty-first dynasty of Egypt and was the first pharaoh of Libyan extraction in Egypt. He is also sometimes known as "Osochor," following Manetho's Aegyptiaca.

Osorkon the Elder was an uncle of Shoshenq I, founder of the Twenty-second Dynasty. His existence was doubted by most scholars until Eric Young established in 1963 that the induction of a temple priest named Nespaneferhor in Year 2 I Shemu day 20 of a certain king named Akheperre Setepenre—in fragment 3B, line 1-3 of the Karnak Priest Annals —occurred one generation prior to the induction of Hori, Nespaneferhor's son in Year 17 of Siamun, which is also recorded in the same annals. Young argued that this king Akheperre Setepenre was the unknown Osochor. This hypothesis was not fully accepted by all Egyptologists at that time. However, Jean Yoyotte (1976–1977) noted that a Libyan king named Osorkon was the son of Shoshenq A by the Lady Mehtenweshkhet, who is explicitly titled "King's Mother" in a certain geneaological document. Since none of the other king Osorkons had a mother named Mehtenweshkhet, it was conclusively established that Akheperre Setepenre was indeed Manetho's Osochor, whose mother was Mehtenweshkhet. The Lady Mehtenweshet A was also the mother of Nimlot A, Great Chief of the Meshwesh and, thus, Shoshenq I's grandmother.

Osorkon the Elder's reign is significant because it foreshadows the coming the Libyan Twenty-second dynasty. He is credited with a reign of six Years in Manetho's Aegyptiaca and was succeeded in power by Siamun, who was presumably a native Egyptian.

[edit] References

• Young, Eric (1963). "Some Notes on the Chronology and Genealogy of the Twenty-first Dynasty". Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 2: 99–112.
• Yoyotte, Jean (1976–1977). "'Osorkon fils de Mehytouskhé': Un pharaon oublié?". Bulletin de la Société française d'égyptologie 77–78: 39–54.

Preceded by Amenemopet

Pharaoh of Egypt 983 – 977 BC Twenty-first Dynasty

Succeeded by Siamun