Bakenranef

Bakenranef (Bocchoris)

Apis stela dated to Year 6 of Bakenranef's reign, found in Saqqara.

Pharaoh

Reign

725-720 BC (24th Dynasty (Western Delta))

Predecessor

Tefnakht

Successor

None (Egypt united under Shabaka, Upper Kingdom Pharaoh)

Royal titulary

Prenomen (Praenomen)

Wahkare
Constant is the Heart of Re

Nomen

Bakenranef
Servant in his name

Bakenranef, known by the ancient Greeks as Bocchoris,^[1] was briefly a king of the Twenty-fourth dynasty of Egypt. Based at Sais in the western Delta, he ruled Lower Egypt from c. 725 to 720 BC. Though the Ptolemaic period Egyptian historian Manetho^[2] considers him the sole member of the Twenty-fourth dynasty, modern scholars include his father Tefnakht in that dynasty. Although Sextus Julius Africanus quotes Manetho as stating that "Bocchoris" ruled for six years, some modern scholars again differ and assign him a shorter reign of only five years, based on evidence from an Apis Bull burial stela. It establishes that Bakenranef's reign ended only at the start of his 6th regnal year which, under the Egyptian dating system, means he had a reign of 5 full years. Bakenranef's prenomen or royal name, Wahkare, means "Constant is the Spirit of Re" in Egyptian.^[3]

Manetho is the source for two events from Bakenranef's reign. The first is the story that a lamb uttered the prophecy that Egypt would be conquered by the Assyrians, a story later repeated by such classical authors as Claudius Aelianus (De Natura Animalis 12.3). The second was that Bakenranef was captured by Shabaka, a king of the Twenty-fifth dynasty, who executed Bakenrenef by having him burned alive. A Kushite king, Shabaka extended his rule over the whole of Egypt, which had been split since the Twenty-first dynasty.

Diodorus Siculus, writing about three centuries after Manetho, adds some different details. Diodorus states that although Bakenranef was "contemptible in appearance", he was wiser than his predecessors (1.65). The Egyptians attributed to him a law concerning contracts, which provided for a way to discharge debts where no bond was signed; it was observed down to Diodorus' time (1.79). For this, and other acts, Diodorus included "Bocchoris" as one of the six most important lawgivers of ancient Egypt. For a minor kinglet briefly in control of the Nile Delta, this is an unexpectedly prominent ranking: "He was a surprising choice," Robin Lane Fox observes,^[4] "Perhaps some Greeks, unknown to us, had had close dealings with him; from his reign we have scarab-seals bearing his Egyptian name, one of which found its way into a contemporary Greek grave on Ischia up near the Bay of Naples." Ischia was the earliest of eighth-century Greek colonies in Italy.

The Roman historian Tacitus mentions that many Greek and Roman writers thought he had a part in the origin of the Jewish nation:

Most writers, however, agree in stating that once a disease, which horribly disfigured the body, broke out over Egypt; that king Bocchoris, seeking a remedy, consulted the oracle of Hammon, and was bidden to cleanse his realm, and to convey into some foreign land this race detested by the gods. The people, who had been collected after diligent search, finding themselves left in a desert, sat for the most part in a stupor of grief, till one of the exiles, Moses by name, warned them not to look for any relief from God or man, forsaken as they were of both, but to trust to themselves, taking for their heaven-sent leader that man who should first help them to be quit of their present misery. They agreed, and in utter ignorance began to advance at random. Nothing, however, distressed them so much as the scarcity of water, and they had sunk ready to perish in all directions over the plain, when a herd of wild asses was seen to retire from their pasture to a rock shaded by trees. Moses followed them, and, guided by the appearance of a grassy spot, discovered an abundant spring of water. This furnished relief. After a continuous journey for six days, on the seventh they possessed themselves of a country, from which they expelled the inhabitants, and in which they founded a city and a temple ^[5]

Despite the importance implied by these writers, few contemporary records of Bakenranef have survived. The chief inscription of his reign concerns the death and burial of an Apis bull during Years 5 and 6 of his reign; the remainder are a few stelae that Auguste Mariette recovered while excavating the Serapeum in Saqqara. Shabaka deposed and executed Bakenranef by burning him alive at the stake and buried the Bull in his own Year 2 (720 BC) while campaigning in Lower Egypt. This effectively ended the short-lived 24th Dynasty of Egypt as a potential rival to the Nubian 25th Dynasty.

References

↑ Bakenranef's name is consistently Bocchoris in the Greek accounts and in Tacitus; the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics has permitted the reconstruction of his authentic Egyptian name.
↑ Manetho, frags. 64, 65.
↑ Peter A. Clayton, Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt, Thames and Hudson, London, 1994. p.188
↑ Fox, Travelling Heroes in the Epic Age of Homer, 2008:31.
↑ Tacitus, Histories, 5.3

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bakenranef.

Preceded by Tefnakht	Pharaoh of Egypt Twenty-fourth Dynasty	Succeeded by Conquered by Shabaka

Pharaohs

Protodynastic to First Intermediate Period (<3150–2040 BC)

Period

Dynasty	Pharaohs (male female ) uncertain

Protodynastic
(pre-3150 BC)

Lower	Hsekiu Khayu Tiu Thesh Neheb Wazner Mekh Double Falcon

Upper	Scorpion I Crocodile Iry-Hor Ka Scorpion II Narmer / Menes

Early Dynastic
(3150–2686 BC)

I	Narmer / Menes Hor-Aha Djer Djet Merneith Den Anedjib Semerkhet Qa'a Sneferka Horus Bird

II	Hotepsekhemwy Nebra/Raneb Nynetjer Ba Nubnefer Horus Sa Weneg-Nebty Wadjenes Senedj Seth-Peribsen Sekhemib-Perenmaat Neferkara I Neferkasokar Hudjefa I Khasekhemwy

Old Kingdom
(2686–2181 BC)

III	Nebka Djoser Sekhemkhet Sanakht Khaba Qahedjet Huni

IV	Snefru Khufu Djedefre Khafre Bikheris Menkaure Shepseskaf Thamphthis

V	Userkaf Sahure Neferirkare Kakai Neferefre Shepseskare Nyuserre Ini Menkauhor Kaiu Djedkare Isesi Unas

VI	Teti Userkare Pepi I Merenre Nemtyemsaf I Pepi II Merenre Nemtyemsaf II Netjerkare Siptah

1^st Intermediate
(2181–2040 BC)

VII VIII	Menkare Neferkare II Neferkare III Neby Djedkare Shemai Neferkare IV Khendu Merenhor Neferkamin Nikare Neferkare V Tereru Neferkahor Neferkare VI Pepiseneb Neferkamin Anu Qakare Iby Neferkaure Neferkauhor Neferirkare Wadjkare Khuiqer Khui

IX	Meryibre Khety Neferkare VII Nebkaure Khety Setut

X	Meryhathor Neferkare VIII Wahkare Khety Merykare

Middle Kingdom and Second Intermediate Period (2040–1550 BC)

Period

Dynasty	Pharaohs (male female ) uncertain

Middle Kingdom
(2040–1802 BC)

XI	Mentuhotep I Intef I Intef II Intef III Mentuhotep II Mentuhotep III Mentuhotep IV

Nubia	Segerseni Qakare Ini Iyibkhentre

XII	Amenemhat I Senusret I Amenemhat II Senusret II Senusret III Amenemhat III Amenemhat IV Sobekneferu

2^nd Intermediate
(1802–1550 BC)

XIII	Sekhemrekhutawy Sobekhotep Sonbef Nerikare Sekhemkare Amenemhat V Ameny Qemau Hotepibre Iufni Ameny Antef Amenemhet VI Semenkare Nebnuni Sehetepibre Sewadjkare Nedjemibre Khaankhre Sobekhotep Renseneb Hor Sekhemrekhutawy Khabaw Djedkheperew Sebkay Sedjefakare Wegaf Khendjer Imyremeshaw Sehetepkare Intef Seth Meribre Sobekhotep III Neferhotep I Sihathor Sobekhotep IV Merhotepre Sobekhotep Khahotepre Sobekhotep Wahibre Ibiau Merneferre Ay Merhotepre Ini Sankhenre Sewadjtu Mersekhemre Ined Sewadjkare Hori Merkawre Sobekhotep Mershepsesre Ini II Sewahenre Senebmiu Merkheperre Merkare Sewadjare Mentuhotep Seheqenre Sankhptahi

XIV	Yakbim Sekhaenre Ya'ammu Nubwoserre Qareh Khawoserre 'Ammu Ahotepre Maaibre Sheshi Nehesy Khakherewre Nebefawre Sehebre Merdjefare Sewadjkare III Nebdjefare Webenre Nebsenre Sekheperenre Djedkherewre Bebnum 'Apepi Nuya Wazad Sheneh Shenshek Khamure Yakareb Yaqub-Har

XV	Semqen 'Aper-'Anati Sakir-Har Khyan Apepi Khamudi

XVI	Djehuti Sobekhotep VIII Neferhotep III Mentuhotepi Nebiryraw I Nebiriau II Semenre Bebiankh Sekhemre Shedwast Dedumose I Dedumose II Montuemsaf Merankhre Mentuhotep Senusret IV Pepi III

Abydos	Senebkay Wepwawetemsaf Pantjeny Snaaib

XVII	Rahotep Nebmaatre Sobekemsaf I Sobekemsaf II Sekhemre-Wepmaat Intef Nubkheperre Intef Sekhemre-Heruhirmaat Intef Senakhtenre Ahmose Seqenenre Tao Kamose

New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period (1550–664 BC)

Period

Dynasty	Pharaohs (male female ) uncertain

New Kingdom
(1550–1070 BC)

XVIII	Ahmose I Amenhotep I Thutmose I Thutmose II Thutmose III Hatshepsut Amenhotep II Thutmose IV Amenhotep III Akhenaten Smenkhkare Neferneferuaten Tutankhamun Ay Horemheb

XIX	Ramesses I Seti I Ramesses II Merneptah Amenmesses Seti II Siptah Twosret

XX	Setnakhte Ramesses III Ramesses IV Ramesses V Ramesses VI Ramesses VII Ramesses VIII Ramesses IX Ramesses X Ramesses XI

3^rd Intermediate
(1069–664 BC)

XXI	Smendes Amenemnisu Psusennes I Amenemope Osorkon the Elder Siamun Psusennes II

XXII	Shoshenq I Osorkon I Shoshenq II Takelot I Osorkon II Shoshenq III Shoshenq IV Pami Shoshenq V Osorkon IV

XXIII	Harsiese A Takelot II Pedubast I Shoshenq VI Osorkon III Takelot III Rudamun Menkheperre Ini

XXIV	Tefnakht Bakenranef

XXV	Piye Shabaka Shebitku Taharqa Tanutamun

Late Period and Hellenistic Period (664–30 BC)

Period

Dynasty	Pharaohs (male female ) uncertain

Late
(664–332 BC)

XXVI	Necho I Psamtik I Necho II Psamtik II Wahibre Ahmose II Psamtik III

XXVII	Cambyses II Petubastis III Darius I Xerxes Artaxerxes I Darius II

XXVIII	Amyrtaeus

XXIX	Nepherites I Hakor Psammuthes Nepherites II

XXX	Nectanebo I Teos Nectanebo II

XXXI	Artaxerxes III Khabash Arses Darius III

Hellenistic
(332–30 BC)

Argead	Alexander the Great Philip III Arrhidaeus Alexander IV

Ptolemaic	Ptolemy I Soter Ptolemy II Philadelphus Ptolemy III Euergetes Ptolemy IV Philopator Ptolemy V Epiphanes Ptolemy VI Philometor Ptolemy VII Neos Philopator Ptolemy VIII Euergetes Ptolemy IX Soter Ptolemy X Alexander I Ptolemy XI Alexander II Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos Berenice IV Cleopatra Ptolemy XV Caesarion

Dynastic genealogies

4^th 11^th 12^th 18^th 19^th 20^th 21^st to 23^rd 25^th 26^th 27^th 30^th 31^st Ptolemaic

List of pharaohs

Authority control	VIAF: 220920596 GND: 189544538

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