Yanassi

Yanassi was a prince during the 15th Dynasty of Egypt. He was the eldest king's son of the Hyksos pharaoh Khyan and this title suggests that he was the crown prince, designated to be his successor. Nevertheless, Khyan was succeeded by Apophis who, for this reason, is believed to have been an usurper.[1]

Attestations

In spite of his status as the royal son of the long-reigning Khyan, Yanassi is not attested by any scarab seals but only by a damaged stela (Cairo TD-8422 [176]) found at Tell el-Dab'a, site of the ancient Hyksos capital, Avaris.[2][3] On the stela – which was probably dedicated to the god Seth, lord of Avaris – he is called the eldest king's son of Khyan.[1]

A further, though non-contemporary attestation may be found in Josephus' polemic, Contra Apionem. Claiming to directly quote Manetho, Josephus put a king named Iannas instead of Siaan (the latter being a Greek form of the name Khyan) within the 15th Dynasty, ascribing to him a reign lasting for 51 years and one month.[4][5] It has been suggested that the name Iannas (Ancient Greek: Iαννας) is a corruption of Yanassi. If true, this means that Manetho would have considered Yanassi as a king, a statement refuted by modern consensus which considers Apophis as Khyan's direct successor. It appears more likely that, in a Manethonian passage mentioning both Iannas/Yanassi and Siaan/Khyan, Josephus erroneously chose the former instead of the latter.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 Ryholt, p. 256
  2. ↑ Bietak, see fig. 1
  3. ↑ Ryholt, p. 57, n. 159
  4. ↑ Gardiner, p. 156
  5. 1 2 Ryholt, pp. 120–121

Bibliography


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.