Third Intermediate Period
Osorkon III
23rd Dynasty (Libyan) · 818-715 BCE
Open full-size illustration →Source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Background
Osorkon III finally won the decades-long civil war he had fought as a prince, and once king he installed his daughter in an office, God's Wife of Amun, that would grow into one of the most powerful political positions in Thebes for the next four centuries. Additional detail: UCL Digital Egypt.
Reign dates: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Full profile
The victor of the civil war
Osorkon III was the son of Takelot II. Operating primarily as a military prince, he spent decades fighting a brutal civil war against the rival faction led by Pedubast I. He was utterly ruthless, burning the bodies of his defeated enemies to deny them an afterlife. After receiving vital military reinforcements from his brother in Herakleopolis, he successfully conquered Thebes and ascended the throne as the undisputed king of the 23rd Dynasty. He lived into his 80s, ruling for roughly 30 years.
A daughter made God's Wife of Amun
As king, Osorkon III installed his daughter Shepenupet I as God's Wife of Amun at Thebes, the first holder of that office known to have wielded real political authority in her own right rather than serving purely as a religious figurehead. She was also the first God's Wife to take a full royal titulary written in two cartouches, and uniquely among her successors she also carried the title "Lord of the Two Lands." The office Osorkon III elevated through her would go on to control vast temple estates and, through a system of royal daughters adopted as heirs, help manage the peaceful transfer of religious authority at Thebes for generations, well into the era of Nubian and Saite rule that followed.
Sources for this profile
- Shaw, I. (Ed.). (2000). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press.
- Dodson, A., & Hilton, D. (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson.
- Leprohon, R. J. (2013). The Great Name: Ancient Egyptian Royal Titulary. Society of Biblical Literature.
- UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. Chronology. UCLA.
- University College London. Digital Egypt for Universities.
The complete, APA-formatted reference list is on the Academic Sources & Bibliography page.