Third Intermediate Period
Osorkon IV
23rd Dynasty (Tanite; classification disputed) · 945-715 BCE
Open full-size illustration →Source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Background
Osorkon IV ruled a rump kingdom barely larger than Tanis itself, yet he is widely identified with the biblical "So, King of Egypt," and his failed attempt to check Assyrian power on Egypt's own doorstep is documented directly in Assyrian royal records. Research: UCL Digital Egypt; Bible Archaeology Report.
Dating: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Full profile
The last king of Tanis
Osorkon IV was traditionally counted as the final ruler of the 22nd Dynasty; several scholars now place him in the Tanite 23rd Dynasty, and this archive follows that placement. His power barely extended beyond the immediate vicinity of Tanis. As his reign concluded, Egypt faced massive external threats: the Kushite armies advancing rapidly from the south and the Neo-Assyrian Empire expanding relentlessly from the east.
"So, King of Egypt" and a failed alliance
Many biblical scholars identify Osorkon IV with the obscure "So, King of Egypt" named in the Second Book of Kings, whom Hoshea, the last king of Israel, appealed to for help against Assyria; the aid never materialized, and Hoshea was deposed. A few years later, in 720 BCE, Osorkon sent a general named Re'e to reinforce a Philistine-Egyptian coalition against the Assyrian king Sargon II at the Battle of Raphia, only for that force to be defeated as well. Facing Sargon's army directly on his own border afterward, Osorkon turned to diplomacy, and Sargon's own inscriptions record receiving a gift of twelve large Egyptian horses from him, an acknowledgment of Assyrian power from a pharaoh with little military leverage left to resist it.
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.