Third Intermediate Period
Pedubast I
23rd Dynasty (Libyan) · 818-715 BCE
Open full-size illustration →Source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Background
Pedubast I's rebellion against Takelot II opened nearly three decades of civil war for control of Thebes, a conflict known mainly from his rival's own inscriptions, and his reach as a rival king apparently extended surprisingly far beyond Thebes itself. Further reading: UCL Digital Egypt.
Chronological source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Full profile
The rival king
Pedubast I was a cousin of Takelot II who challenged him for the throne of Thebes. Backed by factions in the north, he sparked a brutal, decades-long civil war for control of Upper Egypt. He repeatedly captured and lost Thebes during his violent struggle against Takelot II and his son, Prince Osorkon.
A rival's reach into the desert
Most of what is known about this civil war comes not from Pedubast's own monuments but from the Chronicle of Prince Osorkon, an inscription his rival's son carved at Karnak describing the conflict from the opposing side, which makes an unbiased account of Pedubast's own actions difficult to recover. The struggle dragged on until Osorkon finally defeated his rivals in the 39th regnal year of the northern king Shoshenq III. Excavations at the Great Temple of the western Dakhla Oasis have found Pedubast's cartouche, indicating that his authority as a rival king was recognized far beyond Thebes itself, deep into Egypt's western desert.
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.