Third Intermediate Period
Rudamun
23rd Dynasty (Libyan) · 818-715 BCE
Open full-size illustration →Source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Background
Rudamun closed out the 23rd Dynasty just as Nubian conquest loomed over Upper Egypt, and recent archaeological finds have complicated the older view of him as a mere figurehead ruling a completely fragmented kingdom. Additional detail: UCL Digital Egypt.
Reign dates: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Full profile
A weak figurehead
Rudamun was the final recognized ruler of the 23rd Dynasty. He was likely little more than a political figurehead over a completely fractured southern kingdom. As his reign ended, Upper Egypt was left entirely vulnerable to the impending invasion of the Kushite kings from Nubia.
A larger kingdom than once assumed
Fragments of a faience statuette bearing Rudamun's name, found at Hermopolis, suggest his authority actually extended across a fairly broad stretch of Upper Egypt, from Herakleopolis down to Thebes, complicating the older picture of him as a powerless figurehead over a hopelessly splintered realm. He also married his daughter, Irbastudjanefu, to Peftjauawybast, the ruler of Herakleopolis, binding that city to his own dynasty. Within a generation, though, this entire regional order collapsed: Peftjauawybast appears in the Victory Stela of the Nubian king Piye as one of four defeated local rulers, alongside Osorkon IV, Iuput II, and Nimlot, who were all forced to submit once Piye's armies swept north.
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.