Third Intermediate Period
Takelot II
22nd Dynasty (Bubastite/Libyan) · 945-715 BCE
Open full-size illustration →Source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Background
Takelot II's break from Tanis plunged Egypt into a long civil war, and a lunar eclipse recorded during that conflict by his own son has become one of the few hard astronomical anchors historians have for dating the entire Libyan Period. Additional detail: UCL Digital Egypt.
Reign dates: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Full profile
The founder of the 23rd Dynasty
Takelot II was the grandson of Osorkon II. Taking advantage of the political weakness in the north, he officially declared independence from Tanis and crowned himself king in Thebes. This action effectively established the 23rd Dynasty. His rebellion plunged the country into a chaotic, multi-generational civil war.
An eclipse that anchors a dynasty
The main source for the civil war of Takelot II's reign is a lengthy inscription known as the Chronicle of Prince Osorkon, carved by his son at Karnak, which records that in his 15th regnal year "the sky swallowed not the moon" amid a period of upheaval, almost certainly a reference to a lunar eclipse. Because eclipses can be calculated precisely, Egyptologists have tried to match this record to a specific historical date to help fix the chronology of the entire Libyan Period, though specialists still disagree over exactly which eclipse the text describes and what that implies for the dates of Takelot II's predecessors.
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.