Third Intermediate Period
Takelot III
23rd Dynasty (Libyan) · 818-715 BCE
Open full-size illustration →Source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Background
Takelot III's reign was once thought to have lasted barely seven years, until a stela turned up in a remote desert oasis in 2005 and nearly doubled how long historians now believe he actually ruled. Research: UCL Digital Egypt; Leiden University.
Dating: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Full profile
A fading dynasty
Takelot III succeeded Osorkon III. His reign is poorly documented in the archaeological record, representing the rapid decline of the 23rd Dynasty. The royal family in Thebes became increasingly divided by internal sibling and clan rivalries.
An oasis stela rewrites a reign
In February 2005, an archaeological expedition working at Amheida in the Dakhla Oasis, far west of the Nile Valley, uncovered a hieratic stela dated to Takelot III's 13th regnal year, recording a local governor's donation of land to a temple of the god Thoth. Before this discovery, Egyptologists had generally credited Takelot III with a reign of only about seven years; the Amheida stela nearly doubled that estimate and remains the primary evidence for how long he actually held the throne, illustrating how a single object recovered far from the traditional centers of power can reshape the accepted chronology of an entire reign.
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.