The Twenty-fourth Dynasty of ancient Egypt (commonly notated as Dynasty XXIV, or alternatively as the 24th Dynasty or Dynasty 24) is usually classified by historians as the fourth official ruling line of the Ancient Egyptian Third Intermediate Period. Based in the western Nile Delta city of Sais, this relatively short-lived dynasty governed during a brief period of intense political fragmentation. Moreover, it coexisted alongside rival local rulers across the Egyptian region.
History of the Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt
The Twenty-Fourth Dynasty was a short-lived group of pharaohs with their capital at Sais in the western Nile Delta.
Tefnakht I Period
Tefnakht I allied the Delta kinglets, with whose support he attempted to conquer Upper Egypt. As a result, his campaign attracted the attention of the Nubian king, Piye. Piye recorded his conquest and subjection of Tefnakhte of Sais and his peers in a well-known inscription. Pharaoh Tefnakht is always called the “Great Chief of the West” in Piye’s Victory Stela and two stelas dating to the regnal years 36 and 38 of Shoshenq V. However, it is uncertain if he ever adopted an official royal title.
However, Olivier Perdu has now argued that a certain Shepsesre Tefnakhte of Sais was not, in fact, Piye’s famous nemesis. Perdu published a recently discovered donation stela from a private collection. The document is dated to Year 2 of Necho I of Sais and is similar in style, epigraphy and text to the donation stela of Shepsesre. Most Egyptologists do not accept Perdu’s arguments. They believe that the Year 8 Shepsesre Tefnakht Athens stela was most likely Tefnakht I. If he existed, the later king Tefnakht II would have been a close predecessor of Necho I. Notably, Tefnakht II and Necho I ruled as local Saite kings during the Nubian era under Taharqa.
Bakenranef Period
Tefnakht I’s successor, Bakenranef, definitely assumed the throne of Sais and took the royal name Wahkare. His authority was recognised in much of the Delta, including Memphis. Several Year 5 and Year 6 Serapeum stelas from his reign have been found there. This Dynasty came to a sudden end. Specifically, Shebitqo, the second king of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty, attacked Sais, captured Bakenrenef and burned him alive.
Pharaohs of the 24th Dynasty
Tefnakht
Shepsesre Tefnakht (rendered as Τνεφαχθός or Tnephachthos in Ancient Greek) served as a prince of Sais and established Egypt’s brief Twenty-fourth Dynasty. He eventually advanced to the position of Chief of the Ma in his native city. Scholars believe his rule lasted approximately seven years, spanning from around 732 BCE to 725 BCE. Tefnakht I originally started his rise as Prince of Sais and the “Great Chief of the West.” His reign overlapped with the final years of Shoshenq V, the ultimate monarch of the 22nd Dynasty. As the second ruler of Sais, Tefnakht I succeeded Osorkon C, who, according to Kenneth Kitchen, is documented across various sources as the city’s Army Leader and Chief of the Ma. Furthermore, an individual called Ankhhor preceded him in the role of Great Chief of the West.
A recently discovered statue dedicated by King Tefnakht I to Amun-Re reveals essential details about his origins. The statue’s text states that Tefnakht was the son of a certain Gemnefsutkapu and Basa’s grandson, an Amun priest near Sais. Consequently, as traditionally believed, Tefnakht was not descended from either line of Chiefs of the Ma and the Libu. Instead, he came from a family of priests. Therefore, his ancestors were more likely Egyptians than Libyans.
Bakenranef
Bakenranef, known by the ancient Greeks as Bocchoris (Ancient Greek: Βόκχωρις, Bókkhōris; Latin: Bocchoris) or Bochchoris (Βόχχωρις, Bókhkhōris; Latin: Bochchoris) was briefly a king of the 24th Dynasty of Egypt. He was based at Sais in the western Delta. He ruled Lower Egypt from c. 725 to 720 BC. Though the Ptolemaic period Egyptian historian Manetho considers him the sole member of the 24th Dynasty, modern scholars include his father Tefnakht in that Dynasty.
Although Sextus Julius Africanus quotes Manetho as stating that “Bocchoris” ruled for six years, some contemporary scholars again differ and assign him a shorter reign of only five years, based on evidence from an Apis Bull burial stela. It establishes that Bakenranef’s reign ended only at the start of his 6th regnal year. Under the Egyptian dating system, this means he had a power of 5 full years. Furthermore, Bakenranef’s prenomen or royal name, Wahkare, means “Constant is the Spirit of Re” in Egyptian.