The Twenty-second Dynasty of ancient Egypt is also known as the Bubastite Dynasty since the pharaohs initially ruled from the city of Bubastis. It was founded by king Shoshenq I.
Ancient Egypt’s Twenty-first, Twenty-second, Twenty-third, Twenty-fourth, and Twenty-fifth dynasties are often combined under the Third Intermediate Period group designation.
Rulers of the Twenty-second Dynasty of ancient Egypt
The pharaohs of the Twenty-second Dynasty were a series of Meshwesh (ancient Libyan tribe) chieftains who ruled from c. 943 BC until 716 BC. They had settled in Egypt since the Twentieth Dynasty and were known in Egypt as the ‘Great Chiefs of the Ma’ (Ma being a synonym of Meshwesh). Manetho states that this Berber dynasty originated at Bubastis, but its rulers almost certainly governed from Tanis, their capital and the city where their tombs were excavated.
Another pharaoh who belongs to this group is Tutkheperre Shoshenq. His period of rule within this Dynasty is uncertain, although he is now thought to have governed Egypt early in the 9th century BC for a short time between Osorkon I and Takelot I. The next ruler at Tanis after Shoshenq V was Osorkon IV. This pharaoh is sometimes not believed to be a member of the 22nd Dynasty since he only controlled a small portion of Lower Egypt together with Tefnakhte of Sais, whose authority was recognised at Memphis—and Iuput II of Leontopolis.
Pharaohs
The known rulers during the Twenty-second Dynasty include:
Shoshenq I
Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq I (Egyptian ššnq; reigned c. 943–922 BC)—also known as Shashank or Sheshonk or Sheshonq I—was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt. Of Meshwesh ancestry, Shoshenq I was the son of Nimlot A, Great Chief of the Ma, and his wife Tentshepeh A, a daughter of a Great Chief of the Ma herself. He is presumed to be the Shishak mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, and his exploits are carved on the Bubastite Portal at Karnak.
Osorkon I
Sekhemkheperre Osorkon I was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 22nd Dynasty. The Osorkon Bust found at Byblos is one of the five Byblian royal inscriptions. Osorkon’s territory included much of the Levant.
Shoshenq II
Heqakheperre Shoshenq II or Shoshenq IIa was a pharaoh of the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt. He was the only ruler of this Dynasty whose tomb was not plundered by tomb robbers. His final resting place was discovered within an antechamber of Psusennes I’s tomb at Tanis by Pierre Montet in 1939. Montet removed the coffin lid of Shoshenq II on March 20, 1939, in the presence of king Farouk of Egypt himself. It contained many jewel-encrusted bracelets and pectorals, a beautiful hawk-headed silver coffin and a gold funerary mask. The facemask had been placed upon the head of the king. Montet later discovered the intact tombs of two Twenty-first Dynasty kings (Psusennes I and Amenemope) in February and April 1940, respectively. Shoshenq II’s prenomen, Heqakheperre Setepenre, means “The manifestation of Ra rules, the chosen one of Ra.”
Takelot I
Hedjkheperre Setepenre Takelot I was an ancient Libyan ruler and pharaoh during the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt.
Osorkon II
Usermaatre Setepenamun Osorkon II was the fifth king of the Twenty-second Dynasty of Ancient Egypt and the son of King Takelot I and Queen Kapes. He ruled Egypt from approximately 872 BC to 837 BC from Tanis, the capital of that Dynasty.
Shoshenq III
According to contemporary historical records, King Usermaatre Setepenre Shoshenq III of the 22nd Dynasty ruled for 39 years. Two Apis Bulls were buried in his reign’s fourth and 28th years, and he celebrated his Heb Sed Jubilee in his regnal year 30. He was not Osorkon II’s son but a grandson through his dead father, prince Takelot. As he was only a grandson, his cousin Takelot II contested his succession, and Egypt was divided. He married his aunt Tjesbastperu to strengthen his claim. He outlived his first five sons and was thus succeeded by his 6th son Shoshenq IV, who later died childless as well and was succeeded by Shoshenq III’s 7th son Pami.
Shoshenq IV
Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq IV was an ancient Egyptian ruler of the 22nd Dynasty between the reigns of Shoshenq III and Pami. In 1986, David Rohl proposed that two king Shoshenqs were bearing the prenomen Hedjkheperre – (i) the well-known founder of the Dynasty, Hedjkheperre Shoshenq I, and (ii) a later pharaoh from the second half of the Dynasty, whom Rohl called Hedjkheperre Shoshenq (b) due to his exact position in the Dynasty being unknown. Following Rohl’s proposal (first suggested by Pieter Gert van der Veen in 1984), the British Egyptologist Aidan Dodson supported the new king’s existence by demonstrating that the earlier Hedjkheperre Shoshenq bore simple epithets in his titulary. In contrast, the later Hedjkheperre Shoshenq’s epithets were more complex.
Pami
Usermaatre Setepenre Pami was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 22nd Dynasty who ruled for seven years. “Pami” in Egyptian means “the Cat” or “He who belongs to the Cat Bastet.”
Shoshenq V
Aakheperre Shoshenq V was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the late 22nd Dynasty. Despite having enjoyed one of the longest reigns of the entire Dynasty – 38 years – and having left a fair amount of attestations, little is known about Shoshenq’s life. His realm underwent an unstoppable shrinking due to the progressive increase of independence of various tribal chiefs, princes and concurrent kings, above all the pharaoh–to–be Tefnakht.
Pedubast II
Pedubast II was a pharaoh of Ancient Egypt associated with the 22nd or, more likely, the 23rd Dynasties. Not mentioned in all King lists, he is mentioned as a possible son and successor to Shoshenq V by Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton in their 2004 book, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. They date his reign to about 743–733 BC, between Shoshenq V and Osorkon IV.
Osorkon IV
Usermaatre Osorkon IV was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh during the late Third Intermediate Period. He is generally – though not universally – identified with the King Shilkanni mentioned by Assyrian sources and with the biblical So, King of Egypt mentioned in the second Books of Kings 17:4. Traditionally considered the last king of the 22nd Dynasty, he was de facto little more than the ruler in Tanis and Bubastis in Lower Egypt.
Osorkon ruled during one of the most chaotic and politically fragmented periods of ancient Egypt, in which the Nile Delta was dotted with small Libyan kingdoms and principalities and Meshwesh dominions; as the last heir of the Tanite rulers, he inherited the easternmost parts of these kingdoms, the most involved in all the political and military upheavals that soon would afflict the Near East. During his reign, he had to face the power of, and ultimately submit himself to, the Kushite King Piye during Piye’s conquest of Egypt. Osorkon IV also dealt with the threatening Neo-Assyrian Empire outside his eastern borders.
