Usimare Setepenamun Osorkon III Si-Ese was the famous Crown Prince and High Priest of Amun Osorkon B, son of Takelot II by Queen Karomama-Merytmut. Osorkon B composed important his 'Chronicle'--which consists of a series of texts documenting his activity at Thebes--on the Bubastite Portal at Karnak. He later reigned as king Osorkon III in Upper Egypt for 28 Years after defeating the opposing forces of Pedubast I/Shoshenq VI who had stubbornly resisted his father's authority. Osorkon ruled the last 5 Years of his reign in co-regency with his son, Takelot III, according to Karnak Nile Quay Text No.13. Hedjkheperre Setepenre Takelot II Si-Ese Meryamun was a Twenty-Third Dynasty pharaoh of Ancient Egypt in Middle and Upper Egypt between 840 BC and 815 BC. He was the High Priest Takelot F, son of the High Priest of Amun Nimlot C at Thebes and, thus, the grandson of... Two important places in antiquity were called Thebes: Thebes, Greece – Thebes of the Seven Gates; one-time capital of Boeotia. ... Shoshenq VI is known to be Pedubast Is immediate successor at Thebes based upon the career of the Letter Writer to Pharaoh Hor IX, who served under Osorkon II and Pedubast I (see Hor IXs statue--CGC 42226--which is explicitly dated to Pedubasts reign). ... Co-regency refers to the situation where a monarchial position (such as King, Queen, Emperor or Empress), normally held by only a single person, is held by two. ... Usimare Setepenamun Takelot III Si-Ese was Osorkon IIIs eldest son and successor. ... The Nile Quay Texts (or Nile Level Texts) are enscribed on the quay at the temple of Karnak, in Thebes, Egypt. ...

Identity

Osorkon III is attested by numerous impressive donation stelas and stone blocks from Herakleopolis through to Thebes and is generally thought to have been a contemporary of the Lower Egyptian Twenty-Second Dynasty kings, Shoshenq IV, Pami, and the first decade or so of Shoshenq V's reign. Osorkon III's chief wife was Queen Tentsai while a stela of Prince Osorkon B calls his wife Tent[...] with part of the name being lost. The latter name could equally be rendered as either Tentsai or Tentamun. Significantly, however, both men have a daughter called Shepenupet. Secondly, according to both the British scholar M.A. Leahy and ther German Egyptologist Karl Jansen-Winkeln, one important donation stela** which was discovered in 1982 at Tehna el-Gebel (ancient Akoris) by Japanese archaeologists, reveals that Osorkon III was once a High Priest of Amun in his own right. (Leahy, Libya and Egypt, p.192 & Jansen-Winkeln, JEA 81(1995), p.138) The document explicitly calls Osorkon III, the first Prophet of Amun. Osorkon III, thus, was almost certainly the High Priest Osorkon B, who defeated his father's opponents at Thebes in Year 39 of Shoshenq III, as Leahy notes. This theory has been accepted by many Egyptologists today including J. Von Beckerath in GM 144, pp.9-11, Karl Jansen-Winkeln in JEA 81(1995), pp.141-142, Gerard Broekman in JEA 88(2000), pp.174 and Aidan Dodson among others. Osorkon probably lived into his 80's, which explains why he appointed his son Takelot as the junior co-regent to the throne in his final 5 years. He would have been in failing health by this time. Osorkon III's coregency with Takelot III is the last attested royal co-regency in Ancient Egyptian history. Later dynasties from Nubia, Sais, Assyria, and Persia all ruled Egypt with a single king on the throne. Stele is also a concept in plant biology. ... Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq IV ruled Egypts 22nd Dynasty between the reigns of Shoshenq III and Pami. ... Pami was an Egyptian Pharaoh who ruled Egypt for 7 years. ... King Usimare Setepenamun Shoshenq III ruled Egypts 22nd Dynasty for 39 Years according to contemporary historical records. ... Jürgen von Beckerath (born 19 February 1920) is a prominent German Egyptologist. ...

Wives:

According to Kenneth Kitchen, Osorkon III had 2 Wives: his chief Queen Karoadjet, mother of Shepenupet I, and a lesser wife named Tentsai, mother of Takelot III and Rudamun. (Kitchen, TIPE 1996, p.352) Shepenupet I would outlive both her half-brothers as the serving God's Wife of Amun at Thebes and survive into the reign of the Nubian ruler, Shebitku, where she is depicted on the Temple Walls of Osiris-Heqadjet, which was decorated by this king. Kenneth Anderson Kitchen (born 1932) is Personal and Brunner Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and Honorary Research Fellow at the School of Archaeology, Classics and Oriental Studies, University of Liverpool, England. ... Usimare Setepenamun Takelot III Si-Ese was Osorkon IIIs eldest son and successor. ... Rudamun (possibly 755 - 735 BC) was a king of the Twenty-third dynasty of Ancient Egypt. ... Shebitku was the third king of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt and ruled from (707/706 BC-690 BC). ...

References:

• G. Broekman, The Reign of Takeloth II, a Controversial Matter, GM 205 (2005), pp.21-35
• Karl Jansen-Winkeln, "Historische Probleme Der 3. Zwischenzeit," JEA 81(1995), pp.129-149
• M.A. Leahy, 'Appendix: The Twenty-third Dynasty, p.192' in M.A. Leahy(ed.), "Libya and Egypt c.1300–750 BC." London: School of Oriental and African Studies, Centre of Near and Middle Eastern Studies, and The Society for Libyan Studies (1990)
• K.A. Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (c.1100--650 BC), 3rd ed., Warminster: 1996
• **The Paleological Association of Japan, Preliminary Report. Second Season of the Excavations at the Site of Akoris, Egypt 1982 (Kyoto:1983), 13-14 plate 11