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9. The Invasion of Piankhy
- Johns Hopkins University Press
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9 THE INVASION OF PIANKHY 72 t must be remembered, when attempting to write a history of Egypt’s foreign involvement from about 900 to 525 b.c., that for most of our textual material we are reliant on non-Egyptian sources. The battle of Raphia points up the dif~culties for the historian inherent in such a situation. If Sargon’s victory had been so complete , why had he not pursued—it could easily have been at a relaxed gait—the terri~ed Re’a and mopped up the Delta townships one by one? The sequel suggests that Sargon was putting the best face on a military engagement that, although a decided repulse to the relieving forces of Hanno and Re’a, was certainly not the overwhelming victory his construction of events placed upon it. In fact, in Egypt Tefnakhte’s reputation suffered hardly at all. In the years 719–718 b.c. he began to build on the continuing strength of his Delta base. His detractors might well have derided his supporters by calling them “dogs at his (Tefnakhte’s) heels,” but the opponents of the Eleventh and Eighteenth Dynasties might well have used the same terms in a losing cause. Tefnakhte was not weakened at all by recent events and began to cast his eyes on those Egyptian principalities not yet within his ambit. He already had Memphis: now he needed Middle Egypt. Tefnakhte’s march south was a demonstration in force (see map 3). Of the two petty kingships whose jurisdiction extended over Middle Egypt from Asyut to Memphis, Namlot of Hermopolis declared for Tefnakhte, butPeftjawabastofHerakleopolis1 refused.Despitethisrecalcitrance,allof Peftjawabast’s fortresses except his capital opened their gates to Tefnakhte on both sides of the Nile.2 Tefnakhte’s circuit, up the Bahr Yussef and back down the Nile, con~rmed his new acquisitions, and he then proceeded to place Herakleopolis under siege. Peftjawabast’s desperate appeal for help, relayed southwards by the few who dared resist the rising power in the Delta, precipitated the momentous events of the next few years. I Map 3. Middle and Lower Egypt at the end of the eighth century B.C. [18.117.196.217] Project MUSE (2024-04-17 15:06 GMT) PIANKHY AND THEBES The exact date of Osorkon III’s death is at present impossible to compute, but it probably occurred before Tefnakhte had appeared on the scene and therefore about 730 b.c., if not before. When the old king went to rest in his tomb on the west of Thebes,3 he left a threatened Thebaid in the hands of progeny too weak to offer their subjects much protection. Takelot III, presumably posted in the north (see Chapter 8), cannot have survived him long. In Thebes itself another son, Amunrud, appears in minor inscriptions4 and lived long enough to produce at least two daughters, one who married king Peftawabast of Herakleopolis5 and a second who became a singer of Amun and was buried at Medinet Habu.6 Amunrud himself did not last long, although his ultimate fate is unknown. With his disappearance all semblance of rule by those of Libyan descent over the Thebaid came to an end, and shortly thereafter7 in an unrecorded but apparently bloodless coup, the Kushite Piankhy extended his control over Thebes.8 Far from opposing the move, Thebes saw every reason to welcome a southern, black-skinned monarch who revered Amun and his city as much as the indigenous inhabitants. Piankhy imposed a garrison on the town under two generals, Pawerem and Lemersekny, but their yoke was light, and there was no purge of individuals who owed their appointments to the Twenty-third Dynasty.9 In fact, even the Divine Worshiper Shepenwepet (I) (see ~g. 16), though a scion of the late royal family, was not removed but was allowed to continue in of~ce with all the honor accorded a titular head of state. Piankhy did, however, oblige her to make one concession that set a precedent for two centuries to come: she had to adopt as her “child” and Divine Worshiper in training Piankhy’s younger sister Amunirdis.10 Both women are duly honored on the monuments with queenly accoutrements and titles, the senior partner taking only slight precedence over her apprentice. But there could be no doubt about the mechanism the Kushites had devised: Amunirdis represented their interests in Thebes, and through her emissary11 as well as his generals Piankhy kept close control of the Thebaid...