| Osorkon V the Good | |
|---|---|
| |
| Pharaoh of Egypt | |
| Reign | 17 August 815 - 20 November 769 |
| Predecessor | Shoshenq IX |
| Successor | Takelot IV |
| Pharaoh of Opetniut | |
| Reign | 18 March 840 - 12 May 785 |
| Predecessor | Takelot II |
| Successor | Osorkon VI |
| Born | August 28, 854 Waset, Egypt |
| Died | November 20, 769 (aged 85) |
| Spouse | Karoadjet, Tentsai |
| Issue | Shepenupet I, Takelot III, Rudamun I, Shoshenq |
| Full name | |
| Horus Name: Kanakht Khaemwaset Nebty Name: Setibtawy Golden Horus Name: Mesnetjeru Praenomen: Usermaatra Setepenamun Nomen: Osorkon Siaset Meryamun Netjerheqawaset | |
| House | Shoshenq |
| Dynasty | Paihutyian - Shoshenquid - Waset |
| Father | Takelot II |
| Mother | Karomama II |
| Religion | Kemetism |
Usermaatre Setepenamun Osorkon V Si-Ese was Pharaoh of Egypt in the 8th Century BC. He is the same person as the Crown Prince and High Priest of Amun Osorkon B, son of Takelot II by his Great Royal Wife Karomama II. Prince Osorkon B is best attested by his Chronicle—which consists of a series of texts documenting his activities at Thebes—on the Bubastite Portal at Ipetisut. He later reigned as king Osorkon V in Upper Egypt for twenty-eight years after defeating the rival forces of Pedubast II/Shoshenq IX who had apparently resisted the authority of his father here. Osorkon ruled the last five years of his reign in coregency with his son, Takelot IV, according to Ipetisut Nile Level Text No. 13. Osorkon V's formal titulary was long and elaborate: Usermaatre Setepenamun, Osorkon Si-Ese Meryamun, Netjer-Heqa-waset.
Life[]
Context[]
Even before the end of the reign of Osorkon IV, one of his presumed grandsons, Takelot II, then high priest of Amun in Thebes, proclaimed himself king of Upper Egypt around 834 BCE and left his position as high priest of Amun to Harsiesi II, presumed grandson of Harsiesi I. Then Sheshonq VIII, presumed son of Osorkon IV (if Sheshonq VIII incontestably belongs to the royal family, the exact link with Osorkon IV is unknown), was crowned king in Bubastis around 830 BCE following the latter. A struggle then began between the two factions. Sheshonq VIII launched an energetic policy aimed at regaining control of Upper Egypt, he will also be recognized in the year VI of his reign in Thebes on a nilometric inscription on the quay of the temple of Ipetisut on which he is associated with the high priest of Amun Harsiesi II. Sheshonq VIII therefore seems to have played on the rivalries between Takelot II and Harsiesi II to impose himself in this region. In reaction and in obscure circumstances, Takelot II had Harsiesi II replaced by his son Osorkon (the future Osorkon V), and this before the year XI of his reign (in fact, a Theban revolt broke out against Takelot and Orokon during years 11 and 12 of Takelot's reign). It was with this revolt that a certain Petubatis I (or Padibastet), presumed brother of Harsiesi II, entered the fray and who also proclaimed himself king while supporting the latter as high priest of Amun. Three camps were thus established: Sheshonq VIII in Lower Egypt and the duos Takelot II - Osorkon V and Petubatis I - Harsiesi II for the control of Upper Egypt.
High Priest of Amun[]
The revolt of the years XI and XII against Takelot II and his son the high priest of Amun Osorkon does not seem to work, however, because if Petubatis I proclaimed himself king, Takelot II remained recognized in Thebes until the year XV. Petubatis I had to settle elsewhere during this period before returning later. Indeed, a second revolt, supported by the Theban elites, broke out in Thebes in the year XV (i.e. the year XI of Sheshonq VIII and the year IV of Petubatis I), this associated with the temporary alliance between Sheshonq VIII and Petubatis I made it possible to defeat Takelot II and Osorkon. Petubatis therefore reinstalled Harsiesi II as high priest of Amun while Takelot and Osorkon took refuge in an unknown place. The alliance must have lasted for some time, because an early inscription on the quay of Ipetisut shows these two kings with the high priest Horsaiset II, and a second inscription on the tenth pylon of Ipetisut indicates that the general Pasedbastet, son of Sheshonq VIII, restored this pylon while associating himself with Petubatis. Middle Egypt was also subject to political vagaries, because Heracleopolis, a strategic lock between Upper and Lower Egypt, at one point recognized Petubatis as king, although the city had previously been under Bubastite domination. Petubatis' domination of Thebes lasted only about a decade, because Takelot II and his son Osorkon dominated Thebes again in the year 24 of Takelot.
In any case, when Takelot II died in the XXVI year of his reign, it was a certain Iuput I, another member of the royal family (a son of Osorkon IV or of Petubatis I), who succeeded him and not the son of Takelot, the high priest of Amun Osorkon. This reign would last at least twelve years. While some believe that Iuput I and Petubatis I were allies on the basis of a nilometric inscription on which the two kings are mentioned (the year II of Iuput corresponding to the year XVI of Petubatis), this is not certain. It was then that Osorkon allied himself with Sheshonq VIII, probably because Petubatis threatened the power of Sheshonq. Thus, from the year XXII to the year XXV of his reign, Osorkon was re-established as high priest of Amun in Ipetisut under the theoretical suzerainty of Sheshonq VIII. Indeed, in the year XXV of the reign of Sheshonq VIII (that is to say the year XVIII of the reign of Petubatis), Osorkon was driven out of the city by a third revolt supported by Petubatis who once again re-established Harsiesi II as high priest of Amun. In the year XXVII of the reign of Sheshonq VIII, Osorkon returned once again to Thebes by conquering the city with the help of a fleet coming from the south and remained in the post of high priest of Amun until the year XXIX of the reign of Sheshonq VIII (that is to say the year XXII of the reign of Petubatis). In fact, Petubatis reconquered the city with the help of his troops.
The following year, in the year XXIII of the reign of Petubatis, a certain Takelot of whom nothing is known (perhaps a son of Harsiesi II) is recognized as high priest of Amun in Thebes. Petubatis disappears shortly after and a certain Sheshonq X succeeds him. Little is known about him. In any case, Osorkon returns one last time to Thebes and definitively reestablishes his authority against Sheshonq X and the high priest Takelot to become King Osorkon V, this event takes place in the year XXXIX of the reign of Sheshonq VIII and the year VI of the reign of Sheshonq X. After this event, the country is divided in two and never again will a Bubstite king of the dynasty be recognized in Thebes.
Reign[]
Osorkon proclaimed himself king shortly after the reconquest of Thebes. His reign was apparently calm. He is attested as far north as Hermopolis, so it is not certain that Herakleopolis, a strategic lock between the north and the south, was part of his kingdom. He appointed his son Takelot, the future Takelot IV, as high priest of Amun and another son, Djedptahiouefânkh, as chief of the foreign countries of the south, probably to manage from Elephantine (southern limit of his kingdom) relations with the kingdom of Kush then in full swing. In addition, his daughter Shepenupet I was appointed divine worshipper of Amun around 765 BCE, she inaugurated a line of divine worshippers with a far greater influence than those who preceded her. The king, at the end of his reign, in his eighties, reigned in co-regency with his son Takelot IV for five years.