Tanotamun

Name of Tanotamun
Horus name	Wah-merut W3ḥ-mr.wt (Mit) constant popularity
Throne name	Ba-ka-Re B3-k3-Rˁ Mighty is the Ka des Re
Proper name	Tanotamun (Tanot Amun) Tnwt Jmn ... Amun

Tanotamun (also Tanutamun or Tanwetamani ) was the sixth and last pharaoh of the 25th Dynasty . He ruled from 664 to 657 BC. Chr.

origin

The ancestry of Tanotamun is unclear, but he is usually considered to be the son of Shebitko (by his presumed wife Qalheta). The Assyrian campaign report of the Rassam cylinder sees him as the "son of Shabaka". Tanontamun's wives are Pijearti and maybe also Malaqaje .

Domination

Tanotamun ascended the throne after the death of his predecessor Taharqa (possibly a short co-reign?) And was crowned Pharaoh in Napata on the 4th cataract. Like its predecessors, which devoted the Egyptian tradition ruler of the 25th dynasty, he sacrificed in Elephantine the Khnum and Thebes the Amun-Re .

Head of Amun with the name of Tanotamun on the back pillar

Recaptures

The most important document of his policy is the so-called " dream stele of Tanotamun ", the text of which reports on the reconquest of the north ordered in the dream and the events that followed. Accordingly, he recaptured Memphis and the Delta, whereupon Necho I, loyal to the Assyrian Empire, was killed. The other princes submitted to Tanotamun.

However, the success was short-lived, because the Assyrian army led by the generals of Assurbanipal provided 663 BC. Chr. Restore the old state. The goal of the Assyrian Egypt policy, the end of the Cushite rule, was implemented and Thebes was plundered but not destroyed. Until the reconquest by Psammetich I. 655 BC The delta remained under Assyrian rule.

Upper Egypt was in fact ruled by the still incumbent mayor of Thebes Montuemhat and the wife of God Schepenupet II , while Tanotamun continued until 656 BC. Was formally recognized and is dated after him.

Construction activity

There was little construction activity during his reign. He had his pyramid , which is now completely demolished, and the painted burial chamber underneath it built in the El-Kurru necropolis .

The time after

Not until 655 BC The turning point took place with the installation of Nitokris I as wife of God by Psammetich I. Nothing is known about the further fate of Tanotamun and the duration of his recognition in Nubia. In Nubia , Atlanersa succeeded him on the throne.

literature

• Francis Breyer : Tanutamani. The dream stele and its surroundings (= Egypt and Old Testament. Vol. 57). Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2003, ISBN 3-447-04786-0 .
• Dows Dunham : The Royal Cemeteries of Kush I, El Kurru. Harvard University Press, Cambridge Mass. 1950, p. 60 (on the pyramid).
• Karl Jansen-Winkeln : The Chronology of the Third Intermediate Period: Dyns 22-24. In: Erik Hornung, Rolf Krauss, David A. Warburton (eds.): Ancient Egyptian Chronology (= Handbook of Oriental studies. Section One. The Near and Middle East. Volume 83). Brill, Leiden / Boston 2006, ISBN 978-90-04-11385-5 , pp. 234-264 ( online ).
• Thomas Schneider : Lexicon of the Pharaohs. Albatros, Düsseldorf 2002, ISBN 3-491-96053-3 , pp. 285-286.

Web links

Commons : Tanotamun  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Tanotamun's burial chamber

predecessor	Office	successor
Taharqa	Pharaoh of Egypt 664 to 663 BC Chr.	Psammetich I.

predecessor	Office	successor
Taharqa	Pharaoh of Upper Egypt 663 to 657 BC Chr.	Psammetich I.

predecessor	Office	successor
Taharqa	King of Nubia 664 to 657 BC Chr.	Atlanersa