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28-680: There is much debate surrounding this dynasty, which may have been situated at Herakleopolis Magna , Hermopolis Magna , and Thebes . Monuments from their reign show that they controlled Upper Egypt in parallel with the Twenty-second dynasty , shortly before the death of Osorkon II . While the Twenty-third Dynasty is considered a Tanite dynasty, as it originated from the city Tanis , it never reigned from there. The Twenty-second Dynasty, from Bubastis , took over Tanis and Memphis and managed to retain these cities almost until

56-532: A name harking back to the site's period of Roman occupation) had much left to be unearthed. Petrie discovered a great deal that Naville had not believed existed. He completed the excavation of the temple of Heryshef, and attempted to find other remains in an area around the temple. In so doing, he succeeded in discovering such previously unknown features. such as a house's remains from the Roman period of occupation. He also identified another temple that he attributed to

84-543: A previously unknown tomb with several false doors dating to the First Intermediate Period, as well as funeral offerings, all of which had not been vandalized. Other finds include the funeral chapel of senior official Neferjau and his wife Sat-Bahetep, and the remains of tomb H.1 belonging to a late-11th Dynasty officier named Khety. Iuput I Iuput I (or Auput I ) was an ancient Egyptian co-regent of his father pharaoh Pedubast I during

112-775: Is the Roman name of the capital of the 20th nome of ancient Upper Egypt , known in Ancient Egyptian as nn nswt . The site is located approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) west of the modern city of Beni Suef , in the Beni Suef Governorate of Egypt. In Ancient Egypt , Heracleopolis Magna was called nn nswt , meaning Child of the King (appearing as hnn nswt or hwt nn nswt ; also transcribed Henen-Nesut or Hut-Nen-Nesut ). This later developed into Coptic : Ϩⲛⲏⲥ or ϩⲛⲉⲥ ( /ǝhnes/ ), which

140-690: The Third Intermediate Period (1069–664 BC), Herakleopolis again rose in importance. There were many renovations and new constructions of the temple and mortuary centers that existed in the city, and it again became an important religious and political center. By the Ptolemaic Kingdom (332–30 BC), Herakleopolis was still an important religious and cultural center in Egypt. The Greek rulers of this period, in an attempt to find connections and comparisons between their own gods and

168-563: The sacred lake of Heryshef at Nenj-neswt , the ancient name of the city, suggests that it was already in existence by the mid First Dynasty , c. 2970 BC. Herakleopolis first came to prominence and reached its apogee of power during the First Intermediate Period , between 2181 and 2055 BC. Eventually after the collapse of the Old Kingdom , Egypt was divided into Upper and Lower Egypt . Herakleopolis became

196-414: The 11th Dynasty. From the later Roman periods, Petrie found numerous objects associated with many of the mortuary sites that he unearthed, including iron tools, pottery, and icons. While other excavations are not numerous and are naturally overshadowed by that of Flinders Petrie and his famous expedition, there have been several more recent excavations that have also increased knowledge of the site. During

224-632: The 1980s, a Spanish team conducted excavations and uncovered such artefacts as a libation altar and a pair of decorated eyes, presumably from a statue, all attributed to a temple dated to the Third Intermediate Period. A Spanish team also conducted excavations as recently as 2008, under the direction of María del Carmen Pérez-Die of the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid, Spain. Their efforts revealed

252-633: The 19th Dynasty, as well as the aforementioned additions to the Temple of Heryshef associated with Ramesses the Great . Other than archaeological features, the artefacts found by Petrie during his excavation are numerous, and span the entire chronological range of settlement. Relating specifically to artefacts found from the end of the First Intermediate Period and the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, Petrie uncovered numerous pot sherds he associated with

280-659: The Delta itself. Part of these conflicts were succession struggles, but another part involved the High Priests of Amun at Thebes , who for a period during the Twenty-first Dynasty effectively ruled Upper Egypt, despite not being regarded as a separate dynasty (however, some did become pharaoh as part of a dynasty, like Psusennes I ). Although their power declined after the Twenty-first Dynasty,

308-468: The High Priests of Amun remained powerful and influential, and marriages into the royal family were not unusual. As a result, multiple reigns within the Twenty-third Dynasty as well as between the Twenty-second and Twenty-third Dynasties overlap. This is because some members of the Twenty-third Dynasty reigned as independent kings (like Harsiese A ), and as a separate dynasty after Osorkon II ’s (of

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336-686: The Theban revolt above, disappeared in the twenty-ninth year of Shoshenq III's reign, prince Osorkon effectively controlled Upper Egypt for about a decade as chief priest of Amun. Meanwhile, Shoshenq III was and remained more powerful than the kings in Leontopolis. By this time, Pedubastis and his son Iuput , whom he had appointed as co-regent, had already died, seemingly in the same year (804 BC). Shoshenq VI had succeeded Pedubastis, but not for long, as prince Osorkon succeeded him six years later as Osorkon III , reigning simultaneously with Shoshenq III for

364-624: The Twenty-second Dynasty) death. Some historians argue that the Twenty-third Dynasty started with Takelot II , and consider Pedubastis I as a separate independent (and short lived) part of that Dynasty. Others consider Takelot II's line as a separate independent part of the Twenty-second Dynasty, and consider Pedubastis I's short lived line as the Twenty-third Dynasty. When Osorkon II died, crown prince Shoshenq had already died, so his younger brother Takelot II took

392-505: The Twenty-third Dynasty ruled from Leontopolis, merely that Iuput II ruled from somewhere in the Delta . If Iuput II is the only connection between the Twenty-third Dynasty and Leontopolis, this viewpoint would eliminate Piankhy 's stela as proof for Leontopolis being the capital of the Twenty-third Dynasty. Another reason there is much debate is besides the conflicts between Lower and Upper Egypt that existed, there were now also conflicts in

420-619: The chief priest, did not agree. Thebes revolted at his hand, but prince Osorkon managed to crush the revolt. This relative peace lasted four years, as in Takelot II's fifteenth year a civil war broke out. This conflict lasted for almost ten years, and after another two years of relative peace, the Thebans once again revolted. Takelot II died before this new conflict was resolved, and with prince Osorkon far from Tanis, his younger brother Shoshenq III seized power. While this helped in resolving

448-424: The conflict with Thebes, because they accepted Shoshenq III as king, a new conflict started. Instead of a conflict between royal families, this was from within the royal family. Prince Pedubastis proclaimed himself king, and reigned from Leontopolis , simultaneously with Shoshenq III. While prince Osorkon was usurped by his brother Shoshenq III, Shoshenq did reappoint him as chief priest of Amun. Because Harsiese, of

476-408: The de facto capital of Upper Egypt, ancient Thebes . Between the latter part of the First Intermediate Period and the early Middle Kingdom , the city became the religious center of the cult of Heryshaf , and the Temple of Heryshaf was constructed. Heracleopolis Magna and its dynasty was defeated by Mentuhotep II in c. 2055–2004 BC, which ushered in the Middle Kingdom period. By the time of

504-577: The death of Alexander the Great . The Roman Empire used a Latinised form of the Greek name. Some Egyptologists and Biblical scholars connect the biblical city of Hanes ( Hebrew : חָנֵס Ḥānês ) mentioned in Isaiah 30:4 with Heracleopolis Magna. The date of the earliest settlements on the site of Herakleopolis is not known, but an entry on the Palermo Stone reporting king Den 's visit to

532-503: The early 23rd Dynasty . The exact dates of his coregency are unknown. It started possibly around 815 BC, or alternatively in the final couple of years of his father's reign; one authority provides the dates circa 816 to 800 BC. His highest date is a regnal year 12 found carved in an inscription on the roof of the Khonsu Temple at Karnak . A year 9 is also attested for him on the roof of the temple. Helen Jacquet-Gordon published

560-533: The end of their Dynasty. As a result, the Twenty-third Dynasty, being more or less an offshoot of the Twenty-second Dynasty, originated from Tanis. Instead, as mentioned above, most historians argue that they used Leontopolis as their capital. This is confirmed by Piankhy's stela, which locates Iuput II in Leontopolis . However, some historians argue that Iuput II should not be considered a Twenty-third Dynasty king at all, as it has not been undoubtedly proven that

588-527: The gods of the land that they were now ruling, associated Haryshef with Heracles in the interpretatio graeca , thus the name often used by modern scholars for Herakleopolis. The site of Herakleopolis was occupied even into Roman times . Near the Necropolis of Sedmet el-Gebel , houses dating to this period were found, which in and of itself implies a continued occupation of the area. The first person to undertake an extensive excavation at Herakleopolis

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616-410: The last years of his reign. At Herakleopolis a Twenty-second Dynasty king named Shoshenq V was still in power around 766 BC. However, Osorkon III installed his eldest son Takelot there, also allowing him to be chief priest of Amun at the same time. As a result, the Twenty-second Dynasty's role in the Theban area was greatly reduced. When Osorkon III died, Takelot had been his father's co-regent and

644-479: The principal city of Lower Egypt and was able to exercise its control over much of the region. Herakleopolis exerted such great control over Lower Egypt during this time that Egyptologists and Egyptian archaeologists sometimes refer to the period between the 9th and 10th Dynasties (2160–2025 BC) as the Herakleopolitan Period. During this period, Herakleopolis often found itself in conflict with

672-480: The throne at Tanis. High priest of Amun at that moment in time was Nimlot , Takelot II's half-brother. Nimlot was appointed by Osorkon II, and Nimlot married his own daughter, Karomama Merytmut II, to Takelot II. As a result, Nimlot would be the grandfather of any children, and thus heirs to the throne, Takelot II would get. When Nimlot died in the eleventh year of Takelot II, a fight for the succession broke out. Takelot II chose prince Osorkon , but Harsiese, grandson of

700-483: Was borrowed into early Egyptian Arabic : اهناس Ahnās . The site is now known as Ihnasiyyah Umm al-Kimam "Ihnasiyyah, Mother of the Shards" and as Ihnasiyyah al-Madinah "The City of Ihnasiyyah". The Greek name meant "City of Heracles ", with the epithet "great" being added to distinguish it from other towns with that name . The Greek form became more common during the Ptolemaic Kingdom , which came to power after

728-582: Was succeeded by Iuput II (also known as Ini/Iny). Under his reign the region became more divided again, as Peftjauawybastet and Nimlot , governor of Hermopolis, adopted royal titles. Rudamon and Iuput II only reigned over Thebes in the final phase of the Twenty-third Dynasty, as Piankhy, king of Napata , put an end to the so-called ‘Libyan anarchy’. Herakleopolis Magna Heracleopolis Magna ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Μεγάλη Ἡρακλέους πόλις , Megálē Herakléous pólis ), Heracleopolis ( Ἡρακλεόπολις , Herakleópolis ) or Herakleoupolis ( Ἡρακλεούπολις )

756-497: Was the Swiss Egyptologist Edouard Naville . After excavating what he believed to be the entirety of the Temple of Heryshef, Naville came to the conclusion that he had found all that Herakleopolis had to offer. His friend Sir Flinders Petrie , on the other hand, “...in 1879 suspected that the region already cleared was only a part of the temple,” and thus Herakleopolis (or Ehnasya as he called it,

784-488: Was thus now sole ruler. Takelot III had given up his role as chief priest when he became pharaoh, and his sister, Shepenwepet I , seems to have taken over that role as well as being appointed as Divine Adoratrice of Amun . As a result, she effectively ruled over the Theban region with her brother. Takelot III also gave up his rule of Herakleopolis to Peftjauawhybastet, who was married to a daughter of Rudamon , Takelot's brother. Rudamon succeeded Takelot III, but shortly after

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