Psusennes I
Akheperre
Psusennes I,
Pseusennes I or
[Greek Ψουσέννης
], or
Hor-Pasebakhaenniut I [Egyptian ḥr-p3-sb3-ḫˁỉ--nỉwt], is the third
king of the
Twenty-first dynasty of Egypt, ruling around 1039 BC – 990 BC. His name means "The Star Appearing in the City".
Professor
Pierre Montet discovered Psusennes' intact tomb (No. 3 in
Tanis) in
1940. Unfortunately, due to its moist
Lower Egypt location, most of the "perishable" objects were destroyed by water — a fate not shared by
KV62, the tomb of
Tutankhamun in the drier climate of
Upper Egypt. Psusennes' outer and middle sarcophagi had been recycled from previous burials in the
Valley of the Kings, a state-sanctioned tomb-robbing that was common practice in the
Third Intermediate Period. A
cartouche on the red outer sarcophagus shows that it was originally made for the Pharaoh
Merneptah, the
nineteenth dynasty successor of
Ramses II. Douglass Derry, who worked in the Cairo University's Anatomy Department, examined his remains in 1940
[Douglass Derry, Volume 40(1940) of ASAE]. He noted that Psusennes I's teeth were badly worn and full of cavities, and observed that the king suffered from extensive arthritis and was probably crippled by this condition in his final years. His precise reign length is unknown because different copies of Manetho's records credit him with a reign of 41 to 46 Years. Some Egyptologists have proposed raising the 41 year figure by a decade to 51 years to more closely match Psusennes' known historical dates. However, his reign was certainly long since he is attested by at least two separate Year 49 dates. Psusennes I initiated a brief coregency with his son, Amenemopet for c.2 years. This coregency is attested on a Mummy bandage – now lost – which equates "[Year X] of Amenemopet to Year 49 [of Psusennes I]."
[Kitchen's 1996 edition of 'The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt,' pp.24-25 and p.29].
While some authors, including
New Chronology followers claim that Psusennes I may actually be identical with
Psusennes II, this is impossible because Psusennes II is clearly distinguished from Psusennes I by
Manetho and is given an independent reign of 14/15 years in the author's Epitome. Moreover, Psusenness II's royal name has been found associated with his successor,
Shoshenq I in a
graffito from tomb
TT18, and in an
ostracon from
Umm el-Qa'ab according to Dodson. This shows that Shoshenq I was Psusennes II's successor. In contrast, Psusennes I died almost 40-45 years before Shoshenq I's appearance as Chief of the Ma (the
Meshwesh), let alone King of Egypt.
*Aidan Dodson, "Psusennes II and Shoshenq I," JEA 79(1993), pp.267-268.
*Bob Brier, Egyptian Mummies : Unraveling the Secrets of an Ancient Art, William Morrow & Co, (1994), pp.146-147.
*K.A. Kitchen 'The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt', 3rd edition(1996 issue).
*Jean Yoyotte, BSSFT 1(1988) 46 n.2.
