Shoshenq II, also known as Heqakheperre Shoshenq II, was a pharaoh who ruled during the XXII Dynasty of Egypt. His tomb, discovered intact by Pierre Montet in 1939 in Tanis, revealed many precious objects: bracelets and pectorals encrusted with jewels, a magnificent silver coffin with a falcon's head and a gold funerary mask. These funerary treasures, associated with the absence of looting, give a certain importance to this pharaoh in Egyptian history. His tomb was in an antechamber to that of Psusennes I, a pharaoh of the 1940st dynasty. This discovery was followed by that of the intact tombs of two other kings of the XNUMXst dynasty, Psusennes I and Amenemope, in XNUMX.
II. An uncertain relationship
The genealogy of Shoshenq II is subject to debate among Egyptologists. Certain clues present in his tomb suggest a possible filial link with Shoshenq I. Two bracelets indeed mention King Shoshenq I and a breastplate bears the inscription “Grand Chief of Ma Shoshenq”, a title that Shoshenq I bore before his accession to the throne. . However, these objects can be heirlooms as well as proof of kinship.
III. Theories on the origins of Shoshenq II
Among the hypotheses raised by the researchers, one in particular deserves attention: Shoshenq II would be a younger son of Shoshenq I, having survived Osorkon I and Takelot I. This hypothesis is supported by the forensic examination of Shoshenq's body II by Dr. Douglas Derry, who revealed that the pharaoh was a man in his fifties when he died. He could therefore have outlived the 35-year reign of Osorkon I and ruled Egypt a few years before Takelot I came to power.
Other Egyptologists, such as Jürgen von Beckerath, instead argue that Shoshenq II was the elder brother of Takelot I, while Norbert Dautzenberg asserts that Shoshenq II would have reigned between Takelot I and Osorkon II.
📋 LIST OF EGYPTIAN SOVEREIGNS 📋
Hotepsekhemwey / Sneferka / Nebra / ninetjer / Senedj / Noubnefer / Horus Ba / Peribsen / Sekhemib / Khasekhemwy / Neferkasokar / | |||
Djoser / Sanakht / Sekhemkhet / Spoon / Huni | |||
Sekhemre-Khutaouy Amenemhat-/Sobekhotep I/Sekhemkare Amenemhat-Senbef/Sekhemkare Amenemhat V/Ameny-Qemaou/Hotepibre Qémaou-Sa-Hornejhéritef/Ioufeni/Séânkhibrê Amény-Antef-Amenemhat (or Amenemhat VI)/Semenkarê Nebnoun/Sehotepibrê Sousekhtaouy | |||
Sekhaenre Yakbim/Nebuuserre Yaammou/Khauserre Qareh | |||
Semqen/Aper-Anat/Sakir-Har/Khyan/Apophis I/Apophis II?/Khamoudy | |||
/Sekhemre-Sementaouy Djehouty/Sekhemre-Sousertaouy Sobekhotep VIII | |||
Twenty-first dynasty | |||
Twenty-second dynasty | |||
Twenty-third dynasty | |||
Twenty-fourth dynasty | |||
1st Persian Dynasty | |||
Thirty-first dynasty (Achaemenid) | 2nd Persian Dynasty | ||