Osorkon C

Osorkon C (also Osorkon of Sais) was a Great Chief of the Ma and a governor of Sais in Lower Egypt, during the 22nd Dynasty.

Osorkon
Great Chief of the Ma
The Talisman of Osorkon (Louvre E10943)[1]
Predecessor	Pimay (not directly)
Successor	Tefnakht
Dynasty	22nd Dynasty
Pharaoh	Shoshenq V

Biography

Osorkon's ancestors are unknown; however, one of his close predecessors was prince Pimay, son of pharaoh Shoshenq III of the 22nd Dynasty.^{[citation needed]} Osorkon is best known from the so-called "talisman of Osorkon" (Louvre E10943) – a faience amulet depicting the creation of the world with the god Ra-Horakhty as an infant, sitting on a lotus flower which rises from the primal waters^[1] – and also by some ushabti now in London.^[2] On the talisman, he is called Great Chief of the Ma, Army leader, Prophet of Neith, Prophet of Wadjet and of the Lady of Yamu (i.e. Hathor), showing that he ruled over the cities of Sais, Buto and Yamu respectively, in the end a considerable part of the Western Nile Delta.^[3]

Osorkon might have ruled c. 755 to c. 740 BCE,^[4] thus during the official reign of the late 22nd Dynasty pharaoh Shoshenq V.^[3] Osorkon was likely succeeded by the future pharaoh and founder of the 24th Dynasty, Tefnakht. In fact, in his early career Tefnakht held almost the same titles of Osorkon – plus other titles, most noticeably Great Chief of the Libu and Great Chief of the West – suggesting that he was his immediate successor.^[5][6] However, the two were apparently unrelated as Osorkon can't be identified with both Tefnakht's father and grandfather, whom were named Gemnefsutkapu and Basa respectively; this situation suggested that Osorkon was overthrown by Tefnakht.^[6]

References

1. Yoyotte, Jean (1960). "Le talismán de la victoire d'Osorkon". Bulletin de la Société française d'Égyptologie. 31: 13–22.
2. Moje, Jan (2008). "Die Uschebtis des Osorkon C von Sais. Bemerkungen zu den Totenstatuetten lokaler Regenten der Dritten Zwischenzeit". Bulletin de la société d'Égyptologie Genève. 28: 81–95.
3. Kitchen, Kenneth A. (1996). The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100–650 BC). Warminster: Aris & Phillips Limited. ISBN 0-85668-298-5., § 113
4. Kitchen (1996), Table 4
5. Kitchen (1996), §§ 112-3
6. Del Francia, P.R. (2000). "Di una statuetta dedicata ad Amon-Ra dal grande capo dei Ma Tefnakht nel Museo Egizio di Firenze". In Russo, S. (ed.). Atti del V Convegno Nazionale di Egittologia e Papirologia, Firenze, 10-12 dicembre 1999. Firenze.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link), pp. 76-82