| Iuput II | |
|---|---|
 Plaque of Iuput II. Third intermediate period, c. 754-720/715 BC, in the Brooklyn Museum inNew York City | |
King ofLeontopolis | |
| Consort | Tent-kat? |
Iuput II (also spelledAuput II) was a ruler ofLeontopolis, in theNile Delta region ofLower Egypt, who reigned during the 8th century BC, in the lateThird Intermediate Period.
He was an ally ofTefnakht ofSais who resisted the invasion of Lower Egypt by theKushite kingPiye.[1] Iuput II ruled during a chaotic time of the Third Intermediate Period when several kings controlled Lower Egypt, includingOsorkon IV atBubastis and prince Tefnakht at Sais.
Year 21 of Iuput II is attested on a stela fromMendes.[2] The respected British EgyptologistKenneth Kitchen states that this dated stela which features the great chief of theMa Smendes, son of Harnakht and ruler of Mendes, bears Iuput's name but lacks his royal name or prenomen.[3] However, the clear Lower Egyptian provenance of the stela can be associated with several monuments that name "a king Usermaatre Setepenamun (var. Setepenre), Iuput Si-Bast, from the Delta" which means Iuput II's throne name was Usermaatre-setepen-amun/re.[3] The Year 21 stela of Iuput II was fully published in 1982.[4]
After Piye defeated Tefnakht's coalition and conquered Lower Egypt around Year 20 of his reign, the Nubian king permitted Iuput II to remain in power as a local governor of Leontopolis according to his Victory Stela fromJebel Barkal.[5]
The Mendesian stela of Iuput II is dated to his 21st year. Other monuments or objects from his reign include "a statue-base of Usimare Setepenamun, Iuput Meryamun Si-Bast fromTell el Yahudieh, a glazed plaque (see picture) now in theBrooklyn Museum, and abronze door-hinge...fromTell Moqdam (Leontopolis) bearing identical titles of the king along with [a] mention of theChief Queen, Tent-kat [...] and some obscure epithets."[6]
The Brooklyn Museum plaque is peculiar because it depicts Iuput II in a style which differs a lot from the standards of the Third Intermediate Period: instead of having a long-legged, slender figure, Iuput is shorter and more muscular, a proportion which is reminiscent of theOld Kingdom art.[7][8] For this reason, the plaque has been considered proof that the archaising tendencies which were believed to have originated in Nubia and spread in Egypt during the25th Dynasty, are in fact earlier and originating from the Delta, with Kushite (and laterSaite) artists merely adopting an already existing trend.[9][10]
