| Smendes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nesbanebdjed, Nesibanebdjedet | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Canopic jar of Smendes,Metropolitan Museum of Art. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pharaoh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | 26 regnal years (Manetho) c. 1077/1076–1052 BC[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Ramesses XI | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Amenemnisu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Consort | Tentamun B | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Children | Amenemnisu ? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother | probablyHrere | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 1052 BC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Burial | Unknown | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dynasty | 21st Dynasty | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hedjkheperre Setepenre Smendes was the founder of theTwenty-first Dynasty of Egypt and succeeded to the throne after buryingRamesses XI in Lower Egypt – territory which he controlled.
According to theStory of Wenamun fromc. 1000 BC, Smendes was a governor ofLower Egypt during theEra of the Renaissance under the reign ofRamesses XI, however, Egyptologists have questioned the historical accuracy of this story.[5]
Smendes may have been a son of a lady named Hrere. Hrere was a Chief of the Harem of Amun-Re and likely the wife of a high priest of Amun. If Hrere was Smendes' mother, then he was a brother of Nodjmet and through her brother-in-law of the High PriestsHerihor andPiankh.
Smendes was married toTentamun B, likely a daughter ofRamesses IX. They may have been the parents of his successorAmenemnisu.[6]
His Egyptiannomen or birth name was actuallyNesbanebdjed[7] meaning "He of the Ram, Lord ofMendes",[8] but it was translated into Greek as Smendes by later classical writers such asJosephus andSextus Africanus.
Hisprenomen or throne nameHedjkheperre Setepenre/Setepenamun—which means 'Bright is the Manifestation ofRê, Chosen of Rê/Amun'[4]—became very popular in the following22nd Dynasty and23rd Dynasty. In all, five kings:Shoshenq I,Shoshenq IV,Takelot I,Takelot II andHarsiese A adopted it for their own use.
Smendes features prominently in theReport of Wenamun. This story is set in an anonymous "Year 5", generally taken to be year 5 of the so-calledRenaissance ofPharaohRamesses XI, the tenth and last ruler of theTwentieth Dynasty ofAncient Egypt (1190–1077 BC). However, since Karl Jansen-Winkeln has proposed to reverse the order of theHigh Priests of AmunHerihor andPiankh, this ascription has become disputed.[9] With the pontificate of Herihor falling later than that of Piankh, who is attested in year 7 of the Renaissance,[10] the date in the heading of Wenamun should rather refer to the successor of Ramesses XI. Following Jansen-Winkeln, Arno Egberts (1991) therefore argues that the story is set in the fifth regnal year of Smendes.[11]
As the story begins, the principal character, Wenamun, a priest ofAmun atKarnak, is sent by theHigh Priest of AmunHerihor to thePhoenician city ofByblos to acquire lumber (probablycedar wood) to build a new ship to transport thecult image of Amun. Wenamun first visits Smendes atTanis and personally presented his letters of accreditation to Smendes in order to receive the latter's permission to travel north to modernLebanon. Smendes responds by dispatching a ship for Wenamun's travels toSyria and theLevant. Smendes appears as a person of the highest importance in Tanis.
Smendes succeeded Ramesses XI, the last ruler of the 20th Dynasty. Smendes was the son-in-law of Ramesses XI by marriage to Tentamun, and became the founder of the 21st Dynasty.
Smendes may have resided in Tanis (Report of Wenamun) or Memphis (quarry stela).
At Zaon (Greek: Tanis; Modern: San el-Hagar), there are blocks, statues, and reused architectural elements bearing his prenomen and nomen. He reused monuments from earlier kings (especially Ramesside rulers), a common and well-documented practice. Tanis became capital under Psusennes I, who is credited with moving the city of Pi-Ramesses to Tanis - a process that may have started already with Smendes when Zaon was his administrative center.
Smendes' nominal authority over Upper Egypt is attested by a single inscribed stela found in a quarry at Ed-Dibabiya, oppositeGebelein on the right bank of the Nile, as well as by a separate graffito inscription on an enclosure Wall of theTemple of Monthu at Karnak, the Temple that was originally constructed during the reign ofThutmose III.[12] The quarry stela describes how Smendes "while residing in Memphis, heard of danger to the temple of Luxor from flooding, gave orders for repairs (hence the quarry works), and received news of the success of the mission."[13]
Smendes ruled over a divided Egypt and only effectively controlled Lower Egypt during his reign while Middle and Upper Egypt was effectively under the suzerainty of the High Priests of Amun such asPinedjem I,Masaharta, andMenkheperre.
Smendes is assigned a reign of 26 Years byManetho in his Epitome.[14]
_-_Karnak_-_Louvre_-_E_7822_-_image_2.jpg)
This figure is supported by the Year 25 date on theBanishment Stela which recounts that the High PriestMenkheperre suppressed a local revolt in Thebes in Year 25 of a king who can only be Smendes because there is no evidence that the High Priests counted their own regnal years even when they assumed royal titles likePinedjem I did.[15] Menkheperre then exiled the leaders of the rebellion to the Western Desert Oases. These individuals were pardoned several years later during the reign of Smendes' successor,Amenemnisu.
On the death of Smendes in 1052 BC, he was succeeded byNeferkare Amenemnisu, who may have been this king's son.
At Tanis(?), the Tomb of Smendes has not been found.
Only one funerary object can be linked to Smendes. Of unknown provenance, an alabasterCanopic Jar of Nesibanebdjedet (Smendes) inscribed for Qebehsenuef,[16] embodiment and protector of the liver, presumably from Tanis, currently resides in theMetropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 47.60).[17] Thus, he would have built a tomb in Tanis and later buried there with his liver placed in this canopic jar. The lid was missing. This may indicate his tomb was looted in antiquity, but this hypothesis is unproven.
