Pinedjem I

Pharaoh Infobox
Name=Pinedjem I
Predecessor=Piankh or Herihor?
Role=High Priest of Amun
Successor=Masaharta
Reign=1070 –1032 BC
Dynasty=Concurrent with the 21st Dynasty
Father=Piankh

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Caption=A pectoral of the High Priest Pinedjem I
ImageSize=200

Pinedjem I was the High Priest of Amun at Thebes in Ancient Egypt from 1070 BC to 1032 BC and the "de facto" ruler of the south of the country from 1054 BC. He was the son of the High Priest Piankh. However, many Egyptologists today believe that the succession in the Amun priesthood actually ran from Piankh to Herihor to Pinedjem I. [John H. Taylor, "Nodjmet, Payankh and Herihor: The Early Twenty-First Dynasty Reconsidered," in "Proceeding of the Seventh International Congress of Egyptologists, 3-9 September 1995", ed. C.J. Eyre, Leuven 1998. pp.1143-1155] [Arno Egberts, "Hard Times: The Chronology of 'The Report of Wenamun' Revised", Zeitschrift fur Ägyptischen Sprache 125 (1998), pp.93-108] According to the new hypothesis, Pinedjem I was too young to succeed to the High Priesthood of Amun after the death of Piankh. Herihor instead intervened to assume to this office. After Herihor's death, Pinedjem I finally claimed this office which had once been held by his father Piankh. This interpretation is supported by the decorations from the Temple of Khonsu at Karnak where Herihor's wall reliefs here are immediatedly followed by those of Pinedjem I with no intervening phase for Piankh and also by the long career of Pinedjem I who served as High Priest of Amun and later as king at Thebes.

He inherited a political and religious base of power at Thebes. Pinedjem strengthened his control over both Middle and Upper Egypt and asserted his kingdom's virtual independence from the Twenty-first Dynasty based at Tanis. He married Henuttawy the Royal Daughter of Ramesses XI, to cement his relations with the other powerful families of the period. Their son, Psusennes I, went on to become Pharaoh at Tanis, thereby removing at a stroke the gap between the two families. In practice, however, the 21st dynasty kings and the Theban high priests were probably never very far apart politically since they respected each other's political autonomy.

Around Year 15 or 16 of Smendes, Pinedjem I proclaimed himself pharaoh over Upper Egypt [Taylor, op. cit., p.1148] and his priestly role was inherited by his two sons Masaharta and Menkheperre. His daughter, Maatkare, held the position of Divine Adoratrice of Amun.

Pinedjem's mummy was found in the cache at Deir el-Bahri.

References

* "Nos ancêtres de l'Antiquité", 1991, Christian Settipani, p.173