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Smendes
Smendes
Nesbanebdjed, Nesibanebdjedet
	Canopic jar of Smendes, Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Pharaoh
Reign	c. 1077/1076–1052 BC
Predecessor	Ramesses XI
Successor	Amenemnisu
Horus name
Horus name
	Kanakht Meryre Suseramunkhepesheferseqaimaat; K3-nḫt-mrj-Rˁ-swsr-Jmn-ḫpš=f-r-sq3j-m3ˁt; Strong bull, beloved of Ra, Amun empowers ; his strike to reinforce the Maat
Nebty name
	Sekhempehti Hureqiufbehatuf Hepetem[...]; Sḫm-pḥtj-ḥwj-rqw=f-bh3.tw=f-ḥtp-m (...); Mighty of power, he who beats his opponents, ; they flee before him, [he] encircles ...
Golden Horus
	[...]khesefdenden; (...) Ḫsf-dndn; [...] wards off the wrath
Prenomen (Praenomen)
Nomen
	Nesbanebdjed Meriamun ; Mrj-Jmn nsw-b3-nb-ḏdt; He of the Ba ram, lord of Mendes, beloved of Amun
	;
Consort	Tentamun B
Children	Amenemnisu ?
Mother	probably Hrere
Died	1052 BC
Burial	Unknown
Dynasty	21st Dynasty

Hedjkheperre Setepenre Smendes was the founder of the Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt and succeeded to the throne after burying Ramesses XI in Lower Egypt – territory which he controlled. His Egyptian nomen or birth name was actually Nesbanebdjed^[5] meaning "He of the Ram, Lord of Mendes",^[6] but it was translated into Greek as Smendes by later classical writers such as Josephus and Sextus Africanus. According to the Story of Wenamun from c. 1000 BC, Smendes was a governor of Lower Egypt during the Era of the Renaissance under the reign of Ramesses XI, however, Egyptologists have questioned the historical accuracy of this story.^[7]

Family

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 Priests Herihor and Piankh.

Smendes was married to Tentamun B, likely a daughter of Ramesses IX. They may have been the parents of his successor Amenemnisu.^[8]

Report of Wenamun

Smendes features prominently in the Report of Wenamun. This story is set in an anonymous "Year 5", generally taken to be year 5 of the so-called Renaissance of Pharaoh Ramesses XI, the tenth and last ruler of the Twentieth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt (1190–1077 BC). However, since Karl Jansen-Winkeln has proposed to reverse the order of the High Priests of Amun Herihor and Piankh, 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.

As the story begins, the principal character, Wenamun, a priest of Amun at Karnak, is sent by the High Priest of Amun Herihor to the Phoenician city of Byblos to acquire lumber (probably cedar wood) to build a new ship to transport the cult image of Amun. Wenamun first visits Smendes at Tanis and personally presented his letters of accreditation to Smendes in order to receive the latter's permission to travel north to modern Lebanon. Smendes responds by dispatching a ship for Wenamun's travels to Syria and the Levant. Smendes appears as a person of the highest importance in Tanis.

Reign

Smendes' nominal authority over Upper Egypt is attested by a single inscribed stela found in a quarry at Ed-Dibabiya, opposite Gebelein on the right bank of the Nile, as well as by a separate graffito inscription on an enclosure Wall of the Temple of Monthu at Karnak, the Temple that was originally constructed during the reign of Thutmose III.^[11]

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."^[12]

Smendes is assigned a reign of 26 Years by Manetho in his Epitome.^[13] This figure is supported by the Year 25 date on the Banishment Stela which recounts that the High Priest Menkheperre 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 like Pinedjem I did.^[14] 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.

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 as Pinedjem I, Masaharta, and Menkheperre. His prenomen or throne name Hedjkheperre Setepenre/Setepenamun—which means 'Bright is the Manifestation of Rê, Chosen of Rê/Amun'^[4]—became very popular in the following 22nd Dynasty and 23rd Dynasty. In all, five kings: Shoshenq I, Shoshenq IV, Takelot I, Takelot II and Harsiese A adopted it for their own use. On the death of Smendes in 1052 BC, he was succeeded by Neferkare Amenemnisu, who may have been this king's son.

No trace has yet been found of the tomb of Smendes. The sole funerary object linked to Smendes is a Canopic jar of his, that once contained his liver, that currently resides in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (acc. no. 47.60). This may indicate his tomb was looted in antiquity, but this hypothesis is unproven.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ R. Krauss & D.A. Warburton "Chronological Table for the Dynastic Period" in Erik Hornung, Rolf Krauss & David Warburton (editors), Ancient Egyptian Chronology (Handbook of Oriental Studies), Brill, 2006. p. 493
^ Clayton, Peter A. Chronicle of the Pharaohs. Thames & Hudson. 2006. p. 178
^ Digital Egypt for Universities
^ ^a ^b Clayton, p. 178
^ Nesbanebdjed
^ Mansikka, Pekka (2020). New Chronology Using Solar Eclipses, Volume III. p. 180. ISBN 978-9528023142.
^ Hagens, Graham (1996). "A Critical Review of Dead-Reckoning from the 21st Dynasty". Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. 33. American Research Center in Egypt: 156. doi:10.2307/40000612. ISSN 0065-9991. JSTOR 40000612.
^ Aidan Dodson & Dyan Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, Thames & Hudson (2004) ISBN 0-500-05128-3, pp. 196-209
^ Karl Jansen-Winkeln, "Das Ende des Neuen Reiches", Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache, 119 (1992), pp.22-37
^ Nims, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 7 (1948), 157-162
^ J. Cerny, "Egypt from the Death of Ramesses III to the End of the Twenty-First Dynasty" in The Middle East and the Aegean Region c. 1380-1000 BC, Cambridge University Press, p. 645 ISBN 0-521-08691-4
^ K.A. Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100-650 BC), 3rd ed. (Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1996), p. 256
^ Manetho, fragments 58 & 59; translation in W.G. Waddell, Manetho (Cambridge: Harvard University, 1997), pp. 155-7 ISBN 0-674-99385-3
^ Kitchen, p. 260