by
Damien F. Mackey
The Ay[e] and
Horemheb combination seems to recur approximately
half a dozen times
between the C14th and C11th’s BC, conventional dating.
[Dates given below are only approximate, favouring round
figures]
We begin with:
- Ay and Horemheb (c. 1325-1290 BC)
The pair is generally
considered to have concluded Egypt’s Eighteenth Dynasty.
Ay
was the penultimate Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt's 18th dynasty. He held the throne
of Egypt for a brief four-year period (probably 1323–1319 BC or 1327–1323 BC,
depending on which chronology is followed), although he was a close advisor to
two and perhaps three of the pharaohs who ruled before him and was said to be
the power behind the throne during Tutankhamun's reign. Ay's prenomen or
royal name—Kheperkheperure—means "Everlasting are the Manifestations of
Ra" while his birth name Ay it-netjer reads as 'Ay, Father of the
God.'
Records
and monuments that can be clearly attributed to Ay are rare, not only due to
his short length of reign, but also because his successor, Horemheb, instigated
a campaign of damnatio memoriae against him and other pharaohs
associated with the unpopular Amarna Period.
[End of quote]
- Ramses I and Seti I (c. 1290-1280 BC)
The pair is
generally considered to have inaugurated Egypt’s Nineteenth Dynasty.
the similarly brief-reigning Ramses
I “came from a long line of soldiers …”. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/mummy/rameses.html
- Amenmesse and Seti II (c. 1200-1195 BC)
This pair has
been situated (wrongly, I believe) towards the end of the Nineteenth Dynasty.
Amenmesse’s
short reign length is compatible with that of Ay. Also compatible with Ay’s
subsequent damnatio memoriae is the fact that Amenmesse “was later
considered a usurper”. Thus N. Grimal (A History of Ancient Egypt, p.
269): “According to Papyrus Salt 124, Amenmesse reigned for five years,
but since he was later considered a usurper it is somewhat difficult to trace
his career …”.
Meanwhile, Seti
(“Sethos”) II is lacking records of the military and building exploits of which
he boasted (these to be found in the records of Seti I). N. Grimal again (ibid., pp. 269-270): “Sethos II claims
to have undertaken an extensive building campaign, but there is little
indication that his words were transformed into actions”.
- Bay and Siptah (c. 1190 BC)
This pair has
been situated (wrongly, I believe) right at the end of the Nineteenth Dynasty.
Ay probably
rears his ugly head here again as Chancellor Bay, he likewise (as with Ramses
I) “also called Ramesses”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_(chancellor)
Did Bay, like
Ay, suffer damnatio memoriae,
like Amenmesse as a ‘usurper’?
That is likely, since he was “an usurper”
according to phouka:
“Chancellor Bay is a
shadowing figure who was coregent for Siptah along with Tawosret.
He may have ruled by himself for a year or so after Tawosret's death in 1185 or
so, accoridng to Piccione. Most egyptologists relegate him to the background,
ruling from behind the throne while Tawosret sat in it. He was originally a
scribe, and is referred to as "The Kingmaker" and "The self-made
Man", which may imply that he was an usurper”.
Bay’s epithet, “The Kingmaker”, is also a
perfect description of Ay.
But it may even be that the ‘usurper’ was,
not just exiled, but executed by the new pharaoh:
“According to the information in Ostraca IFAO 1864, which is composed of
two inscribed potsherd fragments that were reunited in February 2000, Bay was
executed on or shortly before Year 5, III Shemu day 27 of Siptah, on the king's
orders. The recto of the ostracon is essentially a public announcement to the
workmen of Deir
el-Medina and reads thus:
Year 5 III Shemu the 27th. On this day, the scribe
of the tomb Paser came announcing 'Pharaoh LPH, has killed the great enemy Bay.(sm3 Pr-‘3 ‘.w.s.
khrw ‘3 B3y)'[10]”
[End of quotes]
Pharaoh Siptah has also, for his part, the
names ‘Merenptah’ and ‘Ramses’, the first of which we have met in the
combination, Seti Merenptah, and the second of which we shall encounter again in
7.
below, with ‘Ramses-Psusennes’.
- ‘Usurper’ and Seti-nakhte (c. 1185 BC)
Conventional
Egyptology does it all over again, with Seti (here Seti-nakhte) and ‘the
usurper’ here emerging at the very beginning of the so-called Twentieth
Dynasty:
“Sethnakhte is
relatively unknown, with only a few written records attesting to his reign. He
ruled over a chaotic period in Egypt, after the (possible) reign of Chancellor
Bay, an usurper to the throne. Sethnakhte claims to have "Driven out the
usurper", and he restored law and order to Egypt. It is possible that he
took the throne directly from Tawosret”.
The little known
Seti-nakhte (Setnakhte), a hero to his successors, was, like Horemheb, like
Seti I, a reformer, one who had “restored law and order to Egypt” – and he
becomes far better known when he is properly attached to his alter egos (Horemheb and Seti).
“Setnakhte”,
according to Grimal (op. cit., p.
271), “kept Hori son of Kama in
office as Viceroy of Kush”.
This “Hori” may
perhaps be an important connection with the renowned Herihor (see next).
- Amenhotep and Ramses XI (c. 1100-1070 BC)
The Twentieth
Dynasty has, like the Nineteenth, a ‘Seti’ type at its beginning (Seti-nakhte)
and one at the end (Ramses XI), the latter’s being another restorative period
including whm mswt. I tentatively
suggest that the “chief priest Amenhotep sent into exile” (Grimal, op. cit., p. 291) was the same as the
too-big-for-his boots Ay: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ay
“Ay
is wearing the Leopard skin worn by Egyptian High Priests”.
Herihor, “an Egyptian army officer and High Priest of Amun at Thebes (1080 BC to 1074 BC) during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses XI” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herihor), may possibly be the same person as Setnakhte’s
high official, Hori, as already mentioned.
- Amenemnisu and ‘Ramses-Psusennes’ (c. 1050-1000 BC)
Now in the
so-called Third Intermediate Period, the Twenty-First Dynasty, we encounter a
name, Amenemnisu, very similar to that of our ‘usurper’ in 3., Amenmesse.
The reign length
of Amenemnisu, “4 years”, is the same as that estimated for Ay, and very close
to the “five years” given for Amenmesse. Nor are we surprised to read of his
close association with another of our ‘Seti’ types, Psusennes: http://www.touregypt.net/21dyn02.htm
“Amenemnisu
was the second ruler of the Twenty-first Dynasty. He is though to have ruled
for 4 years possibly as the co-regent with Psusennes I”.
Conclusion:
Our ‘Dynastic patterns for Ay[e] and Horemheb’
span (c. 1325- 1000 BC) a massive 325 years.
And that is without our yet even including
Psusennes so-called II (= I?) (d. 940
BC).
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