War & Trade With the Pharaohs

by Garry J. Shaw

  Tanis and may have married Tentamun, a daughter of Ramesses. The south, meanwhile, remained under the control of priest-kings – the descendants of Piankh – their decisions dictated by the oracle of Amun. Egypt was once again divided, and the Third Intermediate Period had begun.

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  Chapter 10

  Libyan Pharaohs, the Kingdom of Kush, and

  the Assyrian Invasion

  (1064–664 BCE)

  A literary tale, known as ‘The Report of Wenamun,’ set during the

  period of political turmoil when the New Kingdom was transition-

  ing into the Third Intermediate Period (and found on a 21st or 22nd

  Dynasty papyrus), neatly demonstrates how far Egypt’s standing in the world had sunk by the turn of the First Millennium BCE. As the story begins,

  our unfortunate hero, Wenamun, has set sail from Tanis – the Egyptian

  royal family’s new residence city in the Delta, replacing Pi-Ramesses – for Byblos, in order to collect wood for the Temple of Amun at Karnak. With his Syrian captain, Mengebet, they stopped at ports along the Levantine coast, including Dor, a town controlled by the Tjekeru – one of the Sea Peoples groups, who had settled in the region. There, a member of Wenamun’s crew stole the gold and silver meant to pay for the wood in Byblos. Naturally upset, Wenamun visited a local prince, asking him to search for the thief. He received a less than sympathetic response: if the thief had been from Dor, living in the city, the prince said, he would have repaid Wenamun for his loss until the thief was found. But because the thief was among Wenamun’s own crew, no such payment would be made. The prince would, however, help

  search for the thief.

  After nine days waiting, and no doubt realizing that he was getting

  nowhere, Wenamun left Dor for Byblos, stopping along the way at Tyre.

  While at sea, he encountered a Tjekeru ship from Dor carrying roughly the same amount of silver as had been stolen from him. Seeing an opportunity to recoup his losses from the people he regarded as in league with the thief, Wenamun took the law into his own hands and seized the silver. He told

  the Tjekeru that he’d only return it if they either handed over the thief or his stolen goods. And with that, he left. Soon after, Wenamun arrived at Byblos, and erected his tent on the shore. Security conscious, he buried his possessions, including his portable divine statue: Amun-of-the-Road.

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  But the prince of Byblos refused to see Wenamun. By now rather angry,

  the Egyptian began a sit-in, refusing to move from the port, despite protestations from the prince of Byblos, who wrote to him daily, telling him to get out of his harbour! After twenty-nine days, Wenamun was about to give up, when his luck changed: a ‘seer’ at the court of Byblos told the prince that the god Amun had led Wenamun to travel to his city, and that the Egyptian should be brought to the court. Following the seer’s advice, the prince sent the harbour master to fetch Wenamun. He arrived to find the Egyptian

  packing up his belongings and preparing to leave.

  And so, five months after his departure from Thebes, Wenamun finally

  got to meet the prince of Byblos face to face. It didn’t go well. First, the prince asked Wenamun for documentation, proving that he was on a mission from the Temple of Amun. It wasn’t possible: Wenamun had given

  these documents to Smendes, the governor of Tanis (and later king), before departing from Egypt. Next, the prince asked why Wenamun was travelling with a Syrian ship and crew, did Smendes want to get him murdered?

  Wenamun’s reply was blunt: if sailing on a ship representing Egypt, it is an Egyptian crew. The prince then asked Wenamun why he had travelled

  to Byblos, only to be told that the Egyptian had come to fetch lumber for the barque of Amun. By this point, Wenamun must have been tiring of the prince’s interrogation, for he blurted out that the prince should do as his father had done, and as his father’s father had done: supply Egypt with wood. The prince agreed that his family had always supplied Egypt with

  wood – but the Egyptians had always paid first. There were further negotiations, and eventually Wenamun agreed to send a letter to Smendes, requesting enough items to pay for the wood. These items were later received, and the prince finally agreed to supply the cedar.

  Unfortunately, just as Wenamun was about to leave Byblos – his ship now fully loaded with timber – eleven Tjekeru ships were spotted sailing towards the port, their crews demanding that the prince apprehend the Egyptian.

  Uncharacteristically, the prince took pity on Wenamun, sending for two

  amphorae of wine, a sheep to eat, and an Egyptian songstress to sing for him that evening – anything to calm his guest’s nerves. The prince said that he’d solve the problem the next day. And so, when morning came, the prince spoke with the Tjekeru, explaining that he couldn’t apprehend an envoy of Amun in his territory, but if they’d let Wenamun sail away, they could pursue and apprehend him themselves.

  Left with little choice, Wenamun sailed off towards Egypt, probably fearing for his life, but soon after, the wind blew him off course to Cyprus.

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  There, he found himself on a beach, surrounded by angry locals who wanted to kill him. Wenamun fought his way through the crowd to discover their princess, Hatiba, who – luckily – was accompanied by an interpreter fluent in Egyptian. No doubt choosing his words carefully, Wenamun explained

  that he was an envoy of Amun, and that if the townspeople killed him and his crew, the prince of Byblos would retaliate. She agreed, and summoned her people, reprimanding them for their behaviour. And this is where the text breaks off: the rest is lost.

  The ‘Report of Wenamun’ reflects Egypt’s failing importance on the

  world stage. Not only did traditional allies no longer show respect to envoys travelling in the name of Egypt, but the Egyptians didn’t even have their own ships: they had to sail on Syrian ships instead. Interestingly, the tale also refers to Egyptians living abroad: in Byblos, a butler named Penamun and a singer called Tanetnot are mentioned, and Wenamun encounters people fluent in Egyptian in Dor, Byblos, and Cyprus. Although Egypt’s influence was waning, its overall impact on the world was still very much evident.

  Divisions in the 21st Dynasty

  As we have already seen, by the end of the New Kingdom Egypt was once

  again divided. The priest-kings of Amun ruled in the south, exerting their influence from the region of el-Hiba down into Nubia (although it isn’t clear how far); and the kings at Tanis, starting with Smendes (Nesibanebdjedet)

  – who had been governor of Tanis – ruled in the Delta as the 21st Dynasty.

  Nevertheless, despite Egypt appearing fractured, the divisions were not as strong as in previous intermediate periods. The ruling families in the north and south remained connected: the third king of the 21st Dynasty, Psusennes I, for example, was the son of Pinudjem I, a priest-king of Thebes; and Psusennes I’s brother, Menkheperre, took over the office of priest-king at Thebes when their father died. For a time then, one brother ruled as king of the north and the other as king of the south.

  With enough problems at home, the Egyptians had little contact with the Levant in the early Third Intermediate Period. However, pottery from the reign of Psusennes I is known from Tell Qasile, and this king is referred to as a ‘seizer of cities,’ suggesting that a foreign campaign of some kind occurred.

  Archaeologists have found Egyptian pottery at Dor (famous from the

  Wenamun tale), and a lapis lazuli bead, discovered in the burial of Psusennes I at Tanis, bears a cuneiform inscription for the eldest daughter of Ibashshi-ilu, an A
ssyrian vizier, reflecting the continuation of wider trading relations.

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  The Libyan Period

  During the 21st Dynasty, a Libyan man ascended the throne of Egypt:

  this was Osorkon the Elder, a great chief of the Ma (better known as the Meshwesh tribe), who ruled for around six years. Osorkon the Elder’s

  nephew, Shoshenk I, later became the first king of the 22nd Dynasty (a

  phase sometimes referred to as the Libyan Period). Unlike his predecessors in the Third Intermediate Period, who seemed quite content to live in a fractured country, Shoshenk I wanted to reunite Egypt under a single king. He installed one of his sons as high priest of Amun, removing the independence of the temple, and appointed loyal family members and supporters to high office. The importance of kinship and lineage was a key feature of Libyan rule, and powerful individuals across the land married into the Libyan family to reinforce their power. On temple walls, the Libyan kings presented themselves as traditional pharaohs and high priests of all the gods, whilst simultaneously emphasizing their heritage as great chiefs of the Meshwesh.

  Shoshenk I attempted to reassert Egypt’s power in the Levant, a ter-

  ritory that had changed significantly since its recent Egyptian-dominated past. The Philistines, descendants of the Peleset ‘Sea Peoples,’ now lived on the southern coast, with major centres at Gaza, Gath, Ekron, Ashkelon, and Ashdod. The Kingdom of Israel seems to have existed too, but in a

  more limited form than described in the Bible. (Beyond the Bible, there is only a small amount of evidence for Israel during this phase, but an Aramaic inscription from the city of Dan does mention a tribal leader

  called David, who in the Biblical tradition is the father of King Solomon.) Various tribal units, collectively referred to as the Canaanites, lived in city-states and kingdoms spread across the region and into southern Lebanon.

  The Phoenician cities, now free of Egyptian or Hittite control and pro-

  tected by their fortified walls, prospered on the coast of modern Lebanon

  – particularly at Tyre, Byblos, and Sidon. And further north, in what had been Hittite territory in Syria, were now the Neo-Hittite kingdoms: at

  least fifteen simultaneous dynasties, some ruling over large territories, others small. Among the most important of these was the state centred

  on Carchemish, previously a major Hittite-controlled city in Syria. The Aramaeans of northern Syria had also founded kingdoms in the region, for example at Damascus, and later came to rule over some of the Neo-Hittite Kingdoms. Aramaic became the new language of diplomacy, replacing

  Akkadian. And because people preferred to write Aramaic in ink, it led to a growth in papyrus exports from Egypt.

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  Shoshenk’s campaign in the southern Levant is recorded in the Bible, as well as in reliefs at Karnak Temple and a fragment from a stele at Megiddo.

  According to the Biblical account, a prophecy had foretold that a man

  named Jeroboam would come to control ten of the tribes ruled by King

  Solomon of Israel. To stop this, Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, who – fearing for his life – fled to Shoshenk’s court (presented in the Bible as Shishak).

  Following Solomon’s death, and the accession of his son Rehoboam,

  Jeroboam returned to the Levant. But soon after, Jeroboam and ten of the tribes rebelled, incited by Rehoboam’s continuing cruelty towards his people. Jeroboam took Rehoboam’s northern territory, creating the Northern Kingdom of Israel, its capital at Samaria. Rehoboam was left to rule the Kingdom of Judah in the south, with its capital at Jerusalem. Then, in

  the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign (around 926 BCE), Shoshenk attacked

  Jerusalem, arriving with 1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen, and Libyan

  and Nubian troops. The pharaoh took away the treasures of the Temple of Solomon and of the royal palace. Given the Biblical account, some argue that Shoshenk’s campaign was launched in support of Jeroboam’s rebellion against Rehoboam.

  However, the Biblical account, written hundreds of years after the events described, can be doubted in its details: for a start, Jerusalem isn’t mentioned among the many cities in Shoshenk’s Karnak Temple scenes, despite other nearby locations being cited. Archaeological evidence shows that a campaign did occur in the region during the tenth century BCE, but at this time Jerusalem was only a small and poor village. Indeed, Judah only truly began its journey to statehood in the ninth century BCE, and only became a fully realized state in the eighth century BCE. The first non-Biblical reference to Judah is found in an inscription of the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III, who ruled from 745–727 BCE. So, when Shoshenk was campaigning,

  Judah was just a small chiefdom, centred on a tiny village; it certainly didn’t have a large and wealthy temple, and probably cooperated with the pharaoh to escape destruction. The story built around the campaign was an invention of its author, meant to show punishment for Rehoboam’s cruelty to his people.

  The true aim of Shoshenk’s campaign in the southern Levant was prob-

  ably to re-establish Egyptian control in the region and to dominate its trade routes. It was perhaps provoked by a small-scale invasion of Egypt: Shoshenk’s Victory Stele from Karnak Temple mentions the death of soldiers and leaders, and presents the king as consulting his advisors on how to proceed. The king then set off with his chariotry and made a great slaughter War and Trade with the Pharaohs.indd 148

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  in the Bitter Lakes region on the isthmus of Suez. Enemies, it seems, had crossed Sinai and attacked the eastern Delta, provoking the king’s violent response. Afterwards, Shoshenk probably decided to cross into the southern Levant, continuing his retaliation. A priest of Amun-Re and scribe, called Hor, also mentions that he followed Shoshenk I on campaign in the Levant.

  Despite violence in the southern Levant, the Egyptians now resumed

  friendly relations with Byblos in the north. A statue base from Byblos bears Shoshenk’s name, and its inscription says that the statue was brought from Egypt for Baalat-Gebal (the ‘Lady of Byblos’). Contact with Byblos continued into the reign of Shoshenk’s son and successor, Osorkon I, when

  Elibaal, king of Byblos, dedicated a statue of the pharaoh at the famous port city. Osorkon II also sent a statue to Byblos, and a large vessel, bearing his name, was found at Samaria, capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. It had probably been used to transport precious oil as a royal gift.

  King Osorkon II kept a close eye on international affairs. He had no

  choice. The Assyrians had been on the rise since the tenth century BCE, expanding their empire over the course of a century to incorporate territory all the way from Babylon to the Syrian coastline. Ashurnasirpal II, ruling from 883–859 BCE, was primarily responsible for this expansion. He’d marched west of the River Euphrates to find that the region’s city-states wanted no trouble: by paying tribute and supplying troops, weapons, and chariots to the Assyrians, they avoided destruction. Only the Kingdom of Luash fought back. So the Assyrians destroyed the kingdom’s cities and

  impaled the captives taken. Diplomats they were not.

  Under Ashurnasirpal II’s successor, Shalmaneser III, campaigning con-

  tinued even more aggressively than before (he left a pile of 300 corpses outside one city). But the Assyrian was met with resistance: the various kings of northern Syria had formed a coalition to oppose his armies. They fought a number of battles, but ultimately lost the war. Southern Syria was Shalmaneser’s next target. Taking inspiration from the northern Syrian

  city-states, the kings of south Syria
formed a coalition, but this time, they were supported by forces sent by kings from across the Levant and beyond, including Egypt. If the reading of ‘Musri’ as ‘Egypt’ on an Assyrian stele erected at Kurkh is correct, Osorkon II sent 1,000 troops to aid the Syrian kings in battle against Shalmaneser III at Qarqar (modern Tell Qarqur) in 853

  BCE. These numbers are quite small compared to the others who joined the coalition: Damascus sent 20,000 troops and 1,200 chariots; Israel sent 10,000

  troops; Byblos alone sent 500 troops. The coalition lost the battle, and the defeated kingdoms were forced to pay tribute to the Assyrians; nonetheless, War and Trade with the Pharaohs.indd 149

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  they continued to resist Assyrian rule for decades. Interestingly, though Egypt was not invaded, the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III (found at Nimrud

  – ancient Kalhu), erected in 825 BCE, refers to ‘Musri’ sending tribute to Assyria, including elephants, a rhinoceros, and other exotic animals.

  It was also under King Osorkon II that Egypt once again began to frag-

  ment. In around 867 BCE, the high priest of Amun at Thebes, Harsiese,

  declared himself king, founding a separate royal line, known today as the 23rd Dynasty. This set in motion a series of violent clashes: various individuals competed not just for the throne of Thebes, but for rule of the Nile Valley from Herakleopolis down into Nubia. On one of his monuments,

  Prince Osorkon, high priest of Amun during the reign of Takelot II (a king of the 23rd Dynasty, ruling from 841–815 BCE), talks of violence in the south: Hermopolis was cleansed; people were arrested at Karnak Temple

  and executed; and various rebellions forced Osorkon (who actually lived in the north) to travel to Thebes to restore order. The image presented is one of the Theban region in chaos, and perhaps even of civil war.

  At the same time, the Delta fragmented too: a patchwork of individual

  kingdoms came into existence during the middle of the 22nd Dynasty, each overseen by its own ‘mini-king.’ These were relatives of the 22nd Dynasty family, but acted independently. Since the start of the Libyan Period,