2024 academia.edu Was the Reign of Tawosret in Fact Successful? Norbert van Cleve Abstract It was long assumed without queson that Tawosret, the last pharaoh of the 19 th dynasty, was deposed by Sethnakhte, founder of the 20 th . Only recently has the possibility of a successful reign by the queen been acknowledged. The present paper aims to demonstrate that a brief but prospering sole rule is significantly more in harmony with the – admiedly scanty – facts than the tradional view of gradual demise and eventual overthrow. Tawosret’s monuments and some individual objects associated with her reign are discussed, but in parcular, the long-accepted equaon of Irsu the Syrian with Chancellor Bay is maintained. Bay’s downfall at the hands of Tawosret and the usurpaon of her reign by her successors lead to a revised interpretaon of the Elephanne Stele and papyrus Harris I. Tawosret – The Powerful One Sitre Meryamun Tawosret Sotepenmut (s 3 t rˁ mry imn t 3 wsrt stp n mwt), Daughter of Re, Beloved of Amun, Tawosret 1 , Chosen by Mut 2 , has become known as the last pharaoh of the 19 th dynasty and the last known female king of Egypt before the Greek period (cartouches on the right from Bassir 2013). When exactly her reign began is a point of debate, with figures ranging between 1209 and 1185 BCE (Wilkinson 2012, p. 2). Dodson (2010, p. 134) favors 1190 BCE, probably the most reasonable date. Nothing is known about her parentage (Callender 2004), but Dodson (2010, p. 44-45) believes that she cannot have been the daughter of a king as no such tle is aested on any of her known monuments, her tomb (KV 14) included. Despite this, she became the King’s Great Wife of Sethy II, and on I prt 8 of Sethy’s year 2, an order was issued to commence the construcon of a tomb for her (Altenmüller 1992). Most unusually, it was to be located in the Valley of the Kings. When Sethy II died in his year 6, he was followed by Siptah, a child or teenager of unclear provenance, who also died aſter a reign of 6 years or so (details on the lives of Sethy II and Siptah are found in Dodson 2010, p. 83-90). Dowager queen Tawosret had officially been his regent or co-regent (Altenmüller 1992). Tawosret is believed to have become king of Egypt aſter Siptah’s death, but the presence of a scarab of hers as king among the foundaon deposits of Siptah’s Temple of Millions of Years (Dodson 2010, p. 104) forces us to consider the possibility of her being crowned earlier than normally assumed. It is generally accepted that Tawosret ruled into her 8 th year, spending most of that me as regent and maybe co-regent for Siptah. Among her most important monuments are her tomb, KV14, and her Temple of Millions of Years. Tawosret disappears from history just before or during a period of war or at least significant unrest that seems to have involved Canaanite forces. At the end of this war Sethnakhte, the first ruler of the 20 th dynasty, is found on the throne (details about Sethnakhte in Dodson 2010). According to Callender 1 The name is frequently spelled Twosre or Twosret, Tausret, Tausert, or similar. It means “The Powerful One”. 2 Names and several tles of the queen are found on a now headless statue, described by Bassir (2013). She somemes calls herself Merenmut (Loved by Mut) instead of Sotepenmut.