13 Facts About Osorkon II

Usermaatre Setepenamun Osorkon II was the fifth king of the Twenty-second Dynasty of Ancient Egypt and the son of King Takelot I and Queen Kapes.

Osorkon II ruled Egypt from approximately 872 BC to 837 BC from Tanis, the capital of that dynasty.

Potentially, Harsiese's kingship could have posed a serious challenge to the authority of Osorkon when Harsiese died in 860 BC, Osorkon II acted to ensure that no king would replace Harsiese.

Osorkon II appointed his son, Nimlot C, as the high priest of Amun at Thebes, which would have been the source for a successor to Harsiese.

Osorkon II's reign was a time of prosperity for Egypt and large-scale monumental building ensued.

Osorkon II was the last king of the Twenty-second dynasty to rule Egypt from the Delta to Upper Egypt.

Osorkon II was forced to be aggressive on the international scene.

Osorkon II devoted considerable resources into his building projects by adding to the temple of Bastet at Bubastis, which featured a substantial new hall decorated with scenes depicting his Sed festival and images of his queen, Karomama.

Approximately 837 BC, Osorkon II died and he was buried in Tomb NRT I at Tanis.

Kitchen suggests that Osorkon II would have died shortly afterward, in his Year 31.

Osorkon II is known to have had at least four wives:.

The French excavator Pierre Montet discovered Osorkon II's plundered royal tomb at Tanis on February 27,1939.

David Aston has argued in a JEA 75 paper that Osorkon II was succeeded by Shoshenq III at Tanis rather than Takelot II Si-Ese as Kitchen presumed because none of Takelot II's monuments have been found in Lower Egypt where other genuine Tanite kings, such as Osorkon II, Shoshenq III, and even the short-lived Pami are attested on donation stelas, temple walls, and annal documents.