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Ancient Egypt > Egyptian Dynasties > Twenty-First Dynasty of Egypt Twenty-First Dynasty of Egypt
21st Dynasty of Ancient Egypt 1069-945 BCE, 124 years, consisting of 7 kings, belonging to the Third Intermediate Period. This dynasty was ruled from Tanis in Lower Egypt. To a large extent, they ruled the northern half of Egypt, while Middle and Upper Egypt was effectively ruled by the High Priests of Amon at Thebes, who also acted as an army commander. Much of strength of this office was established by chief general Herihor, but it would become Piankh who established a heriditary priestly and military dynasty. This was replaced by the family of Osorkon the Elder, who was of Meshwesh Libyan origin. King Psusennes I was also a high priest of Amon, strongly indicating the influence of religion on politics. Links between Thebes and Tanis were so stong that in 959, the Theban high priest became king from Tanis: Psusennes II. He became the last ruler of this dynasty, but the change into the 22nd Dynasty was undramatic, since it came from his own family: The 2nd ruler, Osorkon I, was Psusennes II's son. The division between Tanite and Theban Egypt during this dynasty appears to have at the site of Teudjoi, south of the entrance to Fayoum Oasis. This period begins with the death of Ramesses XI in 1070, but in reality, Egypt was divided long before this. Civil wars had ravaged the country for years, his main opponent had been the High Priest of Amon in Thebes. To a great extent, Egypt was in this period a theocracy, and political power was vested in the god Amon himself. The kings of Tanis built an enormous temple dedidicated to him, as well as large temples to other central Theban gods, even the layout resembled that of the temples at Karnak. Between the kings at Tanis and the effective rulers in Thebes, the situation was stable, without confrontations. As a matter of fact, Theban documents were dated according ot the kings of Tanis. There were close family links between Tanis and Thebes. There appears to have been a Libyan element in the ruling classes both in Thebes and Tanis. Eventually, with the next dynasty, the 22nd, the Libyans emerged as the rulers of Egypt. Royal burials of this period was often so that artefacts of fresh graves were reused, causing the available material limited for modern researchers. Tanis was largely built from material takeen from other sites, like Piramesse and other sites in the Nile Delta. On foreign fronts, the federation of the Philistines served as a buffer for the emerging kingdom of Israel. During the reign of Israeli king Solomon, Egypt chose diplomatic methods of keeping up good relations, marrying Egyptian princesses and offering territory as dowry. This indicates, more than anything, Egyptian economic and military weakness. After the reign of Ramesses III, a long, slow decline of royal power in Egypt followed. The pharaohs of the 21st Dynasty ruled from Tanis, but were mostly active only in Lower Egypt which they controlled. This dynasty is described as 'Tanite' because it's political capital was based at Tanis. Meanwhile, the High Priests of Amun at Thebes effectively ruled Middle and Upper Egypt in all but name. The later Egyptian Priest Manetho of Sebennytos states in his Epitome on Egyptian royal history that "the 21st Dynasty of Egypt lasted for 130 years". The known rulers, in the History of Egypt, for the 21st Dynasty are as follows:
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