High Priests of Amun

The god Amun in Karnak.

High Priest of Amun ḥm nṯr tpj n jmn in hieroglyphs

The High Priest of Amun or First Prophet of Amun (ḥm nṯr tpj n jmn) was the highest-ranking priest in the priesthood of the ancient Egyptian god Amun.^[1] The first high priests of Amun appear in the New Kingdom of Egypt, at the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty.

Contents

• 
  1 History
  


• 
  2 Notable High Priests of Amun from Thebes
  
  • 
    2.1 New Kingdom
    
  
  
  • 
    2.2 21st dynasty and later
    
  
  
  • 
    2.3 25th and 26th Dynasties
    
  
  


• 
  3 References
  

History

The priesthood of Amun rose in power during the early Eighteenth dynasty through significant tributes to the god Amun by ruler such as Hatshepsut and more importantly Thutmose III.^[2] The Amun priesthood in Thebes had four high-ranking priests:^[3]

• The Chief Prophet of Amun at Karnak (ḥm nṯr tpj n jmn), also referred to as the Chief Priest of Amun.


• The Second Prophet of Amun at Karnak (ḥm nṯr snnw n jmn), also referred to as the Second Priest of Amun.


• The Third Prophet of Amun at Karnak (ḥm nṯr ḫmtnw n jmn khemet-nu), also referred to as the Third Priest of Amun.


• The Fourth Priest of Amun at Karnak (ḥm nṯr jfdw n jmn), also referred to as the Fourth Priest of Amun.

The power of the Amun priesthood was temporarily curtailed during the Amarna period. A high priest named Maya is recorded in year 4 of Akhenaten. Akhenaten has the name of Amun removed from monuments during his reign as well as the names of several other deities. After his death, Amun was restored to his place of prominence among the cults in Egypt. The young pharaoh Tutankhaten changed his name to Tutankhamun to signal the restoration of the Amun to his former place of prominence.^[4]

The Theban High Priest of Amun was appointed by the King. It was not uncommon for the position to be held by dignitaries who held additional posts in the pharaoh's administration. Several of the high priests from the time of Ramesses II also served as Vizier.^[5]

At the end of the New Kingdom, the Twentieth Dynasty priesthood of Amun is for a large part dominated by Ramessesnakht. His son, Amenhotep, eventually succeeded his father and found himself in conflict with the Viceroy of Kush, Panehesy. Panehesy took his troops north and besieged Thebes. After this period, generals by the name of Herihor and Piye served as High Priest.

Herihor

By the time Herihor was proclaimed as the first ruling High Priest of Amun in 1080 BCE—in the 19th Year of Ramesses XI—the Amun priesthood exercised an effective stranglehold on Egypt's economy. The Amun priests owned two-thirds of all the temple lands in Egypt and 90 percent of her ships plus many other resources.^[6] Consequently, the Amun priests were as powerful as Pharaoh, if not more so. The High Priests of Amun at Thebes from the 21st dynasty were of such power and influence that they were effectively the rulers of Upper Egypt from 1080 to c. 943 BC. They are however not regarded as a ruling dynasty with pharaonic prerogatives, and after this period the influence of the Amun priesthood declined. One of the sons of the High Priest, Pinedjem I, would eventually assume the throne and rule Egypt for almost half-a-decade as pharaoh Psusennes I while the Theban High Priest Psusennes III would take the throne as king Psusennes II—the final ruler of the Twenty-first Dynasty.

Notable High Priests of Amun from Thebes

Dynasties of Ancient Egypt
All years are BC
Early First Dynasty I c. 3150–2890 Second Dynasty II 2890–2686
Old Kingdom Third Dynasty III 2686–2613 Fourth Dynasty IV 2613–2498 Fifth Dynasty V 2498–2345 Sixth Dynasty VI 2345–2181
First Intermediate Seventh Dynasty VII spurious Eighth Dynasty VIII 2181–2160 Ninth Dynasty IX 2160–2130 Tenth Dynasty X 2130–2040 Early Eleventh Dynasty XI 2134–2061
Middle Kingdom Late Eleventh Dynasty XI 2061–1991 Twelfth Dynasty XII 1991–1803 Thirteenth Dynasty XIII 1803–1649 Fourteenth Dynasty XIV 1705–1690
Second Intermediate Fifteenth Dynasty XV 1674–1535 Sixteenth Dynasty XVI 1660–1600 Abydos Dynasty 1650–1600 Seventeenth Dynasty XVII 1580–1549
New Kingdom Eighteenth Dynasty XVIII 1549–1292 Nineteenth Dynasty XIX 1292–1189 Twentieth Dynasty XX 1189–1077
Third Intermediate Twenty-first Dynasty XXI 1069–945 Twenty-second Dynasty XXII 945–720 Twenty-third Dynasty XXIII 837–728 Twenty-fourth Dynasty XXIV 732–720 Twenty-fifth Dynasty XXV 732–653
Late Period Twenty-sixth Dynasty XXVI 672–525 Twenty-seventh Dynasty (1st Persian Period) XXVII 525–404 Twenty-eighth Dynasty XXVIII 404–398 Twenty-ninth Dynasty XXIX 398–380 Thirtieth Dynasty XXX 380–343 Thirty-first Dynasty (2nd Persian Period) XXXI 343–332
Ptolemaic (Hellenistic) Argead Dynasty 332–305 Ptolemaic Kingdom 323–30
v t e

Senenu, High Priest of Amūn at Deir El-Baḥri, grinding grain, ca. 1352-1292 B.C. (to the end of the 18th dynasty), Limestone, Brooklyn Museum.

New Kingdom

High Priest of Amun

High Priests	Pharaoh	Dynasty
Thuty Minmontu	Ahmose I	18th Dynasty
Hapuseneb	Hatshepsut	18th Dynasty
Menkheperraseneb I Menkheperreseneb II	Thutmose III	18th Dynasty
Amenemhat Mery	Amenhotep II	18th Dynasty
Ptahmose Meryptah	Amenhotep III	18th Dynasty
Maya	Akhenaten	18th Dynasty
Parennefer called Wennefer	Tutankhamen Horemheb	18th Dynasty
Nebneteru Tenry	Seti I	19th Dynasty
Nebwenenef Hori Paser Bakenkhonsu	Ramesses II	19th Dynasty
Roma-Rui	Ramesses II, Merenptah and Seti II	19th Dynasty
Bakenkhons II	Sethnakht Ramesses III	20th Dynasty
Ramessesnakht	Ramesses IV - Ramesses IX	20th Dynasty
Amenhotep	Ramses IX - XI	20th Dynasty

21st dynasty and later

• Theban High Priests of Amun


• Family tree of the Twenty-first, Twenty-second, and Twenty-third Dynasties of Egypt


• Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt

Pinudjem II as High Priest

25th and 26th Dynasties

• 
  Haremakhet, Son of Shabaka 704?–660 BC


• Harkhebi, Son of Haremakhet, Grandson of Shabaka. Served as HPA until at least year 14 of Psamtik I. 660–644 BC

[ 2 unattested HPA or vacant? 644-595]

• 
  Ankhnesneferibre, The God's Wife of Amun also served as High Priest of Amun. 595–c.560 BC


• 
  Nitocris II, Daughter of Pharaoh Ahmose (II). c.560–525 BC

References

1. 
   ^ Dodson, Aidan; Hilton, Dyan (2010). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-28857-3. 
   


2. 
   ^ Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, vol. 2: The Eighteenth Dynasty
   


3. 
   ^ Dodson, Hilton, The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt, 2004
   


4. 
   ^ Aldred, Akhenaten: King of Egypt, Thames & Hudson (1991)
   


5. 
   ^ Kitchen, Ramesside Inscriptions, Translated & Annotated, Translations, Volume III, Blackwell Publishers, 1996
   


6. 
   ^ Peter Clayton, Chronicle of the Pharaohs, Thames & Hudson Ltd., 1994. p.175
   

v t e Ancient Egyptian titulary
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