Takelot II

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Takelot II
Takelot II (left) and Amun-Ra at Karnak
Pharaoh
Reign	845/34 – 835/824 BC
Predecessor	Harsiese A
Successor	Pedubast I
Royal titulary Horus name Kanakht Khaiemwaset[1] Prenomen  (Praenomen) Hedjkheperre Setepenre ḥḏ-ḫpr-Rˁ stp.n-Rˁ Radiant is the manifestation of Ra, the chosen one of Ra Nomen Takelot-siese-meramun Tklt-sȝ-ȝst-mrj-Jmn Takelot, son of Isis, beloved of Amun[2]
Consort	Karomama Merytmut II, Karomama D, Tashep, Tabeketenasket A
Children	Osorkon III, Bakenptah, Nimlot, Isetweret, DjedPtahefankh ?, Shebensopdet II ?, Karomama ?, Tentsepeh ?, Irbastudjatjau ?, Deersenesyt ?
Father	Nimlot C
Dynasty	23rd Dynasty

Hedjkheperre Setepenre Takelot II Si-Ese was a pharaoh of the Twenty-third Dynasty of Ancient Egypt in Middle and Upper Egypt. He has been identified as the High Priest of Amun Takelot F, son of the High Priest of Amun Nimlot C at Thebes, and thus, the son of Nimlot C and grandson of king Osorkon II, according to the latest academic research.^[3] Based on two lunar dates belonging to Takelot II, this Upper Egyptian pharaoh is today believed to have ascended to the throne of a divided Egypt in either 845 BC or 834 BC.^[4] Most Egyptologists today, including Aidan Dodson,^[5] Gerard Broekman,^[6] Jürgen von Beckerath,^[7] M.A. Leahy, and Karl Jansen-Winkeln, also accept David Aston's 1989 hypothesis^[8] that Shoshenq III was Osorkon II's actual successor at Tanis, rather than Takelot II. As Aidan Dodson and Dyan Hilton write in their comprehensive book on the royal families of Ancient Egypt:

Takelot II is likely to have been identical with the High Priest Takelot F, who is stated in [the] Karnak inscriptions to have been a son of Nimlot C, and whose likely period of office falls neatly just before Takelot II's appearance.^[9]

Takelot II rather ruled a separate kingdom that embraced Middle and Upper Egypt, distinct from the Tanite Twenty-second Dynasty, which only controlled Lower Egypt. Takelot F, the son and successor of the High Priest of Amun Nimlot C, served for a period of time under Osorkon II as a High Priest of Amun, before he proclaimed himself as king Takelot II in the final three regnal years of Osorkon II.^{[citation needed]} This situation is attested by the relief scenes on the walls of Temple J at Karnak which was dedicated by Takelot F – in his position as High Priest – to Osorkon II, who is depicted as the celebrant and king.^[10] All the documents which mention Takelot II Si-Ese and his son, Osorkon B, originate from either Middle or Upper Egypt (none from Lower Egypt) and a royal tomb at Tanis, which named a king Hedjkheperre Setepenre Takelot along with a Year 9 stela from Bubastis are now recognised as belonging exclusively to Takelot I. While both Takelot I and II used the same prenomen, Takelot II added the epithet Si-Ese ("Son of Isis") to his royal titulary both to affiliate himself with Thebes and to distinguish his name from Takelot I.