Taharqo

Taharqo venerating the falcon-god Hemen (Louvre)

Taharqo: name of the last Nubian king ruling over Egypt (c.690-664), defeated by the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Aššurbanipal.

Relatives

Father: Piye
Mother: Abar
Daughter: Amenirdis II

Taharqo (British Museum)

Life

c.690: Succeeds Shebitqo
Year 6: High Nile
673: The first Assyrian invasion of Egypt is repelled
671: Second Assyrian invasion: Esarhaddon captures Memphis and forces Taharqo to flee to the south; power in Lower Egypt is given to the local princes
669: Taharqo returns to the north, Esarhaddon gathers his troops, but dies; Taharqo occupies Memphis and forces the local princes to support him again
667/666: The Assyrian king Aššurbanipal attacks Egypt again, sacks Thebes, and deports the princes from Lower Egypt
666: Necho, prince of Sais, returns, appointed as viceroy of Memphis and Sais; his son Psammetichus is intended successor
664: Death of Taharqo; his successor Tanwetamani proceeds to Memphis, but is defeated by Necho, who is killed in action (Herodotus, Histories 2.152); Psammetichus reunites Egypt

Statue of Taharqo as sphinx. British museum, London (Britain). Photo Jona Lendering.

Taharqo (British museum, London)

Buildings

New temple at Kawa
Temples at Sanam, Meoe, Bihen, Semna-West, Sedeinga, Qasr Ibrim
Tomb at Nuri

Literature

T.G.H. James, "Egypt. The Twenty-Fifth and Twenty-Sixth Dynasties" in: Cambridge Ancient History (second edition, 1991), vol.III, part two, pp.677-747
Robert G. Morkot, The Black Pharaohs. Egypt's Nubian Rulers (2000 London), especially chapter 17-21

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