Usimare Setepenamun Osorkon III Si-Ese was the famous Crown Prince and High Priest of Amun Osorkon B, son of Takelot II by Queen Karomama-Merytmut. Osorkon B composed important his 'Chronicle'--which consists of a series of texts documenting his activity at Thebes--on the Bubastite Portal at Karnak. He later reigned as king Osorkon III in Upper Egypt for 28 Years after defeating the opposing forces of Pedubast I/Shoshenq VI who had stubbornly resisted his father's authority. Osorkon ruled the last 5 Years of his reign in co-regency with his son, Takelot III, according to Karnak Nile Quay Text No.13.

Identity

Osorkon III is attested by numerous impressive donation stelas and stone blocks from Herakleopolis through to Thebes and is generally thought to have been a contemporary of the Lower Egyptian Twenty-Second Dynasty kings, Shoshenq IV, Pami, and the first decade or so of Shoshenq V's reign. Osorkon III's chief wife was Queen Tentsai while a stela of Prince Osorkon B calls his wife Tent[...] with part of the name being lost. The latter name could equally be rendered as either Tentsai or Tentamun. Significantly, however, both men have a daughter called Shepenupet. Secondly, according to the British scholar M.A. Leahy, one important donation stela (Heian Museum 1983), which was discovered in the early 1980's at Tehna el-Gebel (ancient Akoris), reveals that Osorkon III was once a High Priest of Amun in his own right. (Leahy, Libya and Egypt, p.192) The document explicitly calls Osorkon III, a High Priest of Amun. Osorkon III, thus, was almost certainly the High Priest Osorkon B, who defeated his father's opponents at Thebes in Year 39 of Shoshenq III, as Leahy notes. This theory has been accepted by many Egyptologists today including J. Von Beckerath in GM 144, pp.9-11, Karl Jansen-Winkeln in JEA 81(1995), pp.141-142, Gerard Broekman in JEA 88(2000), pp.174 and Aidan Dodson among others. Osorkon probably lived into his 80's, which explains why he appointed his son Takelot as the junior co-regent to the throne in his final 5 years. He would have been in failing health by this time. Osorkon III's coregency with Takelot III is the last attested royal co-regency in Ancient Egyptian history. Later dynasties from Nubia, Sais, Assyria, and Persia all ruled Egypt with a single king on the throne.

Wives:

According to Kenneth Kitchen, Osorkon III had 2 Wives: his chief Queen Karoadjet, mother of Shepenupet I, and a lesser wife named Tentsai, mother of Takelot III and Rudamun. (Kitchen, TIPE 1996, p.352) Shepenupet I would outlive both her half-brothers as the serving God's Wife of Amun at Thebes and survive into the reign of the Nubian ruler, Shebitku, where she is depicted on the Temple Walls of Osiris-Heqadjet, which was decorated by this king.

References:

• G. Broekman, The Reign of Takeloth II, a Controversial Matter, GM 205 (2005), pp.21-35
• M.A. Leahy, 'Appendix: The Twenty-third Dynasty, p.192' in M.A. Leahy(ed.), "Libya and Egypt c.1300–750 BC." London: School of Oriental and African Studies, Centre of Near and Middle Eastern Studies, and The Society for Libyan Studies (1990)
• K.A. Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (c.1100--650 BC), 3rd ed., Warminster: 1996