PINUDJEM I

Smendes (the first king of the Twenty-first Dynasty) moved the capital from Thebes to Tanis, and reached an agreement with *Pinudjem I, the High-priest of Amun at Thebes and Governor of the South, regarding the division of power within the kingdom: Pinudjem I was to recognise Smendes as Pharaoh and Smendes would regard Pinudjem as the effective ruler of the south, and both would agree to mutual rights of succession.

Pinudjem I was the descendant of *Herihor, who had inaugurated this dynastic line of powerful High-priests at Thebes and, in contemporary inscriptions, Pinudjem I was usually mentioned only as a High-priest.There is one instance during his lifetime where he used the royal title, and on his coffin he was called 'King of Upper Egypt.' In the same way King *Psusennes I and King Amenemope, at Tanis, also adopted the title of High-priest of Amun thus asserting their supremacy over Thebes.

Despite these rival claims, the Tanite and Theban ruling families remained on good terms, and princesses of Tanis married Theban High-priests so that from Pinudjem I's time onwards, the Theban High-priests, through their mothers, became descendants of the Tanite pharaohs.

Building projects that date to the time of Pinudjem I include the decoration of the Temple of Khonsu at Karnak, and the great town wall near the modern village of El Hiba which was perhaps intended as a defense against the local chiefs of the *Libyan mercenaries who settled nearby at Heracleopolis. Pinudjem I and his predecessor *Herihor were responsible for the order to rebury the royal mummies whose original burial places had suffered desecration at the hands of the tomb-robbers, but the task was completed by his descendant, *Pinudjem II.