TAHARQO

(reigned 690–664 BC)

Throne nameKhunefertemre. Son of Piye and Abar. He was summoned from Nubia after the accession of his relation, Shebitqo, and he commanded his army in Palestine in 701 BC against the Assyrians. He succeeded Shebitqo and undertook extensive building works, especially at Karnak, where he installed his daughter, Amenirdis II, as prospective God’s wife of Amun. He defeated an initial Assyrian invasion but was driven out of Egypt by another invasion in 671 BC, in which his family was captured. He retired to Nubia, where he died in 664 BC and was buried in the royal cemetery at Nuri near Napata.