Akademik

    After the death of *Ramesses XI, Smendes pronounced himself the first king of the Twenty-first Dynasty and moved the capital from Thebes to Tanis in the Delta, where he established a line of kings who, although they were recorded as the only legitimate rulers of Egypt at this period, in practice exercised their powers only in the north. In the south, centred at Thebes, a line of powerful High-priests of Amun dominated their own region, although they apparently retained cordial relations with the pharaohs at Tanis and the two families became joined by marriage.

    Towards the end of this period, Psusennes, the son of a Theban High-priest named *Pinudjem II, took over the kingship of the entire land when the Tanite king died. He moved to Tanis, where he was included in the line of kings as Psusennes II, thus uniting the north and south and the two concurrent lines of legitimate pharaohs at Tanis and High-priests at Thebes.

    After his death, the throne passed to a new family, headed by *Shoshenk I who inaugurated the Twenty-second Dynasty; this line descended from the chiefs of *Libyan origin who had settled at the Delta city of Bubastis.