The Libyan Pharaohs of Egypt: Their Lives and Afterlives -- Aidan Dodson, Hardcover

A comprehensive account of the Libyan pharaohs of Egypt, who ruled from the tenth through the seventh centuries BC, accessibly written by renowned Egyptologist Aidan Dodson

During the tenth through the seventh centuries BC, Egypt was ruled by a series of pharaohs of Libyan ancestry, who ranged from Shoshenq I, conqueror of Jerusalem, to individuals so obscure that some may actually be spelling errors. The Libyans had hitherto been enemies of the Egyptians, with conflicts going back into the third millennium BC. Yet during the eleventh century we find Libyan names among members of Egyptian elite families, and early in the next century a pharaoh of Libyan descent ascended the Egyptian throne. There is no evidence of any violent take-over, so it appears likely that ongoing immigration and intermarriage with the Egyptian elites had brought a Libyan line to this point.

Although the earlier Libyan pharaohs seem to have maintained the tradition of a unitary Egyptian state, as time went by, Libyan ideas of decentralized control became more prevalent. As a result, we find individuals holding both Libyan and Egyptian titles controlling distinct territories around Egypt, some of whom assumed the names and titles of a pharaoh. Conflict sometimes accompanied this process, with a long civil war fought for the control of southern Egypt and the great religious capital of Thebes. Some degree of central control was imposed with the advent of a further set of rulers from Nubia during the eight century, but a single Egyptian state would not be restored until the middle of the seventh century.

The Libyan Pharaohs of Egypt reconstructs the story of this era, covering not only its complex political history, but also its monuments - both for the living and the dead--and its aftermath, including the rediscovery of its kings and monuments in modern times.

Author: Aidan Dodson
Publisher: American University in Cairo Press
Published: 12/02/2025
Pages: 244
Binding Type: Hardcover
ISBN: 9781649033109

About the Author
Aidan Dodson is honorary full professor of Egyptology in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Bristol, UK. He was also Simpson Professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo in 2013 and Chair of the Egypt Exploration Society during 2011-16. Awarded his PhD by the University of Cambridge in 1995, he was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 2003. He is the author of some thirty books.