Psibkhenno may serve to anchor Ramses II in a biblico-historical era
by Damien F. Mackey Pharaoh Psibkhenno needs an alter ego, because much of his building work is thought no longer to exist. This is typical of Egypt’s so-called Twenty-First Dynasty , which is quite archaeologically deficient. Nicolas Grimal has written, re “The historical interpretation of Tanis”, for instance ( A History of Ancient Egypt, Blackwell, 1994, p. 317): “Nothing remains of the actual buildings of Psusennes I …”. And again (p. 315): “At Tanis, Psusennes I built a new enclosure around the temple dedicated to the triad of Amun, Mut and Khonsu. If the few traces of reuse of earlier monuments are to be believed, he made many other contributions to the temple, but because of the current conditions of the site little is known concerning this work”. Psibkhenno was apparently the father-in-law of Shoshenq I (N. Grimal, p. 319). Smendes II, who I suspect must be Smendes=Shoshenq I, “sent a pair of bracelets to Psusen...
