Senakhtenre Tao I

Pharaoh Infobox | Alt=Tao the Elder
Name=Senakhtenre |

Nomen= Tao I
Siamun?
Pronomen= Perpetuated like Re [Clayton: p.94]
Golden= | Nebty=
Horus=
Reign= c.1 year [Senakhtenre is not attested by a single contemporary document or object. All references to him are posthumous and date to the New Kingdom period]
Predecessor= Sobekemsaf II?
Successor= Seqenenre Tao II
Spouse=
Issues= Seqenenre Tao II
Dynasty=17th Dynasty
Father= Intef VII?
Mother=
Died= 1558 BC?
Burial=
Monuments=

Senakhtenre Tao I was a Pharaoh of Egypt of the Seventeenth dynasty of Egypt based in Upper Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period. He was born c.1656 BC and died c.1580 or 1570 BC at the latest. His prenomen Senakhtenre means "Perpetuated like Re." [Peter Clayton, Chronicle of the Pharaohs. Thames and Hudson Ltd., 2006. p.94]

He may or may not have been the son of Intef VII, the successor of Nebkheperre Intef VI. The Danish Egyptologist Kim Ryholt observes that "since "Senaktenre" was remembered as one of the Lords of the West alongside Seqenenre and Kamose, he is generally believed to have been a member of the family of Ahmose and as such identified with the otherwise unidentified spouse" of Queen Tetisheri, Ahmose's grandmother. [Ryholt: pp.278-79] He was succeeded by his son, Seqenenre Tao II. Unlike his two successors Tao II, and Kamose, Senakhtenre is a relatively obscure king who is not attested "by [any] contemporary sources (by his prenomen) but exclusively by sources dating from the New Kingdom: the Karnak Canon [of Tuthmose III] and [in] two Theban tombs." [Ryholt: p.278] Donald Redford's book mentions these 2 Theban tombs. [Redford: 43, 48 [12] ] The archaeological evidence suggest that his reign was very brief and lasted only several months or 1 year at the most.

Ryholt observes that Senakhtenre's nomen may have been Siamun rather than Tao since:: "this nomen is inscribed on one of two stamp-seals found together in a tomb at Dra Abu el-Naga, the other being inscribed with the prenomen Seqenenre [whose nomen was Tao] . It has been suggested that Siamun here was used as an epithet. In that case, it would stand in the place of a nomen since it follows immediatedly upon the title 'Son of Re.' However apart from the fact that Kamose sometimes replaced his with the epithet 'the mighty ruler'...for political reasons during the war with Apophis, the title 'Son of Re' is always followed by a proper nomen during the Second Intermediate Period. Since Siamun was a popular name during this period and the New Kingdom, it seems more likely that we are dealing with a name than an epithet. The fact that the two seals were found together and are virtually identical in workmanship suggests that they were produced at about the same time and given to the official from whose tomb they come. Siamun must therefore be more or less contemporary with Seqenenre, and since it is not possible to identify Siamun with his successor (this being Kamose), it may be suggested that Siamun was the nomen of his predecessor Senakhtenre." [Ryholt, op. cit., pp.279-80]

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