ABSTRACT
Upon the death of Ramesses XI, Smendes, whose wife is thought to have been a daughter of Ramesses, moved swiftly to consolidate his power by pronouncing himself king of the entire country, perhaps using his wife’s royal connections as his justification. Although his actual power-base was limited to the north, he was generally accepted throughout Egypt as the new ruler and founder of Dynasty XXI. Meanwhile, the military High Priests of Amun continued to hold sway over the south, and when Piankh died, he was succeeded by his son Pinedjem (I), who himself seems to have married a daughter of Smendes (Kitchen 1973: 259): the inference from this being that the whole arrangement was an amicable one and mutually agreeable to both parties.
