The Libyan Pharaohs of Egypt: Their Lives and Afterlives

During the tenth through the seventh centuries BC, Egypt was ruled by a series of pharaohs of Libyan ancestry. 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.

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.

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.