Twelve Great Dynasties of Egypt Gallery

The mummy-mask of Amenemopet, found at Tanis (San el-Hagar)

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• 21st Dynasty
• Around 1070 BC, Egypt was in decline, losing its Nubian provinces and other sources of revenue. A new royal family began to rule from Tanis in the far north-east, but the south was ruled by a largely independent series of High Priests at Thebes.

Amenemopet was one of the Tanite kings of the 21st Dynasty. His mummy was found in the tomb of his predecessor, Psusennes I, at Tanis in 1939, adorned with the gold mask illustrated above. Although superficially impressive, the gold is very thin, only covering the front of the head, in contrast with the thick helmet-mask of the 18th-Dynasty pharaoh Tutankhamun.