Thought.Rochester, Vt.: Inner Traditions, 1999; Road to
Kadesh: a Historical Interpretation of the Battle Reliefs of
King Sety I at Karnak.Chicago: Oriental Inst., 1990.
Karnak cache A group of statues, vast in number, that
were discovered in the courtyard of the seventh pylon of
that religious complex. These statues, now in the Egyp-
tian Museum of Cairo, probably were buried during a
time of crisis for security reasons. They span many eras of
A section of the great religious complex at Thebes
nak at THEBES.
Karomana (1) (Karomama, Kamama, Karomet)(fl.
10th century B.C.E.) Royal woman of the Twenty-second
Dynasty
She was the consort of SHOSHENQ I(r. 945–924 B.C.E.)
and the mother of OSORKON Iand Prince IUPUT.
Karomana (2) (Karomama)(fl. 10th century B.C.E.)
Royal woman of the Twenty-second Dynasty
She was the consort of OSORKON I(r. 924–909 B.C.E.),
and probably his sister. Karomana was the mother of
TAKELOT I.
Karomana (3)(fl. ninth century B.C.E.) Royal woman
of the Twenty-second Dynasty
She was the consort of SHOSHENQ II(r. 883 B.C.E.). Karo-
mana was buried in LEONTOPOLIS.
Karomana (4)(fl. ninth century B.C.E.) Royal woman
of the Twenty-second Dynasty
The consort of OSORKON II(r. 883–855 B.C.E.), Karomana
was the mother of TAKELOT II(r. 860–835 B.C.E.).
Karomana (5) (Karomana-Merymut)(fl. ninth cen-
tury B.C.E.) Royal woman of the Twenty-second Dynasty
She was the consort of TAKELOT II(r. 860–835 B.C.E.) and
the mother of OSORKON III. Karomana may have been the
mother of SHOSHENQ IIIas well and was reportedly a
GOD’S WIFE OF AMUNfor a time.Karomana (6)(fl. eighth century B.C.E.) Royal woman
of the Twenty-second Dynasty
She was probably the consort of SHOSHENQ IVand the
mother of OSORKON IV(735–712 B.C.E.). Karomana was
buried at To-Remu, LEONTOPOLIS.ka servant The mortuary priest contracted by the
deceased and his or her heirs to perform services on a
daily basis for the ka.Such priests were normally paid by
a prearranged endowment, sometimes recorded in “tomb
balls” placed at the gravesite. The MORTUARY TEMPLESin
the complexes of royal tombs had ALTARSfor the services
of these kaservants. A SERDAB,a chamber containing stat-
ues of the deceased and designed so that the eyes of each
statue could witness the daily rituals, were included in
the tombs from an early period. The Egyptian dread of
nothingness predicated the services of the kaservants.
They said the names of the deceased aloud as they con-
ducted rituals, thus insuring that the dead continued to
live in the hearts and minds of the living and therefore
maintained existence.Kashta (Nima’atré)(d. 750 B.C.E.)Founder of the
Twenty-fifth Dynasty
He reigned from 770 B.C.E. until his death in GEBEL
BARKALin NUBIA(modern Sudan), but he was accepted in
much of Upper Egypt. Kashta’s queen was PEBATMA,
probably the mother of his sons, PIANKHI(1) (Piye) and
SHABAKA. His sister or daughter, AMENIRDIS (1), was
named GOD’S WIFE OF AMUN, or “Divine Adoratrice of
Amun,” at Thebes, and was adopted by SHEPENWEPET(1).
Piankhi succeeded Kashta, who during his reign erected a
stela to the god KHNUMon ELEPHANTINEIsland. The reign
of OSORKON III(777–749 B.C.E.) in the Delta’s Twenty-
third Dynasty, a contemporary royal line, was threatened
by Kashta’s move into Upper Egypt.Kassites A people that are recorded as originating in
Central Asia, taking the city of Babylon c. 1595 B.C.E. The
Kassites ruled Babylon for almost three centuries, restor-
ing temples at Ur, Uruk, and Isin, as well as at Dur-
Kurigalzu, modern Agar Quf in Iraq. By the 13th century
B.C.E., the Kassite Empire covered most of Mesopotamia,
but it was overrun by the Elamites c. 1159 B.C.E. Several
Kassite rulers had dealings with Egypt, and some are men-
tioned in the ’AMARNAcorrespondence. Burna-Buriash II
(1359–1333 B.C.E.), Kurigalzu I (c. 1390 B.C.E.), and Kuri-
galzu II (1332–1308 B.C.E.) are among those kings.Kassites 195A section of the great religious complex at Thebes, dating to
the Ramessid era, dedicated to the god Amun and other
members of Egypt’s pantheon of deities. (Courtesy Steve
Beikirch.)