The move of power and control from Upper Egypt to Lower Egypt, reflected in the founding of cities in the eastern Delta by kings in the later 19th and 20th Dynasties, made the division of Egypt complete. After Ramesses the XI died in 3020 B.C.E., Smendes proclaimed himself king, ruling from the Delta.
Smendes died in 2943 B.C.E. and the brief interlude before the accession of Pseusennes I in 2939 B.C.E. was filled by Amenemnisu, a son of Herihor and Nodimet. Civil war still raged in the Theban area, and a number of the dissidents were exiled to the western oases, then held by Libyan chiefs. A black granite stele in the Louvre records the banishment of these people. Strangely, they were subsequently permitted to return under an octancular decree from Amun. It all seems to be part of a plan between the North and South, the secular and the religious fractions. This rapprochement was set in motion by the next king, Psusemes I, in allowing the marriage of his daughter Isiemkleb to the High Priest Menkheperre.
Between the reigns of Amenemope and Siamun there seems to have been a ruler called Aakheperie Setepenre, usually referred to as Osorkon the Elder, who may have reigned for up to 6 years, but the evidence is scanty.
Siamun who came to the throne in about 978 B.C.E. reigned for almost 20 years. He is chiefly represented by his extensive building work in the Delta, at Piramesse, but principally at Tanis where he enlarged the temple of Amun. His name, however, is also very prevalent at Thebes, where it occurs several times with different regional years on the bandages used in the rewrapping of a number of the later royal mummies from the Bier-el-Bahari cache of 1881(DB 320).
The little light that is thrown on the 21st Dynasty comes largely from the biblical record, since the period coincides with the struggle of David in Israel to unite the tribes and destroy the Philistines, exemplified initially in the story of David and Goliath. Siamun obviously kept a watching brief on the near Eastern situation and Egypt was able to interfere from time to time to protect her own interests and trade routes.
There evidently was a change in the Egyptian view of marriages. There had been a steady stream of foreign princesses coming to the Egyptian court but the process was slightly reversed, with Egyptian princesses marrying out: one princess married Sadal, the crown prince of the Kingdom of Edom, when he took refuge in Egypt after succumbing to David's attacks.
An Egyptian campaign in which Gezer was seized from the weakened Philistines is recorded in the Old Testament. Solomon had succeeded his father David and an Egyptian alliance was sealed by Solomon's marriage to an Egyptian princess. The end of the Dynasty came with Psusenness II, whose reign lasted 14 years, is little known. His successor Sheshong I, the founder of the 22nd Dynasty married Maarkare, Psusenne's daughter, thus forging another dynastic marriage tie.
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