Shishak

Shishak, also spelled Shishaq or Susac (שִׁישַׁק, Tiberian: ʃiʃaq, Sousakim), was, according to the Hebrew Bible, an Egyptian pharaoh who sacked Jerusalem in the 10th century BCE. He is usually identified with the pharaoh Shoshenq I. He supported Jeroboam against king Rehoboam of Judah, and led a successful campaign through that country with a large army. Shishak did not destroy Jerusalem but took the treasures of Solomon's Temple and the king's house. His campaign records, found in the Bubastite Portal at Karnak and a relief at el-Hibeh, list several conquered towns but fail to mention Jerusalem. The omission has sparked various theories, with some scholars questioning the historical accuracy of the Biblical account and others suggesting possible explanations for the omission. Shishak has also appeared in popular culture, notably in the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. Shishak's campaign against the Kingdom of Judah and his sack of Jerusalem are recounted in the Hebrew Bible, in 1 Kings 14:25 and 2 Chronicles 12:1–12. According to these accounts, Shishak had provided refuge to Jeroboam during the later years of Solomon's reign, and upon Solomon's death, Jeroboam became king of the tribes in the north, which separated from Judah to become the Kingdom of Israel. In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign, commonly dated ca. 926 BCE, Shishak swept through Judah with a powerful army of 60,000 horsemen and 1,200 chariots, in support of Jeroboam. According to , he was supported by the Lubim (Libyans), the Sukkiim, and the Kushites ("Ethiopians" in the Septuagint). Shishak took away treasures of the Solomon's Temple and the king's house, as well as shields of gold which Solomon had made; Rehoboam replaced them with brass ones. According to Second Chronicles, When Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem, he carried off the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields Solomon had made. Flavius Josephus in Antiquities of the Jews adds to this a contingent of 400,000 infantrymen.