Shishak (Sheshonk I of the monuments, reigned c. 945 BC) founded Egypt's XXIInd Dynasty and was, the ISBE says, "a warlike prince [who] cherished dreams of Asiatic dominion" (ISBE, "Shishak"). He had sheltered Jeroboam when he fled from Solomon (1 Kings 11:40), and in the fifth year of Rehoboam he came up against Jerusalem and carried off "the treasures of the house of the LORD", including the golden shields Solomon had made (1 Kings 14:25–26; 2 Chronicles 12:2–9). Shishak left his own record of the campaign: a relief on the temple of Amon at Karnak listing the Palestinian towns he claimed. The ISBE adds a careful caution about reading such a list, "it was the custom in antiquity for a victorious monarch to include among conquered cities any place that paid tribute or was under subjection, whether captured in war or not." A monument lists a king's triumphs in the king's own terms. (Source: ISBE 1915, "Shishak"; the Karnak relief is Shishak's own inscription.)
Empires and rulers of the Old Testament world
Shishak: the plunder of the temple
RulerEgypt
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- 1 Kings 11:40bsb
Solomon therefore sought to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam arose and fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt, where he remained until the death of Solomon.
- 1 Kings 14:25bsb
In the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem.
- 2 Chronicles 12:9bsb
So King Shishak of Egypt attacked Jerusalem and seized the treasures of the house of the LORD and of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields that Solomon had made.
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