Near Eastern Institute

Shishaq Relief at the Temple of Amun

The Shishaq Relief is a series of texts that tells the story of how Egypt, ruled by the pharaoh Shishaq (also known as Sheshonq, or Shishak), invaded Judah and Israel in 925 BC. It is situated at the Bubastis Portal, a gate located just outside the Temple of Amun at the Karnak Temple Complex.

The Shishaq Relief is a part of a series of reliefs located at and around the Bubastis Portal. Written in Egyptian hieroglyphics, the text is divided into three sections: a description of how power was awarded to Shishaq by the Egyptian deity Amun, symbols showing the deities Amun and Wast leading all of Shishaq’s foes on a leash towards defeat, and images of small men with names written on the bodies which are believed to represent conquered cities and towns.

According to biblical accounts, the invasion was considered as a consequence for the sins of Rehoboam and Judah. An excerpt of the Biblical narrative as follows:

In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, because they had been unfaithful to the LORD, Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem with 1,200 chariots and 60,000 horsemen. And the people were without number who came with him from Egypt— Libyans, Sukkiim, and Ethiopians. And he took the fortified cities of Judah and came as far as Jerusalem. Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and to the princes of Judah, who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the LORD, ‘You abandoned me, so I have abandoned you to the hand of Shishak.’” Then the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The LORD is righteous.” When the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah: “They have humbled themselves. I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out on Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. Nevertheless, they shall be servants to him, that they may know my service and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.” So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. He took away the treasures of the house of the LORD and the treasures of the king’s house. He took away everything. He also took away the shields of gold that Solomon had made, and King Rehoboam made in their place shields of bronze and committed them to the hands of the officers of the guard, who kept the door of the king’s house. And as often as the king went into the house of the LORD, the guard came and carried them and brought them back to the guardroom. And when he humbled himself the wrath of the LORD turned from him, so as not to make a complete destruction. Moreover, conditions were good in Judah.

Most scholars and experts believe that Shishaq’s campaigns and eventual success against Israel and Judah actually occurred because of existing evidence in the form of extra-biblical texts and archaeological finds that manages to align Egyptian, Biblical, and Syro-Palestinian histories.