THE “SHISHAK” ATTACK

James Bowden reassesses the Libyan pharaoh Sheshonq I’s attack on Israel and its importance to Egyptian history.

- James Bowden

Pharaoh Sheshonq I (variously spelled Sheshonk or Shoshenq) has occupied a position in the shadowlands of Egyptian history. Ruling from the Delta city of Bubastis (Per-Bast) c. 945-924 BC during the Third Intermediate Period, he is thought by some scholars to be the pharaoh ‘Shishak’ named in the Bible. His legacy and impact appear to be more frequently invoked by scholars of the Old Testament and in Canaanite studies, but Sheshonq’s place in Egyptian history should be in manyways just as important for Egyptology. Sheshonq’s attack on Canaan/Israel is mostly dismissed as a mere ‘raid and plunders’ expedition, but it was much more. The invasion challenged the political system of Israel at a critical moment and became a source of embarrassment for the leadership of Judah. From the Egyptian point of view the attack represents the last bid for imperial greatness and the most vigorous attempt to reinstate the Egyptian power that had characterised so much of the country’s history.

The Rise of Sheshonq

Sheshonq was not a native Egyptian; he was of Libyan Meshwesh ancestry, the son of Nimlot A, Great Chief of the Ma, and nephew of the Twenty-first Dynasty king Osorkon the Elder. He was adopted into the Egyptian royal court because of his skills as a fighter and promoted to the rank of ‘Great Chief of Chiefs’ by Pharaoh Pasebakhaenniut II (Psusennes II, c. 950-945 BC), giving him command of the Egyptian army. This promotion also gave him control of the city of Thebes and would have granted him a large number of administrative duties. Pasebakhaenniut II died shortly after the appointment was made and Sheshonq swooped in to claim the throne, becoming Hedjkheperra Setepenra Sheshonq I, founder of the Twenty-second Dynasty.