This is an article from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897. This article is written from a nineteenth century Christian viewpoint, and may not reflect modern opinions or recent discoveries in Biblical scholarship. Please help the Wikipedia by bringing this article up to date.
Shishak I - =Sheshonk I., king of Egypt. His reign was one of great national success, and a record of his wars and conquests adorns the portico of what are called the "Bubastite kings" at Karnak, the ancient Thebes. Among these conquests is a record of that of Judea. In the fifth year of Rehoboam's reign Shishak came up against the kingdom of Judah with a powerful army. He took the fenced cities and came to Jerusalem. He pillaged the treasures of the temple and of the royal palace, and carried away the shields of gold which Solomon had made (1 Kings 11:40; 14:25; 2 Chr. 12:2). (See Rehoboam.) This expedition of the Egyptian king was undertaken at the instigation of Jeroboam for the purpose of humbling Judah. Hostilities between the two kingdoms still continued; but during Rehoboam's reign there was not again the intervention of a third party.
From Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
This reading in Easton's Bible dictionary is based on Francoise Champollion's 1828 visit to Egypt with Professor Ippolito Rossellini of the University of Pisa, Italy. They viewed the hieroglyphs on the Bubastite walls of the temple of Karnak at Thebes, and read number 29 on the list as "y-w-d-h-m-l-k".
Champollion surmised that this could mean `Iouda-ha-malek' - kingdom of Judah, and so identified this with the biblical Shishak invasion of Judah. From that time on Shishak has been identified with Shoshenk I.
In reality number 29 should be read as "Yadhamelek," meaning 'the Monument of the King;' which is a monument in northern Israel, and not of the King of Judah.
The city list of pharaoh Sheshonk of the 22nd dynasty is in reality his campaign to lend support to Jehoahaz of Israel against Hazael, king of Damascus which took place in about 816-810 BC. It was in 925 BC that Shiskak plundered Jerusalem, so therefore Shiskak and Sheshonk could not have been the same person.
