Blog Archives

Hatshepsut = Queen of Sheba, Thutmose III = Shishak and Shosheng I = So

Shishak (Hebrew: שישק, Shīʼshaḵ; Greek: Σουσακείμ, Sousakeīm), an Egyptian pharaoh mentioned in the Biblical books of 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles and a contemporary of the Israelite kings Solomon and Rehoboam. With better understanding of the ordering of the Egyptian dynasties and the revised Egyptian Chronology, it would seem that the best candidate for Shishak is now Thutmose III, the 6th Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty. He had a co-regency with Hatshepsut for 22 years as he was too young to rule when his father Thutmose II died. He ruled for another 32 years after Hatshepsut’s death. Hatshepsut was probably the Queen of Sheba who visited Solomon after he had built the temple. Thutmose III / Shishak plundered Jerusalem at the battle of Megiddo in the year following Hatshepsut’s death taking many of the treasures in Solomon’s temple including 300 gold shields, as recorded in the temple at Karnak. Traditionally, scholars and archaeologists have identified Shishak with Pharaoh Shoshenq I, although more recently historian David Rohl has claimed Rameses II as Shishak, based on a variety of circumstantial evidence. Seti I – the father of Ramses II has also been suggested. Immanuel Velikovsky identified Shoshenq I as So, the Pharaoh with whom King Hoshea of the Kingdom of Israel (“The Northern”) attempted to form an alliance. He based that on a comparison of victory stela of Thutmose III and Shoshenq I: while each of these kings records a tribute paid him by a Hebrew king, Thutmose boasts of fighting a war to get his tribute, while Shoshenq does not.

Thutmose III smiting Canaanite enemies on the seventh pylon at Karnak describing the Battle of Megiddo

Shishak / Thutmose III was a contemporary of Solomon as well as Jereboam and Rehoboam.

While Solomon was alive, in the latter part of his reign, Jereboam fled from Solomon and took refuge with Shishak, Pharaoh of Egypt. After Solomon’s death, Jereboam returned to Caanan where he was made King over the ten northern tribes of Israel. Jereboam and Rehoboam were constantly at war thoughout their reign. Shishak / Thutmose III plundered Jerusalem in Rehoboam’s 5th year as king at the Battle of Megiddo shortly after Hatshepsut’s death.