I KINGS 9-14: ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

I Kings 9-14: Archeological Evidence

In an issue of Biblical Archaeological Review (Vol. XV (3), p. 33), there is a discussion of the Shishak Relief at Thebes and its relationship to various events related in I Kings. Two problem passages, in the minds of some scholars have been I Kings 10:14,21,23 and I Kings 14:25-26. The riches described in I Kings 10 appeared to be highly inflated while the military campaign in I Kings 14 was suspected to have invented in order to explain why the gold had disappeared (see also II Chronicles 12:2-4).

Several archeological discoveries tend to confirm the biblical accounts:

    1. A fragment of a stone monument at Megiddo (in Canaan) was found to contain the cartouche (oval or oblong in an Egyptian inscription containing the name and title of a prominent person) of King Sheshak.

    2. The large triumphal relief found at Thebes tells of Shishak's conquests in Judah and Israel. Several place names are on this relief. One is Jehallel, listed in I Chronicles 16. Another is the Fort of Abram, and the third contains the name Shibboleth, meaning “stream.” You may recall that it was the pronunciation of this particular word that resulted in the exposure of an Ephraimite in Judges 12.

    3. Soon after Shishak's conquests in Canaan, he died and Osorkon became pharaoh in 924 BC. There is a record on a granite pillar found in Egypt of Osorkon's gifts to his pagan gods. They total 380 tons of gold and silver soon after he came into power. One plausible explanation of where this pharaoh got this much riches so soon is that it came from Solomon's treasury, plundered by Shishak. At least 36 tons of gold are specifically listed in I Kings 9-10 alone.