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Shoshenq I in hieroglyphs: the Libyan king the Bible calls Shishak

11 November 2026

Shoshenq I's birth name is written with four sound signs, ššnq: two pools for š, a ripple of water () for n and a sandy hill () for q. His throne name, ḥḏ-ḫpr-rꜥ stp-n-rꜥ, Hedjkheperre Setepenre, means "bright is the manifestation of Ra, chosen of Ra".

He ruled from about 945 to 924 BC and founded the 22nd Dynasty. His family came from the Meshwesh, Libyans settled in the Delta, and most historians take him for Shishak, the king of Egypt who marched on Judah in the Bible.

Two pools open the name ššnq

Each sign in the birth name gives one consonant. The pool (), a rectangle of water, is š, said like the sh in "ship". It is written twice. The ripple of water () is n. The sandy hill () is q, a k said deep in the throat. Vowels were never written, so books spell him Shoshenq, Sheshonq or Sheshonk.

The name is Libyan, and the Egyptian signs only spell its sound. It carries no meaning in Egyptian. His grandfather was also called Shoshenq, and several later kings took the name. In the cartouche it is usually followed by mry-imn, "beloved of Amun".

Pool Ripple of water Sandy hill

Write Shoshenq in a cartouche

Hedjkheperre copies the throne name of Smendes

The throne name has five signs. The sun disc () is rꜥ, Ra, and stands first out of respect for the god. The mace with a round head () writes ḥḏ, "white, bright". The scarab beetle () writes ḫpr, "to come into being", here "manifestation". The adze () writes stp, "chosen", and the ripple () adds n, "of". Read in spoken order: ḥḏ-ḫpr-rꜥ stp-n-rꜥ.

Smendes, founder of the 21st Dynasty, had ruled under the same throne name, Hedjkheperre Setepenre, about 130 years earlier. A Libyan chief taking a famous Egyptian name told the country that the old order went on.

Sun Mace with a round head Scarab beetle Adze

Beloved of Amun ties him to Thebes

The epithet mry-imn has two words. The hoe () writes mr, "to love", and mry is "beloved". The god's name, imn, is the flowering reed () for i, the game board () for mn and the ripple () repeating the n. The god's name is written first in the cartouche, as Ra's is, but read last.

Amun of Karnak was the god of Thebes, where the priests had ruled the south almost as kings. Shoshenq made his son Iuput High Priest of Amun and another son, Nimlot, commander at Herakleopolis. With his own family in those posts, he held Upper and Lower Egypt together.

Hoe (variant)Flowering reed Game board

A Libyan general took the throne

Shoshenq was the son of Nimlot, a Great Chief of the Ma, as Egyptians called the Meshwesh. Under Psusennes II, the last king of the 21st Dynasty, he was commander of the army and the king's chief adviser. His son Osorkon married Maatkare, a daughter of Psusennes. When Psusennes died, Shoshenq became king, apparently without a fight.

Libyans had come into Egypt for centuries, first as raiders and prisoners of war, then as soldiers settled on land in the Delta. By Shoshenq's time their chiefs held whole towns, kept Libyan names and the feather worn in the hair, and served the king as officers. Shoshenq's rise made one of those families royal, and Libyan chiefs and their heirs ruled much of Egypt for the next two centuries.

He ruled from the Delta, probably from Bubastis or Tanis. His tomb has never been found. Tanis, Bubastis and the temple of Ptah at Memphis have all been suggested.

The Bubastite Portal lists his conquered towns

At Karnak, between the second pylon and the temple of Ramesses III, a gateway called the Bubastite Portal carries his victory scene. Shoshenq grasps a crowd of captives by the hair and raises a mace over them. Behind and below him, rows of name rings hold about 155 places in Canaan and the Negev. Each ring is a fortified wall with a bound captive on top. Megiddo is number 27, written mjkdjw.

Jerusalem is not on the list. The Bible says Shishak came up against Jerusalem in the fifth year of Rehoboam and took the treasures of the temple and the king's house, in 1 Kings 14 and 2 Chronicles 12. Champollion saw the relief in 1828 and linked it to Shishak. Most scholars still accept the match, while some doubt it.

A quarry stela at Gebel el-Silsila, dated to year 21 of his reign, records stone cut for a great pylon and festival hall at Karnak to celebrate his victories. A fragment with his cartouche was found at Megiddo itself.

Cartouche

Read Karnak

Questions

Is Shoshenq I the biblical Shishak?

Most historians think so. His Karnak list names towns in Canaan, and the dates fit Rehoboam's reign. Jerusalem is missing from the list, so some scholars doubt the match.

What does the name Shoshenq mean?

It is a Libyan name, and its meaning is not known. The hieroglyphs ššnq only spell its sound.

What was Shoshenq I's throne name?

Hedjkheperre Setepenre, ḥḏ-ḫpr-rꜥ stp-n-rꜥ, "bright is the manifestation of Ra, chosen of Ra", the same throne name Smendes had used.

Glossary

birth name: The name a king was given at birth, written in the second cartouche after the title "son of Ra". Egyptologists also call it the nomen.
cartouche: An oval ring drawn around a royal name, a loop of rope tied at one end. Kings wrote their two main names in cartouches.
dynasty: A line of kings counted together, usually one family. Egyptologists number Egypt's kings in about 30 dynasties, following the priest Manetho.
epithet: A title or phrase added to a name, such as "beloved of Amun" after a king's name or "true of voice" after the name of someone who has died.
Lower Egypt: The north of Egypt, the flat Nile Delta from around Memphis to the sea. It is called lower because it is downstream.
priest: A servant of a god in a temple, who washed, dressed and fed the god's statue each day. A high priest led the staff of a great temple.
pylon: The huge gateway of a temple: two sloping towers with a door between them, carved with scenes of the king.
relief: A carving on a flat surface. In raised relief the background is cut away. In sunk relief the figures are cut into the stone.
scarab: The dung beetle, sign of the rising sun and of the word ḫpr, "to come into being". Carved scarabs were used as seals and amulets.
temple: The house of a god, where priests served the god's statue. Temples for dead kings kept up their offerings after death.
throne name: The name a king took when he came to the throne, written in the first cartouche after the title "King of Upper and Lower Egypt". Egyptologists also call it the prenomen.
tomb: A burial place: a pit, a mastaba, a pyramid or rooms cut into rock. Its chapel was where the family brought offerings.