DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2873#0016
COURT OF SHISHAK, THEBES.
ROFESSOR BRUTSCH furnishes the following interesting information in illustration of this
picture:—" The court of Shishak (also called the Hall of the Bubastic Kings) is one of the
apartments of the magnificent range of halls and colonnades forming the Temple of Anion
at Karnac. It abounds in inscriptions of a peculiarly interesting character, and was dedicated
) Amon-Ra by the king, Sheshonk I., the Shishak of Holy Scripture. We constantly meet with
representations of Shishak and his deceased favourite son, the Prince Shu-pant, 'the First Prophet
vjp> of Amon-Ra-Sonter, the commander of the infantry and prefect of the South.' The monarchs of Egypt,
i from the twenty-first dynasty onwards, united in themselves the title of king with that of " First Prophet
of Amon-Ra, the King of the Gods." All the inscriptions in the Hall of Shishak relate to the reigns
of himself and his own posterity. On the exterior wall of this court is the celebrated list of the various
monarchs and nations who submitted to Shishak during his expedition against Palestine. We read (2 Chron.
xii. 2-4, 9), 'And it came to pass that in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up
against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord, with twelve hundred chariots and three
score thousand horsemen ; and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the
Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians. And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and
came to Jerusalem.' ' So Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures
of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house; he took all; he carried away also the
shields of gold which Solomon had made.'
" The record of Scripture is confirmed by the inscriptions at Karnac; for in the court of Shishak we
find the names of one hundred and thirty-three conquered cities and nations, and amongst them is recorded
the name ' Joudah Melek Kali ' (the king of the country of Judah). There are also the names of many
of the ' fenced' and other cities of Palestine, and amongst them those of Re-bi-ta, or Rabbith; Ta-an-kau,
or Taanach; Schen-ma-au, or Shunem; Bit-schen-rau, or Bethshan; Ha-pu-re-ma, or Hapharaim; Beit-huaren,
or Beth-horou; Kattem, or Kedorn; and Maketau, or Megiddo. Accompanying the inscription of ' King of
the country of Judah' is a portrait of the same monarch, bearing the unmistakable physiognomy of a
Hebrew, and with his hands represented as bound behind him, to indicate his entire conquest and submission.
As in the case of the great Rameses II., so also we find Sesostris represented as of gigantic stature and
seizing his enemies collectively, so as to dispatch them at one blow. ' The goddess of the Thebaid, the
Queen of Power, the ruler of all nations,' stands by him, figurative of the vast power and extended dominion
of Shishak, by which the fear of him spread through all the nations of the then known world. The god
Anion addresses him, ' My heart is filled with exceeding joy whilst I behold thy victories, thou my beloved
son Amon-meri-Sheshonk; I have begotten thee for my own honour.' The inscription continues at great
length and in it the god further praises the king because he has erected temples to his honour at Thebes,
Hermonthis, and Heliopolis."
The single column still standing is the sole remaining representative of an avenue of twelve which
once adorned this court. Sir G. Wilkinson suggests that from the breadth of the intercolumniations, and
the proportionate smallness of the columns, they were not intended to support a roof, nor even architraves,
but rather to bear hawks or other similar emblems. The opinion of our party, from a careful examination
of the fractures of the stones, &c, in this part of the ruins, was that these dilapidations, and the cheese-
like disposal of the fragments of the columns in the foreground of the picture, are the result of the shock
of an earthquake.
ROFESSOR BRUTSCH furnishes the following interesting information in illustration of this
picture:—" The court of Shishak (also called the Hall of the Bubastic Kings) is one of the
apartments of the magnificent range of halls and colonnades forming the Temple of Anion
at Karnac. It abounds in inscriptions of a peculiarly interesting character, and was dedicated
) Amon-Ra by the king, Sheshonk I., the Shishak of Holy Scripture. We constantly meet with
representations of Shishak and his deceased favourite son, the Prince Shu-pant, 'the First Prophet
vjp> of Amon-Ra-Sonter, the commander of the infantry and prefect of the South.' The monarchs of Egypt,
i from the twenty-first dynasty onwards, united in themselves the title of king with that of " First Prophet
of Amon-Ra, the King of the Gods." All the inscriptions in the Hall of Shishak relate to the reigns
of himself and his own posterity. On the exterior wall of this court is the celebrated list of the various
monarchs and nations who submitted to Shishak during his expedition against Palestine. We read (2 Chron.
xii. 2-4, 9), 'And it came to pass that in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt came up
against Jerusalem, because they had transgressed against the Lord, with twelve hundred chariots and three
score thousand horsemen ; and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the
Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians. And he took the fenced cities which pertained to Judah, and
came to Jerusalem.' ' So Shishak, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures
of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house; he took all; he carried away also the
shields of gold which Solomon had made.'
" The record of Scripture is confirmed by the inscriptions at Karnac; for in the court of Shishak we
find the names of one hundred and thirty-three conquered cities and nations, and amongst them is recorded
the name ' Joudah Melek Kali ' (the king of the country of Judah). There are also the names of many
of the ' fenced' and other cities of Palestine, and amongst them those of Re-bi-ta, or Rabbith; Ta-an-kau,
or Taanach; Schen-ma-au, or Shunem; Bit-schen-rau, or Bethshan; Ha-pu-re-ma, or Hapharaim; Beit-huaren,
or Beth-horou; Kattem, or Kedorn; and Maketau, or Megiddo. Accompanying the inscription of ' King of
the country of Judah' is a portrait of the same monarch, bearing the unmistakable physiognomy of a
Hebrew, and with his hands represented as bound behind him, to indicate his entire conquest and submission.
As in the case of the great Rameses II., so also we find Sesostris represented as of gigantic stature and
seizing his enemies collectively, so as to dispatch them at one blow. ' The goddess of the Thebaid, the
Queen of Power, the ruler of all nations,' stands by him, figurative of the vast power and extended dominion
of Shishak, by which the fear of him spread through all the nations of the then known world. The god
Anion addresses him, ' My heart is filled with exceeding joy whilst I behold thy victories, thou my beloved
son Amon-meri-Sheshonk; I have begotten thee for my own honour.' The inscription continues at great
length and in it the god further praises the king because he has erected temples to his honour at Thebes,
Hermonthis, and Heliopolis."
The single column still standing is the sole remaining representative of an avenue of twelve which
once adorned this court. Sir G. Wilkinson suggests that from the breadth of the intercolumniations, and
the proportionate smallness of the columns, they were not intended to support a roof, nor even architraves,
but rather to bear hawks or other similar emblems. The opinion of our party, from a careful examination
of the fractures of the stones, &c, in this part of the ruins, was that these dilapidations, and the cheese-
like disposal of the fragments of the columns in the foreground of the picture, are the result of the shock
of an earthquake.