Shishak's Invasion of Judah

925 BC Judah / Egypt Status: ended Casualties: Unknown; treasures of the Temple and palace carried off

Five years after Solomon's death, Pharaoh Shishak came up against Jerusalem with twelve hundred chariots and an innumerable host. Rehoboam submitted; Shishak stripped the Temple and the king's house, and bore away the shields of gold Solomon had made. 1 Kings 14, 2 Chronicles 12. The campaign is recorded on the Bubastite Portal at Karnak.

Open on the interactive globe → Wikipedia ↗

Belligerents

Shishak (Sheshonq I) of Egypt
Rehoboam of Judah

Casualties

Unknown; treasures of the Temple and palace carried off

Key events

Rehoboam's fifth year; the kingdom newly split
Fortified cities of Judah taken
Jerusalem submits; the gold shields of Solomon carried away
Rehoboam makes brass shields in their stead — to keep up appearances

Aftermath

First foreign invasion after the United Monarchy. Sheshonq I's own list of conquered Levantine cities is carved on the Bubastite Portal at Karnak — the earliest extra-biblical attestation of the biblical narrative.

Weapons & matériel

1,200 chariots, 60,000 horsemen, Lubim and Sukkiim and Ethiopians without number

Sources

1 Kings 14:25–28
2 Chronicles 12
Bubastite Portal at Karnak

From World at War, an interactive atlas by Jairus Pereira. Figures are approximate, drawn from Wikipedia, UCDP, ACLED and academic sources — a design artefact, not an authoritative register. Contact.