Sack of Jerusalem (10th century BC)

The Sack of Jerusalem is an event described in the First Book of Kings of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament, and, with some differences, in the Second Book of Chronicles.

According to these sources it took place in the 5th year of the reign of Rehoboam, following the death of his father, Solomon. This event happened in 925 BCE when Pharaoh Sheshonk I of the Third Intermediate Period invaded Canaan following the Battle of Bitter Lakes. Possibly this is the same Pharaoh as Shishaq, the first Pharaoh mentioned in the Bible, who captured and pillaged Jerusalem. Shishaq (שישק) raided the Kingdom of Judah with his allies, including the Kushites, taking a number of hill towns and sacking Jerusalem, all without fighting. Shishaq took away treasures of the temple of Yahweh and the king's house, as well as shields of gold which Solomon had made; Rehoboam replaced them with brass ones.

Biblical narrative (1 Kings and Chronicles)
According to, Shishaq, leading an army of 60,000 horsemen and 1,200 chariots, invaded Judah and sacked Jerusalem in order to assist his ally, Jeroboam, the king of Israel. According to Josephus, his army met with no resistance throughout the campaign, taking Rehoboam's most fortified cities "without fighting." Finally, he conquered Jerusalem without resistance, because "Rehoboam was afraid." Shishaq did not destroy Jerusalem, but forced king Rehoboam of Judah to strip the Temple and his treasury of their gold and movable treasures.

Karnak relief
A relief discovered at Karnak, in Upper Egypt, and similar reliefs on the walls of a small temple of Amun at el-Hibeh, show Pharaoh Shoshenq I (Shishaq) holding in his hand a bound group of prisoners. The names of captured towns are located primarily in the territory of the kingdom of Israel (including Megiddo), with a few listed in the Negeb, and perhaps Philistia. Some of these include a few of the towns that Rehoboam had fortified according to Chronicles