The Battle of Bitter Lakes was a part of the military campaign of
Shoshenq I into Asia in 925 BCE where he conquered many cities and towns. The location of the conflict was at
Bitter Lakes, that we can identify with the lakes to the north by the frontier
channel that was developed in part to guard the eastern
border
Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...
of
Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt ( ') is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, the Nile River split into sev ...
, although it is not certain that the channel reached that far south. The
fortress
A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...
es at the
boundary served as checkpoints for
Asiatics who attempted to enter Egypt. This would also serve to block the attacks such as this one mentioned in a stele of Shoshenq I in
Karnak
The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (), comprises a vast mix of temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I (reigned 1971–1926 BC) in the ...
.
Battle
The battle began as a result of a border incursion by nomads. According to some scholars, Shoshenq used these forays as an excuse to launch an invasion to Judah. Paul Ash suggests that they may have been marauding nomads
in the area of the shores of the
Bitter Lakes, in
Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt ( ') is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, the Nile River split into sev ...
. The pharaoh was followed by his royal
scribe
A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of Printing press, automatic printing.
The work of scribes can involve copying manuscripts and other texts as well as ...
Hori, and chariotry, to the
battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...
field. Not much is known about the actual battle besides the fact that Shoshenq won after surprising the enemy at the shores of Bitter Lakes.
Records of the battle
Previously mentioned stele of
Shoshenq I, discovered at Karnak (specifically the
Great Karnak Inscription in Hall K), mentions this much about the battle:
A contemporary, Hori, had been a real royal scribe,
ollowingthe king at his incursions into the foreign lands
The additional details include a list of the cities (or nearby locations) Shoshenq's armies invaded, including Taanach, Esdraelon, Aijalon, Megiddo, Zemaraim, Bethel, and Tirzah. A Shoshenq stela in Megiddo may also attest to this incursion.
Biblical Shishak
Sheshonk I is frequently identified with the Egyptian king "
Shishaq" (שׁישׁק ''Šîšaq'',
transliterated
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...
), who, according to the
Books of Kings
The Book of Kings (, ''Sefer (Hebrew), Sēfer Malik, Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of ancient Is ...
, invaded Judah in the time of king
Jeroboam
Jeroboam I (; Hebrew language, Hebrew: ''Yārŏḇʿām''; ), frequently cited Jeroboam son of Nebat, was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the first king of the northern Kingdom of Israel (Samaria), Kingdom of Israel following a Jeroboam's Revol ...
. The biblical record in 1 Kings 14 and 2 Chronicles 12 deal with Jerusalem's perspective on the attack, but the record of Sheshonk I gives greater detail of other battle grounds.{{citation needed, date=November 2020
See also
*
Retjenu
Retjenu (''wiktionary:rṯnw, rṯnw; Reṯenu, Retenu''), later known as Khor, was the Ancient Egyptian name for the wider Syria (region), Syrian region, where the Semitic languages, Semitic-speaking Canaanites lived.Georg Steindorff, Steindorff, ...
*
Shasu
*
Twenty-second dynasty of Egypt
The Twenty-second Dynasty was an Ancient Egyptian dynasty of ancient Libyan origin founded by Shoshenq I. It is also known as the Bubastite Dynasty, since the pharaohs originally ruled from the city of Bubastis.
The Twenty-first, Twenty-se ...
Notes
Bitter Lakes
Bitter Lakes
Shoshenq I