The Bubastite Portal gate is located in Karnak, within the Precinct of Amun-Re temple complex, between the temple of Ramesses III and the second pylon. It records the conquests and military campaigns c. 925 BC of Shoshenq I, of the Twenty-second Dynasty. Shoshenq has been identified with the biblical Shishaq, such that the relief is also known as the Shishak Inscription or Shishaq Relief.
The temple wall depicts a list of city states conquered by Shoshenq I in his Near Eastern military campaigns.
Champollion's 1829 drawing of a cartouche showing the name "ydhmrk". Champollion's 1829 read of this name as "King of Judah" has been discredited by modern scholars, who generally accept that the phrase refers to "Yad Hemmelek" ("Hand of the King"), although it has also been interpreted as "Juttah of the King"
Portal showing cartouches of Sheshonq I
Hedjkheperre Setepenre Shoshenq I —also known as Shashank or Sheshonk or Sheshonq I—was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the founder of the Twenty-second Dynasty of Egypt. Of Meshwesh ancestry, Shoshenq I was the son of Nimlot A, Great Chief of the Ma, and his wife Tentshepeh A, a daughter of a Great Chief of the Ma herself; Shoshenq was thus the nephew of Osorkon the Elder, a Meshwesh king of the 21st Dynasty. He is generally presumed to be the Shishak mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, and his exploits are carved on the Bubastite Portal at Karnak.
Shoshenq I (middle) gives offering to Amun (left), accompanied by his son Iuput (right), drawn by Ippolito Rosellini at the Bubastite Portal.
Birth and throne names of Shoshenq I
The Bubastite Portal at Karnak, depicting Shoshenq I and his second son, the High Priest Iuput A
The Triumphal Relief of Shoshenq I near the Bubastite Portal at Karnak, depicting the god Amun-Re receiving a list of cities and villages conquered by the king in his Near Eastern military campaigns.
