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.
Pharaoh is the vernacular term often used for the monarchs of ancient Egypt, who ruled from the First Dynasty until the annexation of Egypt by the Roman Republic in 30 BCE. However, regardless of gender, "king" was the term used most frequently by the ancient Egyptians for their monarchs through the middle of the Eighteenth Dynasty during the New Kingdom. The earliest confirmed instances of "pharaoh" used contemporaneously for a ruler were a letter to Akhenaten or an inscription possibly referring to Thutmose III.
The Mask of Tutankhamun from tomb KV62 in the Valley of the Kings. Pharaohs' tombs were provided with vast quantities of wealth
A guardian statue wearing the red crown which reflected the facial features of the reigning king, probably Amenemhat II or Senwosret II, and which functioned as a divine guardian for the imiut. Made of cedar wood and plaster c. 1919–1885 BCE
Uraeus depicted on king Den, ivory label found at his tomb in Abydos, c. 3000 BCE, British Museum, London
Statuette of Pepy I (c. 2338-2298 BCE) wearing a nemes headdress Brooklyn Museum, New York
