Quarry Stela of Shoshenq I at Gebel es-Silsila (No. 100)
A rock stela in the quarries of Silsila, dated to year 21 of Shoshenq I, recording the king’s order to cut stone for a new court and gateway at Karnak. It is the latest dated text of his reign and dates the building that carries his triumphal relief.
The stela was cut in the quarry wall by Haremsaf, the official whom Shoshenq I sent to fetch sandstone for his works at Karnak. It shows the king and his son Iuput, high priest of Amun, before the gods. The text below is dated to year 21, second month of the third season, and says that the king gave orders to build a great gateway and a festival court with a colonnade for the temple of Amun.
No higher year of Shoshenq I is known, so the court and its gate, the Bubastite Portal at Karnak (Triumphal Relief of Shoshenq I), belong to the end of his reign. The stela says nothing of a campaign. Its value for Shishak Invades Judah is that it shows when the triumphal relief was carved, and so gives a latest date for the campaign the relief commemorates.
Cited in
- about 925 BC, estimated date