Ramses II and ‘city of Shalem’



 

by

Damien F. Mackey

  

“Reference is also made to Deper (d-p-r) in the land of Amurru, apparently in the Lebanon region near Kadesh, and finally a town named Shalem (š-r-m)”.

Yohanan Aharoni

 

 

The geographical situation of the town of “Shalem” as depicted in Ramses II’s eighth year reliefs might suggest that it was situated too far north for it to be identifiable with the capital city of Jerusalem.

 

Given the strategic importance of “Salem” in the environs of Shechem during the massive Assyrian invasion of Syro-Palestine, then I must reconsider my former acceptance of the view of some that the pharaoh Ramses II, when conquering the “city of Shalem”, was actually attacking Jerusalem itself.   

 

Previously we noted that “… there was apparently a northern “Salem” in the region of Shechem (Genesis 33:18 KJV): “And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem …” …. It is certainly a remarkable fact … that about 4 miles East of Shechem (Nablus), there is a village bearing the name Salem”.

 

That Shalem was Jerusalem, though, is the view argued by, for instance, David Rohl in his book, A Test of Time. The Bible: - From Myth to History (Century, London 1995).

Rohl goes even further than that, and - whilst rightly rejecting Champollion’s old identification of the 22^nd dynasty’s pharaoh Shoshenq I with the biblical “Shishak king of Egypt”, who sacked the Temple of Yahweh after the death of king Solomon - proceeds to identify Ramses II as “Shishak”.

 

And Peter van der Veen will firmly back up Rohl on this:

http://www.bga.nl/en/discussion/engveen.html

 

VII. Did Ramesses II conquer Jerusalem?

 

In my view, the city of Shalem conquered by Ramesses II in his Year 8 cannot be identified with any other city in Palestine other than Jerusalem ('city of Shalem'). The inscription on the north pylon of the Ramesseum probably does not list the cities in geographical sequence but rather as highlights of the campaign. Ramesses did indeed take the cities of Merom, Kerep, etc, but this does not mean that he could not have taken a city in the south on his way back to Egypt or during his expedition against Moab. ….

 

[End of quote]

 

My own view is that pharaoh Ramses II was by no means “Shishak”, but was Thutmose III of the Eighteenth Egyptian Dynasty. See e.g. my series:

 

Bible Illuminates History and Philosophy. Part Eighteen: Thutmose III as “Shishak”

 

including:

 

(iv, a): His Campaign against Jerusalem

 

https://www.academia.edu/34530347/Bible_Illuminates_History_and_Philosophy._Part_Eighteen_Thutmose_III_as_Shishak_iv_a_His_Campaign_against_Jerusalem

 

Yohanan Aharoni tells of Ramses II’s reference to “Shalem” in his book, The Land of the Bible: A Historical Geography, p. 181):

 

Ramses conducted additional campaigns to Canaan in order to strengthen Egyptian authority, which had doubtless been weakened after the battle of Kadesh. However, details about these campaigns are quite scanty. One of his reliefs depicts the conquest of Ashkelon, specifying that the spirit of rebellion had penetrated even to the main centres of Egyptian power in southern Canaan. A series of reliefs from Ramses' eighth year describe, among others, the capture of Kerep[na] (k-r-p-[n]) in the mountain of Beth-anath, Kanah (q-n), and Merom (m-r-m), which are probably the Beth-anath of Naphtali, Kanah of Asher and Merom of the famous "waters of Merom" — all of them in Upper Galilee. …. Reference is also made to Deper (d-p-r) in the land of Amurru, apparently in the Lebanon region near Kadesh, and finally a town named Shalem (š-r-m).

 

It is clear from the geographical context that this Shalem was located in a northern region of Israel and thus likely does not refer to Jerusalem.