The ancient Hebrew writing of Shishak (the name the Bible gives for the pharaoh who plundered Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem in 925 BC) would have been written as above but with the letters reading from right to left rather than left to right (I have reversed the order of the letters here to facilitate the English writing in order to make the process easier to follow). There are no written vowels in ancient (pre-Masoretic) Hebrew, so we simply have Sh-y-sh-k.
It is important to remember that this is the ‘Egypto-speak’ version of modern scholarship – it does not represent the original vocalisation which is much more difficult to determine. However, we are lucky to have the name Ramesses written in another ancient foreign script (cuneiform) and language (Akkadian) because an ancient clay tablet has survived which records a peace treaty between Ramesses II and the Hittite emperor, Hattusilis III. This tablet, found in the archives of the Hittite capital at Boghazkoy, gives the syllabic writing of the pharaoh’s name in the form Ria-mash-shesha and this is, more than likely, quite close to the original vocalisation as the Hittite scribes heard it. Ra becomes Ria; mes becomes mash; and ss becomes shesha.
It is becoming clear that the familiar shortened form of the name Ramesses was very close in pronunciation to the biblical Hebrew name Shishak, making it vey likely that the plunderer of the Jerusalem Temple was a Ramesses. But we still have to resolve the issue of the final ‘k’ which appears in the biblical name Shishak but not in the name Shysha.
The biblical redactor or editor often employs puns when dealing with foreign names which appear in the Bible. He replaces the original foreign word with a Hebrew word which sounds similar. Sometimes the Hebrew version can have a derogatory meaning so as to pour scorn on a foreigner who does not walk in the path of Yahweh. For example, the Phoenician name Yzebel (Jezebel), meaning ‘[Baal] is prince’ is transformed into the Hebrew word Ayzebel which means ‘where is the excrement?’. It has recently occurred to the New Chronology researchers that the name Shishak might also be a play on words. Indeed, the word formed by the three letters Sh-sh-k means ‘the one who crushes under foot (or wheel)’ – a suitable epithet for the mighty conqueror Ramesses II, known throughout the Levant by his familiar name of Shysha.
I heard Shishak means greedy of fine linen. I’m truing to verify that statement