assistance. Levying a force of twelve hundred chariots, sixty thousand
horse (? six thousand), and footmen "without number" (2 Chron, xii. 3),
chiefly from the Libyan and Ethiopian mercenaries which now formed the
strength of the Egyptian armies, he proceeded into the Holy Land,
entering it "in three columns," and so spreading his troops far and wide
over the southern country. Rehoboam, Solomon's son and successor, had
made such preparation as was possible against the attack. He had
anticipated it from the moment of Jeroboam's return, and he had
carefully guarded the main routes whereby his country could be
approached from the south, fortifying, among other cities, Shoco,
Adullam, Azekah, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Tekoa, and Hebron (2 Chron. xi.
6-10). But the host of Sheshonk was irresistible. Never before had the
Hebrews met in battle the forces of their powerful southern
neighbour--never before had they been confronted with huge masses of
disciplined troops, armed and trained alike, and soldiers by profession.
The Jewish levies were a rude and untaught militia, little accustomed to
warfare, or even to the use of arms, after forty years of peace, during
which "every man had dwelt safely under the shade of his own vine and
his own fig-tree" (1 Kings iv. 25). They must have trembled before the
chariots, and cavalry, and trained footmen of Egypt. Accordingly, there
seems to have been no battle, and no regularly organized resistance. As
the host of Sheshonk advanced along the chief roads that led to the
Jewish capital, the cities, fortified with so much care by Rehoboam,
either opened their gates to him, or fell after brief sieges (2 Chron.
xii. 4). Sheshonk's march was a triumphal progress, and in an incredibly
short space of time he appeared before Jerusalem, where Rehoboam and
"the princes of Judah" were tremblingly awaiting his arrival. The son of
Solomon surrendered at discretion; and the Egyptian conqueror entered
the Holy City, stripped the Temple of its most valuable treasures,
including the shields of gold which Solomon had made for his body-guard,