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TIRHAKAH

(Heb. tirhāqâ; Egyp. Thrk;
Akk. Tarqū)

King of Egypt (690-664 b.c.e.) who came to the aid of King Hezekiah during Sennacherib’s military campaign in Judah (2 Kgs. 19:9 = Isa. 37:9). 2 Kgs. 19:9 describes Tirhakah as “king of Ethiopia (= Cush),” reflecting his Nubian (Sudanese) origins (cf. the Nubian form of his name, Taharqa). Tirhakah’s father, Piankhi (Piye) of Napata, founded the Ethiopian or 25th Dynasty after conquering and unifying a then splintered Egypt. Piankhi’s son Shebitku (Shabataka), upon becoming king, summoned Tirhakah to the royal court at Thebes, and it was probably Shebitku who dispatched Tirhakah to Judah to assist Hezekiah during the Assyrian invasion of 701.

During Tirhakah’s rule, Egypt experienced a time of prosperity and renewal as he initiated extensive building projects throughout the country. In the sixth year of this reign the Nile had an exceptionally large inundation, resulting in abnormally abundant crops, a phenomenon understood as a sign of divine favor from the god Amon, whose temples at Thebes and Napata greatly benefited from Tirhakah’s domestic policies. Despite these favorable beginnings, Tirhakah’s reign saw the Assyrian Empire’s greatest expansion, first under Esarhaddon, who conquered Memphis, Egypt’s capital, in 671, and again under Assurbanipal, who reasserted Assyrian control over Egypt in 667. Tirhakah died at Napata in 664.

Bibliography. K. A. Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt (1100-650 b.c.), 2nd ed. (Warminster, 1986).

Jeffrey C. Geoghegan

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

TIRHAKAH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)