Image Details

RAMA, CC BY-SA 3.0, VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

PHARAOH SIAMUN. After Canaanite Gezer was destroyed at the close of the Bronze Age by Pharaoh Merneptah, it may have become a refuge for the Philistines as they were pursued out of the hill country by King David. In the early tenth century, Gezer was destroyed again and, according to the Bible, given to Solomon as a dowry by his new Egyptian father-in-law (1 Kings 9:16). This pharaoh was likely Siamun (r. 986–968 BCE), represented in this 4-inch-long bronze sphinx with applied gold design that holds a tray featuring offerings and his birth name: “Siamun, beloved of Amun.”