THARACA (Egypt. Taharqa; Heb. Tirhāqāh). - Third Egyptian pharaoh of the XXVth Ethiopian dynasty; he reigned from c. 688 to 663 B.C.

In the Bible he is mentioned only once (II Kings 19:9), during Sennacherib's siege around Jerusalem. As a natural enemy of Assyrian supremacy, he undertook an expedition into Palestine, the outcome of which is unknown. That he must have considerably disturbed Sennacherib's plans appears from the latter's insistence on obtaining the capitulation of the king of Judah, Hezekiah (v.).

The biblical text attributes to T. the title of king, but this is perhaps merely the effect of an anticipation. Since he became pharaoh around 690, in 701 he must have acted as a general under his predecessor Sabataka. Moreover, from other sources it appears that T., already at the time of the first pharaoh of the dynasty, Sabaka (716-722 B.C.), occupied a very important position at court. Therefore this terminology cannot be used for the question concerning the number of Sennacherib's campaigns in Palestine.

Bibliography

BIBL.: A. Scharff-A. Moortgat, Ägypten u. Vorderasien im Altertum, Munich 1950, pp. 178-82.

Angelo Penna

@incollection{ec12_tharaca_egiz_taharqa_ebr_tirha, author = {Penna, Angelo}, title = {Tharaca (Egiz. Taharqa; Ebr. TirhĀQĀH)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XII}, pages = {41--42}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1954}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/tharaca-egiz-taharqa-ebr-tirhaqah} }

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