Editing Shebitku (section)

==Timeline==
{{Update|section|date=May 2017}}
In 1999, an Egypt-Assyrian synchronism from the Great Inscription of Tang-i Var in Iran was re-discovered and re-analysed. Carved by [[Sargon II]] of Assyria (722–705 BC), the inscription dates to the period around 707/706 BC and reveals that it was Shebitku, king of Egypt, who extradited the rebel king [[Iamani]] of Ashdod into Sargon's hands, rather than Shabaka as previously thought.<ref>Grant Frame, "The Inscription of Sargon II at Tang-i Var," ''Orientalia'' '''68''' (1999), pp.31-57 and pls. I-XVIII.</ref> The pertinent section of the inscription by Sargon II reads:
{{cquote|(19) I (scil. Sargon) plundered the city of Ashdod, Iamani,<ref>[[Robin Lane Fox]], ''Travelling Heroes in the Epic Age of Homer'', 2008:30, makes a case for Iamani to be simply "the [[Ionia|Ionian Greek]]": "Ionian Greeks were sometimes written in cuneiform script as ''ia-am-na-a'': could this usurping Iamani be a Greek? ...would Assyrian scribes be exact about the name of a lowly rebel?"</ref> its king, feared [my weapons] and...He fled to the region of the land of Meluhha and lived (there) stealthfully (literally:like a thief). (20) Shapataku' (Shebitku) king of the land of Meluhha, heard of the mig[ht] of the gods Ashur, Nabu (and) Marduk which I had [demonstrated] over all lands...(21) He put (Iamani) in manacles and handcuffs...he had him brought captive into my presence.<ref>Frame, p. 40.</ref>}}

It was noted by Kenneth Kitchen that the Assyrian term used "sharru" was not exclusively used to mean king but rather various levels of officials. He also contended that Meluha referred to Nubia (Kush). This supported Kitchen's contention that Shebitku was a deputy ruler for Shabaka, in Nubia, at that time. The net result was to move the 12 year reign of Shebitku to 702 BC and following.<ref>[[Kenneth Kitchen|Kitchen, Kenneth A.]], "The Strengths and Weaknesses of Egyptian Chronology — A Reconsideration", Ägypten Und Levante / Egypt and the Levant, '''16''', pp. 293–308, 2006.</ref>

The Tang-i Var inscription dates to Sargon's 15th year between Nisan 707 BC to Adar 706 BC.<ref>A. Fuchs, Die Inschriften Sargons II. aus Khorsabad (Gottingen 1994) pp.76 & 308</ref> This shows that Shebitku was ruling in Egypt by April 706 BC at the very latest, and perhaps as early as November 707 BC to allow some time for Iamanni's extradition and the recording of this deed in Sargon's inscription.<ref>Kahn, p. 3.</ref> A suggestion that Shebitku served as Shabaka's viceroy in Nubia and that Shebitku extradited Iamanni to Sargon II during the reign of king Shabaka has been rejected by the Egyptologist {{Ill|Karl Jansen-Winkeln|de}} in ''Ancient Egyptian Chronology (Handbook of Oriental Studies),'' which is the most updated publication on Egyptian chronology.<ref name="Karl Jansen-Winkeln 2006. pp.258-259">Jansen-Winkeln, Karl, "The Third Intermediate Period" in Hornung et al. 2006: 258-259.</ref> As Jansen-Winkeln writes:

:there has never been the slightest hint at any form of coregency of the Nubian kings of Dynasty 25. Had Shabaka been ruler of Egypt in the year 707/706 and Shebitku [was] his "viceroy" in Nubia, one would definitely expect that the opening of diplomatic relations with Assur as well as the capture and extradation of Yamanni would have been part of Shabaka's responsibility. Sargon can also be expected to have named the regent of Egypt and senior king, rather than the distant viceroy Shebitku [in Nubia]. If, on the other hand, Shebitku was already Shabaka's successor in 707/706 [BC], the reports of the Yamani affair become clearer and make more sense. It had hitherto been assumed that the Nubian king (Shabaka) handed over Yamani more or less immediately after his flight to Egypt. Now it appears...certain that Yamani was only turned over to the Assyrians a couple of years later (under Shebitku instead).<ref name="Karl Jansen-Winkeln 2006. pp.258-259"/>