Meanwhile, the relations between the rival kingdoms had been marked by continued hostility (1 K. xiv. 30; 2 Chr. xii. 15). The first step taken by Rehoboam, when the disruption of the kingdom was complete, was to fortify 15 cities in the neighbourhood of his capital, and in the southern and south-western portions of Judah (2 Chr. xi. 5–12). All these he stored with provisions and arms, and placed over them commandants. During the first three years of his reign he walked in the ways of the Lord, and was strengthened in upholding the principles of true religion by numerous bodies of priests and Levites, who flocked into the territory of Judah from that of Jeroboam, as also by many of the tribes of Israel, who still remained faithful to the Lord God of their fathers (2 Chr. xi. 13–17). But soon, like Solomon before him, he too was found wanting. Surrounding himself with a numerous harem, he took 18 wives and 60 concubines, by whom he became the father of numerous sons and daughters. Reserving the throne for Abijah, the son of Maachah daughter of Absalom, he dispersed the rest of the royal princes among his fortified cities, and in the splendour of his court and the security of his now established throne, forgat the law of the Lord (2 Chr. xii. 1), and set an evil example to his subjects, who speedily began to build high places, and set up _images and groves on every high hill, and under every green tree_ (1 K. xiv. 22–24). Five years, however, after his accession, his peace was rudely disturbed. Shishak the Egyptian king, instigated probably by Jeroboam, whom as we have already seen, he had befriended in exile, advanced against Judah with 1200 chariots, 60,000 cavalry, and an enormous host of Libyans, Nubians, and Ethiopians. Having made himself master of Rehoboam’s fenced cities, he penetrated as far as his capital, and forced him to purchase an ignominious peace by delivering up the treasure of the royal palace and the Temple, even to the shields of gold, which Solomon had made for the purpose of being borne before him whenever he visited the Temple in state[347] (1 K. x. 16, 17). More than this the Egyptian monarch did not attempt, as Shemaiah the prophet had promised would be the case, if the king and his people displayed signs of real contrition for their idolatries. After this deep humiliation, the moral condition of Judah seems to have improved, and the rest of Rehoboam’s reign is not marked by any remarkable event. He died, B.C. 957, at the age of 58, after a reign of 17 years, and was succeeded by his son ABIJAH.