So

So was the king of Egypt to whom Hoshea the last king of Israel sent envoys as part of an attempt to break free from Assyrian vassalage (2 Kings 17:4). Shalmaneser king of Assyria discovered the conspiracy, imprisoned Hoshea, and besieged Samaria — leading to the fall of the northern kingdom in 722 BC and the deportation of its population. The identity of So king of Egypt has been much debated. Proposals include Osorkon IV, a pharaoh of the Twenty-Second Dynasty who ruled in the Nile Delta; Tefnakht of Sais; or a reading of the text as a place name (Sais) rather than a personal name. Egyptian records offer no certain confirmation, and the brief mention in 2 Kings does not clarify the pharaoh's identity further.