The Late Period The Saite Renaissance

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The Late PeriodThe Saite Renaissance

• 664-332 BC

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26th Dynasty (664-525 BC)

• Psamtek I 664-610 BC
• Nekau II 610-595 BC
• Psamtek II 595-589 BC
• Apries 589-570 BC
• Ahmose II 570-526 BC
• Psamtek III 526-525 BC

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27th Dynasty (1st Persian Period)(525-404 BC)

• Cambyses 525-522 BC
• Darius I 522-486 BC
• Xerxes I 486-465 BC
• Artaxerxes I 465-424 BC
• Darius II 424-405 BC
• Artaxerxes II 405-359 BC

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28th Dynasty (404-399 BC)

• Amyrtaios 404-399 BC
  

29th Dynasty (399-380 BC)
Nepherites I 399-393 BC Hakor
393-380 BC
Nepherites II c.380 BC

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30th Dynasty (380-343 BC)

• Nectanebo I 380-362 BC
• Teos 362-360 BC
• Nectanebo II 360-343 BC

2nd Persian Period (343-332 BC)
Artaxerxes III 343-338 BC Arses
338-336 BC Darius III
336-332 BC
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• The Late Period began with Psamtek I as the
  first king of the 26th Dynasty. The 26th Dynasty
  kings, for the last time, were able to unite
  Egypt and restore some of its original splendor
  during an era that we call the Saite Renaissance
  (650-525 BC). The name Saite comes from the
  capital located in Sais and Renaissance comes
  from the eras cultural devotion to revive the
  Old Kingdoms splendor. This was the time when
  the decaying mortuary texts of the Old Kingdom
  were carefully recopied thereby preserved for the
  future.

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Psamtek I

• Inherited several internal and external problems
• Rivalry of the priesthood of Thebes and Libyan
  dynasts.
• Ambitions of the Asiatics and Nubian kings to
  take over Egypt again.
• When succeeded his father, Nekau I, to the
  throne, Egypt was still under Assyrian dominance.

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• The Assyrian Empire reached its zenith around
  567 BC. A few years later it plunged into a civil
  war (651-648 BC), the Kingdom of Elam revolted,
  and the state of Judah under Josiah broke away.
  An emerging new power, the Medes, now started
  changing the old world order. The Medes allied
  with Babylon put an end to Assyrian hopes to
  conquer the great city, and Psamtek Is
  multi-national troops supporting the Assyrians
  were caught in the middle.

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• Psamtek I realized that the Assyrians did not
  have the military strength to maintain control of
  Egypt so far away west.
• He then quickly allied with Gyges, the Lydian
  king.
• He also realized the advantage of using foreign
  mercenaries in his army. (See Herodotus account
  on the employment of Carian and Ionian
  mercenaries.)
• By 660 BC he had control over the Delta, and in 4
  years he took control of the entire country. This
  must have happened mostly by diplomatic means,
  with the armys continuous presence and pressure.

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• He used Greek, Carian, Jewish and Shasu Bedouin
  mercenaries to keep Egypts enemies at bay, and
  also internally, against the machimoi, the
  warrior class of Egypt originally of Libyan
  descent.
• Petries work at the mercenary camps, the
  stratopeda, at Tell Defenna. Later mutiny and
  relocation as noted by Herodotus.
• To control the priesthood of Thebes Psamtek I
  appointed his daughter, Nitiqret, as Gods Wife
  of Amun.

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• He also realized the advantage to develop trade
  relations with Greece and Phoenicia.
• Mostly Greek sources describe intensive trade
  with the Aegean. Best documented is the Greek
  city Naukratis established in the Delta, not far
  from Sais. From c. 570 BC, all Greek trade flew
  through Naukratis.

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Nekau II

• The turning point for the Assyrian Empire was
  the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC by the assaulting
  forces of the Medes forcing the Assyrians to
  retreat to Haran. Psamtek I himself died when the
  Medes advanced to Haran. His son, Nekau/Necho II
  (610-595 BC) continued the fight the allied
  forces of the Medes and the Babylonians with
  varying success both on land and at sea.

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• Eventually, Nekau II was forced to retreat to the
  Delta and fought against the Babylonian army
  under Nebuchadnezzar trying to enter to Egypt.
  (The Babylonian king conquered Jerusalem and
  installed Zedekiah as king hostile to Egypt.)
• Nekau II is also credited to construct a canal
  from the Nile to the Red Sea.
• Herodotus also mentioned that Nekau II supported
  the circumnavigation of Africa.

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Apries

• When Psamtek II died, Egypts careful
  diplomacy ended with his young son Apries
  (589-570 BC) ascending to the throne. He first
  made Jerusalem and some of the cities of the
  Levant to revolt against Babylonian rule but his
  attempt failed after Nebuchadnezzars the second
  successful assault on Jerusalem. He also
  conducted a series of campaigns against Cyprus
  and Phoenicia. At the end of his reign, Apries
  also fought against Cyrene, a Greek colony in
  Libya. His troops mutinied and elected general
  Ahmose II as their leader. In the ensuing
  conflict Apries died and Ahmose II (570-526 BC)
  became pharaoh.

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Ahmose II

• Once again the new kings careful diplomacy
  resulted in a long and peaceful reign. The rising
  new Persian power ended the almost idyllic state
  of affairs in Egypt. Against Cyrus the Great, the
  founder of the Persian Empire, he created an
  international alliance consisting of Egypt,
  Croesus of Lydia, Sparta, and Chaldaeans.
  Although the alliance was short lived, Cyrus the
  Great could not live to see the Persian conquest
  of Egypt. Neither could Ahmose II as he died when
  Cyrus son, Cambyses (530-522 BC) was preparing
  the Persian invasion of Egypt.

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The First Persian Period

• The Persian conquest of Egypt by Cambyses in
  525 BC ended the Saite Renaissance abruptly, and
  during the 27th Dynasty Egypt became a satrapy
  ruled by a Persian appointed local satrap with
  the Persian king residing in the distant capital
  of the Empire.
• The satrap, selected from the Persian elite,
  was essentially a viceroy, whose actions were
  carefully monitored by the Persian kings eyes,
  or by the listeners.

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• The written evidence about Cambyses is
  contradictory. According to classical authors,
  the hatred of the Egyptians for their Persian
  overlord exceeded even that of the Libyans and
  the Nubians especially during Cambyses reign who
  paid no attention to and did not understand the
  refined culture of Egypt.
• For example, in his Histories Herodotus tells
  that Cambyses, in a jealous rage, stabbed the
  Apis bull that died shortly afterwards and the
  priests buried it secretly in the Serapeum.

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• On the other hand, the contrary is stated in
  an inscription of a statue, according to which
  Cambyses assumed the forms of Egyptian kingship,
  promoted native Egyptians to assist in the
  government, and had deep respect to the Egyptian
  culture.
• The situation is more clear with Darius I
  (522-486 BC) who fostered Egypts love for
  monumental buildings by enlarging the Serapeum,
  building a new temple of Amun at the el-Kharga
  Oasis and codified Egyptian law in Aramaic, the
  official language of the Persian Empire.

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• The Egyptians tried to shake off the Persian
  yoke several times notably after the Greek
  victory over Darius I but were successful only
  after the death of Darius II in 404 BC.
• Amyrtaios (404-399 BC), a local king of Sais
  of Libyan descent and a single king of the 28th
  Dynasty, routed the Persians from Upper Egypt but
  the next in line Persian king, Artaxerxes II was
  still noted as Egypts ruler. The takeover was
  facilitated by Persias frustrating involvement
  with Greece and by their own civil war.

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Nepherites I

• Nepherites I (399-380 BC), the founder of the
  29th Dynasty had a brief intermission from war
  and was able to initiate a modest building
  activity. It was during this time when the first
  Egyptian coins were minted.

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Manethos Last Dynasty

• The 30th Dynasty, the last native dynasty
  started with Nectanebo I usurping Nepherites II,
  the last king of the 29th Dynasty. Both dynasties
  had recurring military conflicts with Persia
  which eventually led to their defeat by
  Artaxerxes III 343 BC, and the new 31st (?)
  Persian Dynasty started.

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Persian Control

• The second Persian Period saw widespread
  plundering the Egyptian temples, and demolishing
  the defenses of every major city with intention
  to restore the order of the previous occupation.
• Hatred for the Persians soon led to armed
  rebellion, which at times was succesful. This is
  certainly the case for Khababash (339-338 BC) who
  gained at least partial control of the country.

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Amyntas

• Amyntas was a Macedonian commander who
  deserted Alexander, went over to Darius side and
  actually commanded the Greek forces in the
  Persian army against Alexander in the battle of
  Issus. After the Persian defeat, with a force of
  4000 he fled to Cyprus and then to Pelusium,
  pretending that he was appointed by Darius as
  governor of Egypt.

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• Once the Pelusians submitted to him he
  revealed his real motive to expel the Persians
  from Egypt. With many Egyptians coming to his
  side, he marched against Memphis, defeated the
  Persians there, and shut the remaining Persians
  up in the city. He neglected his defenses however
  and allowed his forces to scatter after the
  battle. The Persians once again came out of the
  city and defeated him. Amyntas was killed. It is
  quite easy to understand how little difficulty
  Alexander the Great then had in 332 BC to put an
  end to the Persian rule of Egypt.