Amasis II
Last great pharaoh of Egypt before the Persian conquest.
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Amasis II (; ḤMS) or Ahmose II was a pharaoh (reigned 570–526 BCE) of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, the successor of Apries at Sais. He was the last great ruler of Egypt before the Persian conquest.
Lore & Background
Amasis II was originally an officer in the Egyptian army, of common origins, born at Siuph at Saïs. He took part in a campaign of Pharaoh Psamtik II in 592 BC in Nubia. He seized the throne during a revolt of native Egyptian soldiers who suspected betrayal by Apries.
Amasis was proclaimed king by the rebels, defeated Apries, and later married Khedebneithirbinet II, a daughter of Apries, to legitimise his rule. His mother was Tashereniset; his maternal grandmother was Tjenmutetj. His court included head of the gate guard Ahmose-sa-Neith, border official Wahibre, and the doctor Udjahorresnet.
Viziers known are Psamtek Meryneit and Pasherientaihet / Padineith. Amasis relied on Greek mercenaries and councilmen, including Phanes of Halicarnassus. He died in 526 BCE before the Persian invasion; his son Psamtik III was defeated by the Persians in 525 BCE.
Reader's Guide
Amasis II brought Egypt into closer contact with Greece. He assigned the commercial colony of Naucratis to the Greeks. When the temple of Delphi was burnt, he contributed 1,000 talents to the rebuilding. He married a Greek princess named Ladice, daughter of King Battus III, and made alliances with Polycrates of Samos and Croesus of Lydia.
Under his administration, Egypt reached a new level of wealth. He adorned temples of Lower Egypt with monolithic shrines and other monuments. His kingdom consisted probably of Egypt only, as far as the First Cataract, but he added Cyprus, and his influence was great in Cyrene and Libya. In his fourth year (around 568–567 BCE), Egypt was invaded by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar II; a fragmentary Babylonian inscription records the word 'Egypt' and possible traces of the name 'Amasis'.
A stele of Amasis from his fourth year may describe a combined naval and land attack by the Babylonians. Recent evidence suggests the Babylonians were initially successful but were repelled by Amasis' forces. Amasis died in 526 BCE and was buried at the royal necropolis of Sais within the temple enclosure of Neith. Herodotus describes the desecration of his mummy by the Persian king Cambyses.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Amasis II (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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