Chapter XII: The New Empire (2)

The history of the next two hundred and fifty years (B.C. 1050-800) is full of difficulty. When the rule of the priest-kings of Thebes came to an end the Kingdom of the South appears to have passed into the hands of a series of weak and incapable men, not one of whom succeeded in making himself “King of the South and North.” On the death of the last Tanite king of the XXIst dynasty (about B.C. 950), the Kingdom of the North was seized by Shashanq, a descendant of a Libyan chief, who established his seat of power at Bubastis. He and his descendants formed the XXIInd dynasty, which lasted till about B.C. 760. About this time the priests of Ȧmen departed from Thebes to Nubia, and soon afterwards the supreme power in the North was seized by local chiefs dwelling at Tanis (XXIIIrd dynasty), who made a league with all the feudal lords in the Delta, with the view of taking possession of the whole country. When news of this reached Piānkhi, king of Nubia, he forthwith invaded Egypt and conquered it. After his return to Nubia, a Nubian dynasty was established at Thebes, and a local chief of Saïs became King of the North, about B.C. 733. He represents the XXIVth dynasty. The kings of the XXVth dynasty (about B.C. 700) were Nubians, and the kings of the XXVIth dynasty were descendants of the chiefs of Saïs who were conquered by the Nubian king Piānkhi, about B.C. 740.

Vignettes from the Papyrus of Queen Netchemet.

Ḥer-Ḥeru and Netchemet praying.
The rising sun on the horizon.
The Ape-gods and Isis and Nephthys adoring the rising sun.

[Southern Egyptian Gallery, No. 758.]

Presented by His Majesty the King, 1903.]

Twenty-Second Dynasty. From Bubastis.

_About_ B.C. 950.

The first king of this dynasty was =Shashanq I=, the =Shishak= of I Kings xiv, 25; 2 Chronicles xii, 5, 7, 9. He was of Libyan extraction, being descended from =Buiu-uaua= 𓃀𓅱𓇌𓅱𓍯𓄿𓊕𓐰𓏮𓀭 a Libyan prince, who flourished about B.C. 1150, and one of whose descendants married Meḥt-en-usekht, high-priestess of Ȧmen, and became the father of Nemareth, who in his turn became the father of Shashanq. A daughter of Nemareth owned the =inlaid gold bracelets= exhibited in Table-case J in the Fourth Egyptian Room (Nos. 134, 135). The principal event in the reign of Shashanq was the invasion of Palestine and capture of Jerusalem. He spoiled the Temple, and carried off much gold and silver, and took away the bucklers and shields of Solomon, and also the golden quivers which David had taken from the king of Zobah. He gave Jeroboam, king of Judah, one of his daughters to wife. On his return to Egypt he caused a record of this campaign to be cut upon the second pylon of the Temple of Karnak, and added a list of all the towns and villages which he had conquered in Palestine. Among them are the names of many places familiar from the Bible narrative, but the statement that “the king of Judah” is mentioned is incorrect. Shashanq repaired the Temple of Mut at Thebes, and set up in it a number of seated granite statues of the goddess =Sekhet=, two fine examples of which, inscribed with the king’s names and titles, are exhibited in the Southern Egyptian Gallery, Nos. =763=, =764=. A son of Shashanq named =Ȧuputh= was viceroy of the South, to whom is due the removal of the royal mummies from their tombs to the tomb of Ȧst-em-khebit at =Dêr al-Baḥarî=, where, together with the coffins and funerary furniture, they were secreted, the pit being filled up with sand, stones, etc., and the entrance carefully walled up. This hiding place remained intact until 1872, when it was discovered accidentally by the Arabs. (For the inscribed base of a statue of =Ȧuputh=, see Bay 19, No. =765=.)

[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 21, No. 776.]]

Another son of Shashanq I, named =Uasarken=, or =Osorkon I=, became king of Egypt, and married Tasheṭ-Khensu, and Maāt-ka-Rā, the daughter of Pasebkhānut II, the last of the Tanite kings of the XXIst dynasty. The son of Osorkon I and Maāt-ka-Rā was called Shashanq, and was made high priest of Ȧmen; he dedicated to the god the fine quartzite =statue of Ḥāpi=, the Nile-god, exhibited in the Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 22, No. =766=. Osorkon I was succeeded by =Thekeleth I=, who was succeeded by =Osorkon II=, famous for the works which he carried out in the Temple of Bast, the great goddess of Bubastis, the =Pibeseth= of the Bible. From this site came many important monuments, among which may be mentioned: The massive granite =Hathor-headed capital= of a pillar (see =Plate XLII=; Bay 16, No. =768=); and the slabs sculptured with figures of Osorkon II and Bast, and figures of Osorkon II and his =Queen Karāmā= (Bay 23, No. =769=). Osorkon II perpetuated the names of the great kings his predecessors, and accordingly we find on granite slabs from his temple the names of =Khufu=, =Khāfrā=, etc., and figures of =Ȧmen-ḥetep II=, =Seti I=, etc. (Bay 23, Nos. =771-773=). Like Rameses II, Mer-en-Ptaḥ, and other kings, Osorkon II caused his name to be cut upon monuments of other kings, _e.g._, the statue of Usertsen III (Vestibule, No. =163=) and the grey granite statue of Ȧmenemḥāt III (Bay 20, No. =775=). In his reign flourished the =good recorder of Pithom=, whose statue (Bay 21, No. =776=) was found at Pithom. The reigns of the other kings of this dynasty, Shashanq II, Thekeleth II, Shashanq III, Pamȧi, and Shashanq IV were unimportant.

Hathor-headed capital from the temple of Osorkon II at Bubastis.

XXIInd dynasty, B.C. 866.

[Central Saloon, No. 768.]]

Twenty-Third Dynasty. From Tanis.

B.C. 766.

The principal kings of this dynasty were =Peṭā-Bast= and =Osorkon III=, who reigned in the Delta.

It seems that a short time before the reign of Peṭā-Bast, the priests of Ȧmen had found it impossible to maintain their position at Thebes, and therefore, having hidden the mummies and coffins of the members of their order in a secret place, which was not discovered until 1892, they retreated to the South and settled at Napata, a city at the foot of the Fourth Cataract. (For examples of the coffins of the priests of Ȧmen of this period, see First Egyptian Room, Wall-cases 11-15.) A few years after their arrival, they appear to have persuaded =Piānkhi=, the king of the Northern Sûdân, to invade Egypt and to seize the kingdom of the South at least, to which, in view of the close relationship of the governing powers at Napata with those at Thebes, he might be assumed to have a just claim. For some time Piānkhi did nothing, but at length, in the twenty-first year of his reign, hearing that all the princes of the Northern Kingdom had united their forces, and were attempting to seize the country, he ordered his army to advance into Egypt. In a very short time great successes were reported. Thereupon he joined his troops, and his progress was victorious and rapid. City after city fell before his attack, and on the capture of Memphis, Egypt lay vanquished at his feet. The governors came in one after another, and at length Tafnekht, their leader, sent in his submission accompanied by gifts. Piānkhi filled his boats with spoil and returned to Napata, where he built a great temple to Ȧmen, and set up a stele recording his victories. (For a cast of the stele see Central Saloon, No. =793=.) After Piānkhi’s return to Nubia, =Osorkon III=, perhaps with =Thekeleth III= as co-regent, reigned at Thebes. To the latter half of this dynasty probably belongs the stele of =Prince Ȧuuaruath=, son of Osorkon and high-priest of Ȧmen (Bay 22, No. =777=), and the monument mentioning a king with the Horus name of Ka-nekht-khā-em-Uast (Bay 21, No. =778=).

Twenty-Fourth Dynasty. From Saïs.

The principal king of this dynasty was =Bakenrenef=, the =Bocchoris= of the Greeks, the son of Tafnekht of Saïs. His reign was short, but tradition assert that he was one of the six great law-givers of Egypt. About this time a Nubian called =Kashta= ruled at Thebes, and married =Shep-en-Ȧpt=, the high-priestess of Ȧmen; their son Shabaka became the first king of the XXVth dynasty. Among the monuments of this period may be mentioned: The =altar, stand, and libation bowl=, dedicated by Nes-Ȧmsu to Kashta, Shep-en-Ȧpt, and Ȧmenȧrṭās (Bay 20, No. =794=); the base of a statue inscribed with the names of =Shep-en-Ȧpt I=, =Shep-en-Ȧpt II=, etc. (Bay 20, No. =795=); and the alabaster vessel of =Kashta= and =Ȧmenȧrṭās= (Wall-case 139, Fourth Egyptian Room, No. 84).

Twenty-Fifth Dynasty. From Nubia.

B.C. 700.

=Shabaka=, or Sabaco, whom some identify with =So= of 2 Kings xvii, 4, was a contemporary of Sargon and Sennacherib, kings of Assyria. With one or other of these kings he must have had correspondence, for two seals bearing the name of Shabaka were found among the tablets of the Royal Library at Nineveh. (See Nineveh Gallery, Table-case I, No. 32, etc.) Among the objects bearing his name are several =scarabs=, and an alabaster =vase= in the Fourth Egyptian Room (Table-case D and Wall-case 139), and a basalt slab (Bay 25, No. =797=) inscribed with a copy of a mythological text, copied by the king’s order from an old, half obliterated document. The portion of the text surviving contains legends of Rā, Osiris, Set, Horus, Ptaḥ and other gods; and it seems to imply that all their powers were absorbed by Ptaḥ, in whose temple the slab was set up. Of Shabaka’s sister, the great Princess =Ȧmenȧrṭās=, may be mentioned the following objects: A fine inscribed =statue= (Wall-case 107, Third Egyptian Room), her =lapis-lazuli scarab= (Table-case D, Fourth Egyptian Room), and a =steatite cylinder= inscribed with her names and titles (Wall-case 193, same room). This princess possessed great power in Thebes, and she repaired portions of some of the great temples of that city, and built a small chapel near the temple of Ȧmen. She re-established the worship of the gods, and devoted a large proportion of her property to the restoration of their statues and the observance of their festivals.

Shabaka was succeeded by =Shabataka= (see a bronze shrine dedicated by him to Ȧmen-Rā in Wall-case 123 in the Fourth Egyptian Room), of whom little is known. He was followed by =Taharqa=, the =Tirhâḳâh= of the Bible, (2 Kings xix, 9), the son of a farmer and the lady =Āqleq=, who began to reign between B.C. 693 and 691. He was an ally of =Hezekiah=, king of Judah. About 676, =Esarhaddon=, king of Assyria, crushed the revolt in Palestine, and six years later he invaded Egypt, defeated Taharqa, captured Memphis, and appointed twenty governors over the various provinces of the country. After the death of Esarhaddon, in 668, Taharqa returned and proclaimed himself king of Egypt at Memphis; but =Ashur-bani-pal=, the new king of Assyria, marched against him and defeated his forces, which were assembled at Karbaniti, a city probably situated near the north-east frontier of Egypt. Taharqa fled, and Ashur-bani-pal marched into Egypt, crushed the enemy, and re-appointed the governors who had been appointed by his father.

Taharqa repaired several temples at Thebes, and built a large temple to Ȧmen at Napata, and a small one in honour of Usertsen III at Semnah. For a bronze =figure of the king=, and two =plaques= and =scarabs= bearing his name, see Table-case K, Wall-case 193, and Table-case D in the Third and Fourth Egyptian Rooms.

The successor of Taharqa was =Tanuath Ȧmen=, the Tandamanie of the cuneiform inscriptions, who had been co-regent with him. After the death of Taharqa, as the result of a dream Tanuath Ȧmen invaded Egypt, and captured Heliopolis; he tried to turn the Assyrians out of Memphis, but failed. Hearing that the king of Assyria was coming with a large army, he fled to Thebes, whither he was followed by the Assyrians, who sacked the city. Tanuath-Ȧmen fled once more, and his subsequent history is unknown. A cast of the =Stele of the Dream= is exhibited in Bay 22, No. =799=, and an account of the burning and pillage of Thebes is given on the great =cylinder of Ashur-bani-pal= (Table-case H, Babylonian Room), and the calamities which came upon the city are described by the prophet Nahum (iii, 10).

Twenty-Sixth Dynasty. From Saïs.

_About_ B.C. 666.

=Psemthek I=, or =Psammetichus=, was the son of Nekau, governor of Saïs, and married Shep-en-Ȧpt, the daughter of Piānkhi and Ȧmenȧrṭās I. Thus, by marriage, he obtained a claim to the throne of Egypt. He appears to have fought against the Assyrians on every opportunity for many years, and at length by the help of Carian and Ionian mercenaries he succeeded in expelling them, and in making himself master of all Egypt. He established garrisons at Elephantine, Pelusium, Daphnae, and Marea. He protected the Greeks, a colony of whom he settled in the city of Naukratis. He encouraged trade of every kind, and embarked in many commercial enterprises. He rebuilt, or enlarged, the temple of the goddess =Neith of Saïs= (see bronze figures of her in Wall-case 125, Fourth Egyptian Room), and built a gallery in the =Serapeum= at Ṣaḳḳârah. Among the monuments of his reign are: An =intercolumnar slab= sculptured with a scene representing the king making an offering to the gods; from the temple of Temu at Rosetta (Bay 24, No. =800=). A shaft of a column, and a portion of a statue, inscribed with his names and titles (Bay 24, Nos. =801=, =802=). For smaller objects inscribed with his name see the =Foundation Deposits= and the =figure of Isis= (Table-cases K and H, Third Egyptian Room), his =ushabti figure= (Wall-case 78, Second Egyptian Room), and his =scarabs= (Table-case D, Fourth Egyptian Room).

[Sidenote: B.C. 612.]

=Nekau=, or =Necho=, maintained an army of Greeks, and two fleets, one in the Mediterranean and one in the Red Sea. He recut and enlarged the old canal which in the time of Seti I joined the Nile and the Red Sea, and is said to have employed 120,000 men in the work. He led an army into Syria, and fought with =Josiah=, king of Judah, who attempted to bar his progress in the valley of Megiddo; Josiah was struck by an Egyptian arrow which penetrated his disguise, and he died (2 Kings xxiii, 29 ff.; 2 Chron. xxxv, 22). Necho advanced towards the Euphrates, but was met at Karkemish by Nebuchadnezzar II and his army, and in the battle which followed he was defeated. Among the small objects inscribed with his name are: A bronze =shrine= (Table-case H, Third Egyptian Room), a porcelain =vase= (Wall-case 157, Fourth Egyptian Room), an =alabastron= (Wall-case 139, Fourth Egyptian Room), and a limestone =draughtsman= (Standard-case C, Fourth Egyptian Room).

[Sidenote: B.C. 596.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 592.]

[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 23, No. 803.]]

The reign of =Psammetichus II=, the son of Necho, was short and unimportant; but he appears to have made a raid into Nubia. He repaired several of the large temples at Heliopolis, Memphis, Karnak, and Elephantine. Among the monuments of his reign is a head from a colossal =statue= of =the king=, found near the south end of the Suez Canal (Bay 23, No. =803=). For small objects inscribed with his name see the =scarabs= in Table-case D, and a portion of a =sistrum= in Wall-case 157, Fourth Egyptian Room. Under =Ḥāā-ȧb-Rā Uaḥ-ȧb-Rā=, the =Pharaoh Ḥophra= of Jeremiah xliv, 30 and the =Apries= of the Greeks, Egypt enjoyed a period of great prosperity, directly due to the encouragement he gave to commerce, and to the business qualities of the Greeks who had settled in Naukratis and elsewhere in Egypt. He made an expedition into Syria. =Zedekiah=, king of Judah, counted upon his help to repulse =Nebuchadnezzar II=; but failing to do so, Ḥophra incurred the denunciations of the prophet Jeremiah: “And this shall be a sign to you, saith the LORD, that I will punish you in this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely stand against you for evil: Thus saith the LORD: Behold, I will give Pharaoh-hophra king of Egypt into the hand of his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life; as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon his enemy, and that sought his life” (Jeremiah xliv, 29-30). Pharaoh Ḥophra was dethroned by his own soldiers, who made their general =Ȧāḥmes= (Amāsis II) king in his stead. Among monuments bearing his name are a limestone =stele=, on which is sculptured the figure of the king (Bay 22, No. =804=), and a portion of a statue of =Pefā-Net=, the king’s chief physician (Central Saloon, No. =805=).

[Sidenote: B.C. 572.]

=Amāsis II= treated his former master with kindness, but, as Ḥophra persisted in raiding the country, further fighting ensued. In the end, Ḥophra was slain by his own soldiers on board his boat. During the reign of Amāsis II Nebuchadnezzar II attempted to invade Egypt, with what success is unknown. During this long reign of about 44 years the country in general enjoyed peace and prosperity, and the quarries were re-opened and many temples restored; remains of his building activity are visible on the sites of all the great sanctuaries of Egypt. He was a generous patron of the Greeks, and granted them lands and many privileges. Among the monuments of his reign are: Two granite tablets for offerings, or =altars= (Bay 16, No. =806=; Bay 17, No. =807=); a stele, dated in his eighth year, recording the dedication of a building to Neith, goddess of Saïs (Bay 24, No. =808=); a =weight= inscribed with his prenomen (Wall-case 180, Fourth Egyptian Room), and handles of two =sistra= (Wall-case 187, same room).

Amāsis II married Thent-kheta, by whom he became the father of Psammetichus III. He was also the official husband of the famous high-priestess of Ȧmen, =Ānkhnes-neferȧb-Rā=, the daughter of Psammetichus II and the Lady =Takhauath=, and the adopted daughter of Nit-Ȧqert (Nitokris), high priestess of Ȧmen.[39] The magnificent =sarcophagus= in the Southern Egyptian Gallery was made for her (Bay 24, No. =811=). It is undoubtedly one of the finest monuments of the XXVIth dynasty in the British Museum. (See =Plates XLIII=, =XLIV=). The reliefs and figures are carefully executed, and the hieroglyphics are well cut. In the Ptolemaïc Period this sarcophagus was used for a royal scribe named Ȧmen-ḥetep, or Pi-Menth, his name being inserted in the cartouches and the feminine suffixes being changed to masculine. Ānkhnes-neferȧb-Rā built a chapel at Thebes, from which came slabs Nos. =812=, =813= (Bay 24). Worthy of note also are two fine bronze figures of =Harpokrates-Ȧmen= and =Menu=, which were dedicated to Queen Ānkhnes-neferȧb-Rā by priests in her temple (see Table-case H, Third Egyptian Room). Amāsis II had a daughter, =Ta-Khart-Ȧst= (for a portion of a statue of her see Bay 24, No. =814=).

Queen Ānkhnes-neferȧb-Rā, daughter of Psammetichus II and Queen Takhauath, wearing the head-dress of Isis-Hathor. From the cover of the sarcophagus of the queen.

About B.C. 600.

[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 24, No. 811.]]

The Sky-goddess Nut. From the inside of the sarcophagus of Queen Ānkhnes-neferȧb-Rā.

[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 24, No. 811.]]

Kneeling statue of Uaḥ-ȧb-Rā, a prince, governor, and commander-in-chief, about B.C. 600.

XXVIth dynasty.

[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 21, No. 818.]]

The last king of this dynasty was =Psammetichus III=. During his short reign, which lasted six months only, the Persians under their king Cambyses invaded Egypt, and, having defeated the Egyptians at Pelusium, marched on to Memphis and captured it. After a short time Cambyses put Psammetichus to death, and =Egypt became a province=, or satrapy, of =Persia=.

During the rule of the XXVIth dynasty over Egypt, it appears that several native Nubian kings ruled the Northern Sûdân from Napata, the modern Gebel Barkal. Among these were =Ȧspelta= and =Ḥeru-sa-ȧtef=, the former of whom probably reigned about B.C. 625 and the latter about B.C. 580. For casts of stelae recording the =Coronation of Ȧspelta= and the Annals of =Ḥeru-sa-ȧtef=, see Bay 18, No. =815=, and Bay 20, No. =816=. A cast of a stele inscribed with an edict against the =eaters of raw meat= is in Bay 20, No. =817=.

Under the XXVIth dynasty a great =revival of art and learning= took place, due partly to the settled condition of the country under a firm government, and partly to the material prosperity which obtained at that period. The painter and sculptor took for their models the reliefs and statues of the Early Empire, and the funerary masons and scribes cut or wrote on the stelae and tombs texts which were composed under the VIth dynasty, or earlier. The monuments of the period are more often made of dark limestone, dark green or grey schist, and basalt than granite, which was so commonly used for coffins, statues, stelae, etc., under the Middle Empire. These substances give to the large monuments of the =Saïte Period= a sad and sometimes heavy effect. Among the many fine examples of the sculpture of the period may be mentioned: The black basalt kneeling statue of =Uaḥ-ȧb-Rā=, a prince and general of the army (see =Plate XLV=; Bay 21, No. =818=); the portion of the kneeling figure of =Khnem-ȧb-Rā-Men=, prefect of Saïs, holding a =shrine of Neith= (Bay 23, No. =819=); the portion of a figure of =Ānkh-p-kharṭ=, a priest who had ministered in the temple for eighty years (Bay 24, No. =820=); and the =libation bowl= dedicated to the goddesses Mut and Hathor (Bay 22, Nos. =821=, =822=). The casts of the =Cow= of Hathor and the =Hippopotamus= of Smeṭsmeṭ are also very instructive (Bay 25, No. =823=; Bay 26, No. =824=). Of the massive stone =sarcophagi= and coffins, Nos. =825-829= are very fine important examples. On the two granite sarcophagi of =Nes-Qeṭiu= (No. =825=) and =Ḥāp-men= (No. =826=) are cut the figures of all the gods who were believed to protect the dead; but the others (Nos. =827-29=) are plainer. The sepulchral stelae are very numerous; interesting examples will be found in Bays 21, 22, etc.

Twenty-Seventh Dynasty. From Persia.

B.C. 527.

The rule of the Persians over Egypt lasted about one hundred and ten years. =Cambyses=, having established himself as king, set out on an expedition to the Sûdân. On his way thither he despatched an army of 50,000 men to the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon, now known as Sîwah, to secure the submission of the tribes; but, after reaching Khârgah, these troops were never more heard of. Cambyses continued his march into Nubia, where, it seems, he came in touch with a native army somewhere near the Third Cataract. According to the annals of =Nȧstasen=, king of Nubia, his boats were captured on the river, and all his soldiers slain after a fierce fight. Greek tradition states that Cambyses committed many sacrilegious acts in Egypt; but the inscription of Utcha-ḥer-resenet, the chancellor of Saïs, records that Cambyses cleared out the temple of Neith in that city, restored its revenues, and reinstated its priests. This done he went to the temple in person, and performed acts of worship, like the Pharaohs of old. The money which he gave the chancellor enabled him “to provide with a coffin the man who was too poor to buy one, and he took care of the children.”

[Sidenote: B.C. 521.]

=Darius I, Hystaspes=, was a wise and enlightened king, and he tried to understand the religion and customs of the Egyptians. He established a =coinage=, encouraged trade, subscribed money for expenses incurred in the discovery of a new =Apis Bull=, supported religious institutions, and commissioned the chancellor Utcha-ḥer-resenet to found a school for the training of scribes. He was tolerant; and built a temple to Ȧmen-Rā in the Oasis of Al-Khârgah, on the walls of which is cut a remarkable hymn to Ȧmen. He also completed the canal between the Nile and the Red Sea, which Necho began, and so added greatly to the prosperity of the country. In the latter part of his reign the Egyptians, led by =Khabbesha=, revolted against the Persian rule with some success. Darius determined to set out from Persia to put down the rebellion, but died before he could do so. The triumph of Khabbesha was short-lived, for =Xerxes the Great= marched against him, defeated his forces, and reduced the country to servitude worse than before. Xerxes did nothing for the gods or people of Egypt, and left few traces of his reign in the country. An =alabaster vase= inscribed with his name in four languages, Egyptian, Persian, Median and Babylonian, which was found at Halicarnassus, is exhibited in the =Gold Room= in the British Museum. For fragments of other vases, on which his name appears in Egyptian letters, within a cartouche, and with the additions “Pharaoh, the Great,” as here given, see Wall-cases Nos. 28 and 29, in the Babylonian Room. A cast of a stele, dated in his fourth year, with a bilingual inscription in Egyptian and Aramean, is exhibited in the Semitic Room (Second Northern Gallery, Wall-case 29).

𓍹𓐼𓆼𓆷𓇌𓄿𓃭𓆷𓄿𓐽𓍺𓉐𓉻𓅮𓉻𓂝

[Sidenote: B.C. 486.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 466.]

In the reign of =Artaxerxes I= another revolt, headed by =Inarôs=, a Libyan, who was assisted by the Athenians, broke out, and at the battle of Papremis, the satrap of Egypt, =Akhaemenes=, was killed and his forces defeated. Subsequently the Persians defeated the Egyptians, and =Inarôs= was captured and taken to Persia, where a few years later he was impaled and flayed alive.

[Sidenote: B.C. 424.]

=Darius II, Nothus=, repaired the temple of Ȧmen-Rā at Al-Khârgah, and added his name to its walls. In his reign the Egyptians at length succeeded in throwing off the Persian yoke. Their leader, =Amyrtaios=, has been thought to be Ȧmen-ruṭ-meri-Ȧmen.

Twenty-Eighth Dynasty. From Saïs.

B.C. 420 (?).

According to the King List of Manetho the XXVIIIth dynasty consisted of one king, who was named =Amyrtaios=; Julius Africanus and the Syncellus state that he reigned six years, and make Saïs the seat of his rule. At one time authorities identified Amyrtaios with the king =Ȧmen-ruṭ=, whose name 𓊹𓄤𓍹𓐼𓇳𓄊𓌷𓐰𓏏𓇋𓏠𓐰𓈖𓍉𓐰𓈖𓐽𓍺𓎟𓐰𓇾𓐰𓇾𓍹𓐼𓇋𓏠𓐰𓈖𓌗𓇋𓏠𓐰𓈖𓐰𓌻𓐽𓍺 is found on a plank from a coffin preserved at Berlin. The form of the prenomen, however, proves that Ȧmen-ruṭ lived at a period anterior to Amyrtaios, and the identification must, therefore, be abandoned.

Twenty-Ninth Dynasty. From Mendes.

B.C. 399.

Of the five kings of this dynasty only three appear to have left remains, viz. =Naifaauruṭ= (Nepherites), =Haḳer= (Achoris), and =Psamut=; their reigns were unimportant, their total length being only about twenty-one years.

Thirtieth Dynasty. From Sebennytus.

B.C. 378.

[Sidenote: B.C. 378.]

=Nekht-Ḥeru-ḥebt=, the Nektanebês and Nektanebus I of classical writers, succeeded in overthrowing the dynasty of Mendes, and made himself king of all Egypt, which he ruled with success for a period of eighteen years. He repaired several of the temples of Memphis and Thebes, and the temple of Darius I at Al-Khârgah, and revived the custom of setting up obelisks. He also founded the temple of Horus at Ḥebt, the modern Behbît-al-Ḥagârah. During his prosperous reign more attention was given to the performance of ceremonies connected with the dead, and, as a result, a considerable number of statues, stelae, etc., which may be attributed to his reign have come down to us.

Obelisk dedicated to Thoth by King Ḥeru-nekht-ḥebt, B.C. 378.

XXXth dynasty.

[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 31, No. 919.]]

Scenes and texts from the Second Section of the Book of What is in the Other World. From the sarcophagus of King Nekht-Ḥeru-ḥebt, B.C. 378.

[Southern Egyptian Gallery, Bay 25, No. 923.]]

Among his monuments worthy of special note are: =1.= A =pair= of =obelisks=, inscribed with his names and titles, and dedicated to “Thoth, the Twice Great,” before whose temple they were set up. They were taken from a town in the Delta during the eighteenth century, and stood for many years before one of the mosques of Cairo (see =Plate XLVI=). (Bays 31, 32, Nos. =919=, =920=.) =2.= Portion of a statue of Ȧmen-Rā(?), dedicated to the god by this king. (Bay 30, No. =921=.) =3.= =Sarcophagus of Nectanebus I.= (See =Plate XLVII=.) This most valuable and interesting object is one of the most remarkable monuments of this king. The inside is decorated with figures of the gods, and on the outside are cut the texts and illustrations of a series of sections of the great funerary work entitled the =Book of what is in the Ṭuat= (_i.e._, the Other World). The =Ṭuat= was a long narrow valley which ran parallel with Egypt, and was neither above nor below this earth; a river flowed through its whole length. It was entered on the left bank of the Nile near Thebes, ran due north as far as Saïs, then curved to the east, and finally terminated where the sun rose. This valley was divided into ten sections, and at each end was a sort of ante-chamber or vestibule. Each section was filled with its own peculiar beings, many of whom were hostile to the dead who wished to pass through it in the Boat of the Sun-god, which traversed it nightly. The god himself could only do this by uttering words of power. The Book of what is in the Ṭuat was supposed to contain these words of power; and copies of it were written on papyri, or cut on sarcophagi, so that their possessors or occupants might be able to recite them in case of need. The representations of the gods which accompanied the texts enabled the dead to recognize the several beings of the Other World when they met them, and to recite the appropriate words of power. On the rounded =head= of the sarcophagus the First Section of the Ṭuat is sculptured, and on the =foot= the Ninth Section; on the =right= hand side are the Second and Sixth Sections, and on the =left= are the Third and Eighth Sections (Bay 25, No. =923=). These Sections refer to the kingdoms of the dead of Thebes, Abydos, and Saïs; the other six Sections were probably sculptured on the cover, which was destroyed in the eighteenth century; those relating to Memphis and Heliopolis are omitted.

Nectanebus I was succeeded by his son =Tcheḥrȧ= (Teôs, or Tachos), in whose reign the Persians led by =Artaxerxes II= made an attack upon Egypt, but failed to conquer it.

[Sidenote: B.C. 358.]

Teôs was succeeded by his son =Nekht-neb-f=, or =Nectanebus II=, in whose reign the Persians, under =Artaxerxes III=, once again obtained possession of the country. The reign of Nectanebus II, who was the =last native king= of Egypt, was on the whole peaceful and prosperous; he repaired many temples, and his name is found on buildings in all the great sanctuaries from Philae to Sebennytus in the Delta. The statues and stelae of the period are well-cut, and the work is tasteful and delicate. Among them may be mentioned: A granite =statue= of Nectanebus II (Bay 29, No. =924=); the two =intercolumnar slabs= on which are representations of the king kneeling and making an offering (Bay 27, No. =926=; Bay 28, No. =927=); and a small =gilded door= from the model of a shrine, on which the king is represented kneeling and making an offering (Table-case C, Fourth Egyptian Room).

The Persians, having succeeded in obtaining the supreme power once again, held it for a period of about eight years; but their rule was hateful to the Egyptians, and when =Alexander the Great= (born B.C. 356, died 324), who had defeated Darius III at the Battle of Issus, =B.C. 332=, arrived at Memphis, he was welcomed as the saviour of the country. He marched to the Oasis of Sîwah (Jupiter Ammon) and entered the temple of Ȧmen-Rā, and worshipped the god, who acknowledged him to be his son and therefore the rightful king of Egypt. Soon after, in B.C. 331, Alexander founded the city of Alexandria.

In the scramble for the provinces of Alexander’s great Empire which took place at his death, Egypt fell to the share of one of his generals, Ptolemy Lagus, who administered the country in the name of Alexander’s sons, =Philip Arrhidaeus= and =Alexander II= of Egypt, the former of whom never set foot in the country; the latter was brought thither as a child of six years, and was murdered when he was thirteen years old (B.C. 311); but in spite of these facts Ptolemy Lagus caused buildings to be erected in their names, and ruled the country as their loyal servant. To the period B.C. 332-306 belong the portion of a =clepsydra= inscribed with the name of =Alexander the Great= (Bay 29, No. =948=); the portion of a =clepsydra= inscribed with the name of =Philip Arrhidaeus= (Bay 29, No. =949=); and the =papyrus of Nes-Ȧmsu=, containing the Book of Overthrowing Āpep, which is dated in the twelfth year of “Pharaoh Alexander, the son of Alexander,” _i.e._, Alexander II (No. =10,188=). In the seventh year of his reign Alexander II restored to the temples of the city of Pe-Ṭep (Buto) the property which had been wrested from it by Xerxes the Great: a cast of the stele which commemorates this fact will be found in Bay 28, No. =950=.