Good introductions to the history of the Saite (Twenty-sixth) Dynasty are Kenneth Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period (pp. 399–408); John Ray, “Late Period: An Overview”; and Anthony Spalinger, “Late Period: Twenty-sixth Dynasty.” For a rather pessimistic assessment of Saite rule, see Anthony Spalinger, “The Concept of the Monarchy During the Saite Epoch.” The extraordinary career of Montuemhat is discussed by Barry Kemp, Ancient Egypt (2nd ed., pp. 346–348 and 372), and Toby Wilkinson, Lives of the Ancient Egyptians (no. 88). For Montuemhat’s Kushite wife, see Edna Russmann, “Mentuemhat’s Kushite Wife.”
The primary source for the adoption of Nitiqret is the commemorative stela from Ipetsut, published by Ricardo Caminos, “The Nitocris Adoption Stela.” For her journey to Thebes and the role of Sematawytefnakht, see Toby Wilkinson, Lives of the Ancient Egyptians (nos. 90 and 91). Psamtek I’s subsequent Theban policy is analyzed by H. De Meulenaere, “La statue du général Djed-ptah-iouf-ankh.” For the Nubian campaign of Psamtek II, see Charles Bonnet and Dominique Valbelle, The Nubian Pharaohs (pp. 164–171). Jean Yoyotte, “Le martelage des noms royaux éthiopiens,” marshals the evidence for Psamtek II’s policy of persecution against the monuments of the Kushite kings.
The background to Babylonian involvement in Egypt is discussed by Dan’el Kahn, “Some Remarks on the Foreign Policy of Psammetichus II,” while John Haywood, The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations (pp. 48–49), offers a convenient source for the main developments. For the unsuccessful campaigns of Nekau II against Babylonian expansion in the Near East, see Kenneth Kitchen, The Third Intermediate Period (p. 407). Alan Lloyd, “Apries,” refers to the pro-Greek policy of Wahibra. A magisterial analysis of the events surrounding the accession of Ahmose II is Anthony Leahy, “The Earliest Dated Monument of Amasis”; while John Ray, “Amasis,” offers a lively and readable account of the pharaoh’s pragmatic approach to foreign and domestic policy. For the Greek city of Naukratis, see Barry Kemp, Ancient Egypt (2nd ed., pp. 366–370), and John Boardman, The Greeks Overseas (Chapter 4).
1. Shabaqo, commemorative scarab.
2. Harwa, statue inscription (translation by Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol. 3, p. 26).
3. Taharqo, Kawa stela of year six, line 9.
4. Ibid., line 7.
5. Ibid., lines 11–12.
6. Ibid., lines 16–18.
7. Taharqo, desert stela, lines 12–15.
8. Annals of Esarhaddon (the translations of this text are by James Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, p. 293).
9. Ibid.
10. Annals of Ashurbanipal (the translations of this text are by James Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, pp. 294–295).
11. Ibid.
12. Tanutamun, dream stela, lines 16–17.
13. Ibid., line 25. The echoes of Kamose’s account of his battles against the Hyksos were no doubt deliberate, intended to cast Tanutamun in the same role of national savior.
14. Ibid., lines 41–42.
15. Annals of Ashurbanipal.
16. Ibid.
17. Psamtek II, Shellal stela, column 9.
CHAPTER 22: INVASION AND INTROSPECTION
The Persian Period (or, strictly speaking, the two Persian periods) is one of the most fascinating eras in ancient Egyptian history, yet has received scant attention from Egyptologists. Still the best introduction, and a vital compendium of hieroglyphic sources for the period, is Georges Posener, La première domination perse. For administrative purposes, Egypt was joined with the oases and Cyrenaica to form the sixth satrapy of the Persian Empire. For the various (Egyptian and Persian) royal names attested from the period, see Jürgen von Beckerath, Handbuch der ägyptischen Königsnamen. Leo Depuydt, “Regnal Years and Civil Calendar,” brings much needed clarity to the chronology of the period. Heavily reliant on Greek sources (which have largely been eschewed by the present author), but nonetheless authoritative, is Friedrich Kienitz, Die politische Geschichte Ägyptens. A readable account of life in the Persian Period, as reflected in the Petition of Petiese, is John Ray, Reflections of Osiris (Chapter 6). Anthony Leahy, “The Adoption of Ankhnesneferibre” (p. 164), touches on the fate of the last god’s wife of Amun and the extraordinary longevity of Psamtek I’s family. The picture of Cambyses that emerges from the Egyptian sources is in stark contrast to accounts of his reign by Greek historians, who gave him very bad press.
The inscriptions of Khnemibra in the Wadi Hammamat are published by Georges Posener, La première domination perse (pp. 98–116); the same work (pp. 1–26) provides the definitive publication of the autobiographical inscription of Wedjahorresnet. Further useful discussions of Wedjahorresnet’s career are Alan Lloyd, “The Inscription of Udjahorresnet”; Ladislav Bare?, Abusir IV; and Toby Wilkinson, Lives of the Ancient Egyptians (no. 93). The activities of Nesmahes at Taremu are put into context by Carol Redmount and Renée Friedman, “Tell el Muqdam.”
For the sources of materials and craftsmen employed in the construction of Darius I’s palace at Susa, see Paul Cartledge, Alexander the Great (pp. 39–40). The outstanding work on the nature of Persian rule in Egypt (and the Egyptian reaction against it) is John Ray, “Egypt: Dependence and Independence.” The Persian frontier post on Dorginarti is discussed by Lisa Heidorn, “The Persian Claim to Kush,” and the contemporary fortress at Tell el-Herr in the Sinai by Dominique Valbelle, “A First Persian Period Fortress.” Barry Kemp, Ancient Egypt (2nd ed., pp. 361–363), provides a thoughtful analysis of the Suez Canal stelae of Darius I; for the original publication, see Georges Posener, La première domination perse (pp. 48–87) (for the hieroglyphic text) and V. Scheil, “Documents et arguments” (for the cuneiform text). The date of construction can be established quite precisely. From the list of satrapies on the stelae, the canal must have been built after Darius’s conquest of Sind in 518 but before his Scythian campaign of 513.
The fascinating story of the Persian water engineers of the Kharga Oasis is told by Michel Wuttmann, “Ayn Manawir.” For evidence of intermarriage between Egyptians and Persians, see Ian Mathieson et al., “A Stela of the Persian Period.” The inscription of Ariyawrata in the Wadi Hammamat also records this Persian official’s adopted Egyptian nickname, Djedher. See Georges Posener, La première domination perse (pp. 127–128).
The numerous revolts against Persian rule in the fifth and fourth centuries receive considerable attention in Greek accounts (for obvious reasons), but there are few contemporary Egyptian sources. Ongoing excavations at Ayn Manawir have brought to light an important archive of demotic contracts that seem to corroborate the account of Herodotus on a number of points. See Michel Chauveau, “The Demotic Ostraca of Ayn Manawir.” The Jewish community at Abu and the destruction of the temple of Yahweh in 410 are discussed by Bezalel Porten, The Elephantine Papyri, and Boulos Ayad Ayad, “From the Archive of Ananiah Son of Azariah.”
The purge of Egyptians from positions of authority under Xerxes I can be deduced from the fact that the papyri from Elephantine, dating to his reign and those of his two successors Artaxerxes I and Darius II mention no Egyptians in prominent positions.
For the troubled and tortuous history of the Twenty-ninth Dynasty (Nayfaurud and his successors), see Claude Traunecker, “Essai sur l’histoire de la XXIXe dynastie,” and John Ray, “Psammuthis and Hakoris.”
Paul Cartledge, Agesilaos and the Crisis of Sparta, charts the relations between the Spartan king and his Egyptian contemporaries. The rise of the Thirtieth Dynasty is analyzed by H. De Meulenaere, “La famille royale des Nectanébo”; the Naukratis stela of Nakhtnebef is published by Adolf Erman and Ulrich Wilcken, “Die Naukratisstele,” and translated by Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature (vol. 3, pp. 86–89). John Ray, “Late Period: Thirtieth Dynasty,” provides a convenient historical summary of the reigns of Nakhtnebef, Djedher, and Nakhthorheb. For the career of Wennefer, see F. von Känel, “Les mésaventures du conjurateur de Serket,” and Toby Wilkinson, Lives of the Ancient Egyptians (no.
94). The life and times of Nakhthorheb are examined by John Ray, Reflections of Osiris (Chapter 7), and Toby Wilkinson, Lives of the Ancient Egyptians (no. 95).
The phenomenon of animal cults in Late Period Egypt has spawned much discussion. Among the best recent analyses is Barry Kemp, Ancient Egypt (2nd ed., pp. 373–381), while the fundamental publication is Dieter Kessler, Die heiligen Tiere. Kessler looks in particular at the connections between sacred animals and the royal cult. Harry Smith, A Visit to Ancient Egypt, is a very readable account of the sacred animal necropolis at Saqqara. For the ibis galleries at Tuna el-Gebel (the necropolis serving ancient Khmun), see Dieter Kessler and Abd el-Halim Nur el-Din, “Inside the Ibis Galleries.” One of Nakhthorheb’s best preserved temple buildings is published by Neal Spencer, “The Great Naos of Nekhthorheb.” The burial of animals to demarcate sacred enclosures at early predynastic Nekhen was reported by Renée Friedman, “Origins of Monumental Architecture.”
The stela of Sematawytefnakht, eyewitness of the second Persian conquest, is published by Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature (vol. 3, pp. 41–44), with additional studies by Paul Tresson, “La stèle de Naples,” and Jacques Jean Clère, “Une statuette du fils aîné du roi Nectanebô.” Sematawytefnakht’s career is summarized by Toby Wilkinson, Lives of the Ancient Egyptians (no. 96). For the activities of Padiusir at Khmun, see Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature (vol. 3, pp. 44–54), and Toby Wilkinson, Lives of the Ancient Egyptians (no. 97). The best discussions of the ephemeral reign of Khababash are Friedrich Kienitz, Die politische Geschichte Ägyptens (pp. 185–189); Anthony Spalinger, “The Reign of King Chabbash”; and Robert Morkot, “Khababash, the Guerilla King.” Alexander’s Persian campaign and his conquest of Egypt are analyzed by Paul Cartledge, Alexander the Great. (For the significance of the visit to Siwa, see pp. 265–270.)
1. Wedjahorresnet, statue inscription, left side of the statue’s garment.
2. Ibid., under the right arm.
3. Ibid., under the left arm.
4. Ibid., left side of naos base.
5. Ahmose, Serapeum stela, lines 4–5.
6. Darius I, Suez Canal stela, cuneiform text (after the French translation by V. Scheil, “Documents et arguments”).
7. Tom Holland, Persian Fire, back cover.
8. Nakhtnebef, Hermopolis stela.
9. Nakhtnebef, Naukratis stela, lines 2–3.
10. Ibid., line 3.
11. H. F. Lyte, “Abide with Me” (hymn).
12. Inscription from the sacred animal necropolis at Saqqara (translation by Harry Smith, A Visit to Ancient Egypt, p. 43).
13. Padiusir, tomb inscription (translation by Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol. 3, p. 46).
14. Ptolemy (I), Satrap stela, line 8.
15. Arrian, Anabasis (quoted by Paul Cartledge, Alexander the Great, p. 268).
CHAPTER 23: THE LONG GOODBYE
There is as yet no detailed account of Alexander the Great’s time in Egypt, nor of his lasting impact on the country he visited so briefly. Surveys of the Ptolemaic Period generally begin with Alexander, and Günther Hölbl’s A History of the Ptolemaic Empire is as good an introduction as any. For the notice by Peukestas, see E. G. Turner, “A Commander-in-Chief’s Order from Saqqâra.”
The career of Ptolemy I is summarized by Toby Wilkinson, Lives of the Ancient Egyptians (no. 98). A full discussion of the Wars of the Successors, the Syrian Wars, the expansion of the Ptolemaic Empire, and the procession of Ptolemy II can be found in Günther Hölbl, A History of the Ptolemaic Empire. For recent archaeological work at Berenike Panchrysos, see Angelo and Alfredo Castiglioni, “Discovering Berenice Panchrysos.”
The foundation and layout of Alexandria are discussed by Jean-Yves Empereur, Alexandria Rediscovered, and John Ray, “Alexandria.” The Satrap Stela, dated to 311, confirms that Ptolemy had adopted Alexandria as his new capital by this date. The ancient Egyptian name for Alexandria was Ra-qed (Rakhotis in its Greek form). Modern reconstructions of the city’s ancient appearance owe much to the description given by Strabo in the first decade of Roman rule, summarized in Alan Bowman, Egypt After the Pharaohs. Underwater archaeology in recent years has discovered many of the statues and monuments that once adorned the palace quarters, together with blocks from the Pharos lighthouse. See Jean-Yves Empereur, “Alexandria: The Underwater Site near Qaitbay Fort” and “Raising Statues and Blocks from the Sea at Alexandria.” The recognition that the Egyptian name for Alexandria, Rakhotis (Ra-qed), is in fact a euphemism meaning “building site,” was made by Michel Chauveau, L’Égypte au temps de Cléopâtre (p. 77); see also Mark Depauw, “Alexandria.” For a discussion of the intellectuals who studied in Alexandria under the early Ptolemies, see Alan Bowman, Egypt After the Pharaohs. A convenient source for the Great Library and the Pharos is Jean-Yves Empereur, Alexandria: Past, Present and Future.
Roger Bagnall, “Greeks and Egyptians: Ethnicity, Status, and Culture,” provides a recent stimulating discussion of the cultural and ethnic divide between Greek and Egyptian communities in Ptolemaic Egypt. In the earlier Ptolemaic Period, there were in fact three distinct systems of law running in parallel: one for Greeks, one for Egyptians, and a third system to arbitrate between the two communities. The lives of the Greek inhabitants and immigrants are analyzed in detail by Naphtali Lewis, Greeks in Ptolemaic Egypt. For the structure of the administration and the city of Memphis in the Ptolemaic Period, Dorothy Thompson, Memphis Under the Ptolemies, is an unrivaled source. The main features of the cult of Serapis are summarized by Richard Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses (pp. 127–128). Many works have been written about the Ptolemaic ruler cult; among the most useful is Jan Quaegebeur, “The Egyptian Clergy and the Cult of the Ptolemaic Dynasty.”
The economic exploitation of Egypt under Ptolemaic rule is the subject of J. G. Manning’s magisterial Land and Power in Ptolemaic Egypt. For the role of the village scribe, as attested in the correspondence of one such from Kerkeosiris, see A.M.F.W. Verhoogt, Menches, Komogrammateus of Kerkeosiris.
The story of Ptolemy IV addressing his troops through an interpreter before the Battle of Raphia is recounted by Polybius.
Brian McGing, “Revolt Egyptian Style,” offers a detailed overview of the native rebellions of the third to first centuries. The Theban revolt of 206–186 is discussed in greater detail by Günther Hölbl, A History of the Ptolemaic Empire (pp. 153–159), and Willy Clarysse, “Notes de prosopographie thébaine.” For a full publication and analysis of all the contemporary documents, see P. W. Pestman, “Haronnophris and Chaonnophris.” An inscription at Philae suggests that Ankhwennefer may have been the son of Horwennefer. John Ray, The Rosetta Stone, charts the background to the less well-known delta rebellion of Ptolemy V’s reign (centered on a town that was also called Lykopolis in Greek [Shekan in Egyptian]). The Rosetta Stone also provides an up-to-date translation of the demotic text of the Rosetta Stone (pp. 164–170). For the aftermath of the insurrections and the imposition of military rule in Upper Egypt, see K. Vandorpe, “City of Many a Gate, Harbour for Many a Rebel.”
The incessant internecine fighting within the royal family, Egypt’s growing involvement with Rome, and the history of the later Ptolemies are all discussed in detail by Günther Hölbl, A History of the Ptolemaic Empire (pp. 181–231). Ptolemy VIII’s first wife (and full sister) was Cleopatra II; her daughter, his second wife, was Cleopatra III.
The inscription on the sarcophagus lid of the royal scribe Wennefer is published in translation by Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature (vol. 3, pp. 54–58). Cleopatra’s birth is dated to the end of 70 or the beginning of 69 by some authors (for example, Günther Hölbl, A History of the Ptolemaic Empire) and, more precisely, to early 69 by others (for example, Susan Walker and Peter Higgs [eds.], Cleopatra of Egypt: From History to Myth). In any case, late 70 and early 69 in modern reckoning fell within the same year in the ancient Egyptian calendar.
Scholars dispute the parentage a
nd ancestry, and therefore the ethnicity, of Cleopatra. While Andrew Meadows, “Sins of the Fathers” (p. 23), argues that she was the daughter of Ptolemy XII and his full sister (Cleopatra V)—a view of which Robert Bianchi, “Cleopatra VII,” is certain—W. Huss, “Die Herkunft der Kleopatra,” has cast doubts on the identity of Cleopatra’s mother. Sally-Ann Ashton, Cleopatra and Egypt (p. 1), admits that Cleopatra may have been only “part Egyptian,” her foreign blood coming if not through her mother then through her grandmother, a concubine of Ptolemy IX’s.
1. Sematawytefnakht, stela inscription (translation by Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol. 3, pp. 42–43).
2. Temple of Horus at Edfu, innermost rooms.
3. Wennefer, sarcophagus lid inscription (translation by Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol. 3, pp. 54–58).
4. Ibid.
CHAPTER 24: FINIS
For the high priests of Ptah during the Ptolemaic Period, and especially the last two holders of that office, Pasherenptah and Imhotep, see Jan Quaegebeur, “Contribution à la prosopographie des prêtres memphites,” and E.A.E. Reymond and J.W.B. Barns, “Alexandria and Memphis.” Reymond’s thesis, that Pasherenptah was related to the Ptolemaic royal family (and was Cleopatra’s second cousin) is not widely accepted and has not been followed here. The funerary stela of Pasherenptah is published in Susan Walker and Peter Higgs (eds.), Cleopatra of Egypt (catalogue no. 192). The reign of Ptolemy XII, including his exile in Rome, is charted in detail by Günther Hölbl, A History of the Ptolemaic Empire, and Andrew Meadows, “Sins of the Fathers.” The evidence that Cleopatra may have accompanied her father to Rome in 57 is discussed by Guy Weill Goudchaux, “Cleopatra’s Subtle Religious Strategy” (p. 131), based on another scholar’s interpretation of a Greek inscription.
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