HISTORY 26

Lecture Twenty-Three:

The Saite Dynasty(664 - 525 BC)

Kushite Rule of EgyptDynasty 25 (747 - 664 BC)

Capital: Memphis

[Kashta]Piy MenkheperraShabaqo NeferkaraShabitqo DjedkauraTaharqo

KhunefertemraTanutamani Bakara

The Pyramid Tombs at Nuri

Taharqo Khunefertemra(690 - 664 BC)

Ptah: Patron deity of Memphis and creator of the universe

Amun: Patron deity of Thebes and creator of the universe

Taharqo Khunefertemra(690 - 664 BC)

Mentuemhat, Governor of Thebes

(25th/26th Dynasties)

Kush and Assyria(701 - 664 BC)

701: Hezekiah of Judah and Sennecherib of Assyria

671: Invasion of Egypt by Esarhaddon– Taharqo flees and the

rulers of the Nile Delta become Assyrian vassals

667: Assurbanipal defeats Taharqo– Tanutamani returns in

664, but is also defeated– The sack of Thebes

Kush and Assyria(701 - 664 BC)

701: Hezekiah of Judah and Sennecherib of Assyria

671: Invasion of Egypt by Esarhaddon– Taharqo flees and the

rulers of the Nile Delta become Assyrian vassals

667: Assurbanipal defeats Taharqo– Tanutamani returns in

664, but is also defeated– The sack of Thebes

Psamtek I Wahibra(664 - 610 BC)

26th Dynasty: (664 - 525)

[Nekau I of Sais]Psamtek I WahibraNekau II WehemibraPsamtek II NeferibraApries HaaibraAhmose II [Amasis]

KhnemibraPsamtek III Ankhkaenra

The Kingdom of LydiaPsamtek I and Gyges

The Phoenicians and the Greeks

Psamtek I Wahibra(664 - 610 BC)

• The Priesthood of Amun-Ra at Thebes• Nitiqret, heiress to the

‘god’s wife of Amun’• Foreign mercenaries

(Greeks and Carians)• Protection from

external attack: Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia

• A counterbalance to the machimoi, native Egyptian warriors of Libyan descent

The Saite Economy

Agricultural prosperity

Trading stations in Egypt– Naukratis,

founded by Greeks from Miletus

The Nile-Red Sea canal– Nekau II (610 -

595 BC)

Sais and the Temple of Neith

Foreign Affairs The Fall of Assyria (610 BC) and the

Rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire under the Chaldaeans

The Persian Empire of Cyrus the Great The Grand Alliance: Egypt, Babylonia,

Lydia, and the Greek city-states of Sparta and Cyrene– 546: The Fall of Lydia– 538: The Fall of Babylonia– 525: The Fall of Egypt; Psamtek III is

defeated and captured at the Battle of Pelusium