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{{Short description|Egyptian pharaoh}} {{Short description|Egyptian pharaoh from 570 to 526 BC}}
{{Infobox pharaoh {{Infobox pharaoh
|name=Amasis II |name=Amasis II
|alt_name=Ahmose II |alt_name=Ahmose II
|image=Head of Amasis II, c. 550 BCE. From Egypt. Neues Museum, Berlin, Germany.jpg |image=Head of Amasis II, c. 550 BCE. From Egypt. Neues Museum, Berlin, Germany.jpg
|caption=Head of Amasis II, c. 550 BCE |caption=Head of Amasis II, {{Circa|550 BCE}}
|reign=570–526 BCE |reign=570–526 BCE
|dynasty=] |dynasty=]
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|prenomen=''Khnem-ib-re''<br />He Who Embraces the Heart of Re Forever<ref name="Clayton, Peter A p195">{{cite book| author = Peter A. Clayton| title = Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt| year = 2006| isbn = 978-0-500-28628-9 | page = 195}}</ref> |prenomen=''Khnem-ib-re''<br />He Who Embraces the Heart of Re Forever<ref name="Clayton, Peter A p195">{{cite book| author = Peter A. Clayton| title = Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt| year = 2006| isbn = 978-0-500-28628-9 | page = 195}}</ref>
|prenomen_hiero=<hiero>ra-W9-m-ib</hiero> |prenomen_hiero=<hiero>ra-W9-m-ib</hiero>
|nomen=''Ah-mose''<br />The Moon is Born, Son of Neith<ref name="Clayton, Peter A p195"/> |nomen=''Iaḥmos Net-za''<br />The Moon is Born, Son of Neith<ref name="Clayton, Peter A p195"/>
|nomen_hiero=<hiero>N12-ms-R24-zA</hiero> |nomen_hiero=<hiero>N12-ms-R24-zA</hiero>
|golden= |golden=
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|horus= |horus=
|horus_hiero=<hiero>s-mn:n-U1-mAa:t</hiero> |horus_hiero=<hiero>s-mn:n-U1-mAa:t</hiero>
|spouse= ], mother of ] <br> ] <br> ] <br> Chedebnitjerbone II (daughter of ]) <br> Tadiasir? |spouse= ], mother of ] <br> ] <br> ] <br> Khedebneithirbinet II? (daughter of ]) <br> Tadiasir?
|children= ] <br> Pasenenkhonsu <br> Ahmose (D) <br> Tashereniset II ? <br> ] |children= ] <br> Pasenenkhonsu <br> Ahmose (D) <br> Tashereniset II ? <br> ]
|father= |father=
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|birth_date= |birth_date=
|death_date=526 B.C.E. |death_date=526 B.C.E.
|burial=Temple of Neith at ]
|burial=
|monuments= |monuments=
}} }}
'''Amasis II''' ({{lang-grc|Ἄμασις}}) or '''Ahmose II''' was a ] (reigned 570{{snd}}526 BCE) of the ], the successor of ] at ]. He was the last great ruler of ] before the ] conquest.<ref name="OCD">{{Citation | last = Lloyd | first = Alan Brian | contribution = Amasis | year = 1996 | title = ] | editor1-last = Hornblower | editor1-first = Simon | editor1-link =Simon Hornblower | editor2-last = Spawforth | editor2-first = Anthony | editor2-link =Anthony Spawforth | edition = 3rd | place = Oxford | publisher = ] | isbn = 0-19-521693-8}}</ref> '''Amasis II''' ({{langx|grc|Ἄμασις}} {{grc-transl|Ἄμασις}}; {{langx|phn|𐤇𐤌𐤎}} ''ḤMS'')<ref>Schmitz, Philip C.. "Chapter 3. Three Phoenician "Graffiti" at Abu Simbel (CIS I 112)". The Phoenician Diaspora: Epigraphic and Historical Studies, University Park, US: Penn State University Press, 2021, pp. 35-39. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781575066851-005</ref> or '''Ahmose II''' was a ] (reigned 570{{snd}}526 BCE) of the ], the successor of ] at ]. He was the last great ruler of ] before the ] conquest.<ref name="OCD">{{Citation | last = Lloyd | first = Alan Brian | contribution = Amasis | year = 1996 | title = ] | editor1-last = Hornblower | editor1-first = Simon | editor1-link =Simon Hornblower | editor2-last = Spawforth | editor2-first = Anthony | editor2-link =Anthony Spawforth | edition = 3rd | place = Oxford | publisher = ] | isbn = 0-19-521693-8}}</ref>


==Life== ==Life==
{{see also|Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt family tree}} {{see also|Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt family tree}}
Most of our information about him is derived from ] (2.161ff) and can only be imperfectly verified by monumental evidence. According to the Greek historian, he was of common origins.<ref name="DGRBM">{{cite encyclopedia | last = Mason | first = Charles Peter | author-link = Charles Peter Mason | title = Amasis (II) | editor = William Smith | editor-link = William Smith (lexicographer) | encyclopedia = ] | volume = 1 | pages = 136–137 | publisher = ] | location = Boston | year = 1867 | url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0145.html}}</ref> He was originally an ] in the Egyptian army. His birthplace was Siuph at ]. He took part in a general campaign of Pharaoh ] in 592 BC in ].<ref name="Clayton 195-97">{{cite book |last=Clayton |first=Peter A. |title=Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Thames &amp; Hudson |edition=Paperback |pages=195–197 |year=2006 |isbn=0-500-28628-0 }}</ref> Most of our information about him is derived from ] (2.161ff) and can only be imperfectly verified by monumental evidence. According to the Greek historian, he was of common origins.<ref name="DGRBM">{{cite encyclopedia | last = Mason | first = Charles Peter | author-link = Charles Peter Mason | title = Amasis (II) | editor = William Smith | editor-link = William Smith (lexicographer) | encyclopedia = ] | volume = 1 | pages = 136–137 | publisher = ] | location = Boston | year = 1867 | url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0145.html}}</ref> He was originally an ] in the Egyptian army. His birthplace was Siuph at ]. He took part in a general campaign of Pharaoh ] in 592 BC in ].<ref name="Clayton 195-97">{{cite book |last=Clayton |first=Peter A. |title=Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Thames & Hudson |edition=Paperback |pages=195–197 |year=2006 |isbn=0-500-28628-0 }}</ref>

A revolt which broke out among native Egyptian soldiers gave him his opportunity to seize the throne. These troops, returning home from a disastrous military expedition to ] in Libya, suspected that they had been betrayed in order that ], the reigning king, might rule more absolutely by means of his Greek ]; many Egyptians fully sympathized with them. General Amasis, sent to meet them and quell the revolt, was proclaimed king by the rebels instead, and Apries, who then had to rely entirely on his mercenaries, was defeated<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Amasis|display=Amasis s.v. Amasis II.|volume=1|page=782|first=Francis Llewellyn|last=Griffith|author-link=Francis Llewellyn Griffith}} This cites:


A revolt which broke out among native Egyptian soldiers gave him his opportunity to seize the throne. These troops, returning home from a disastrous military expedition to ] in Libya, suspected that they had been betrayed in order that ], the reigning king, might rule more absolutely by means of his Greek ]; many Egyptians fully sympathized with them. General Amasis, sent to meet them and quell the revolt, was proclaimed king by the rebels instead, and Apries, who then had to rely entirely on his mercenaries, was defeated.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Amasis|display=Amasis s.v. Amasis II.|volume=1|page=782|first=Francis Llewellyn|last=Griffith|author-link=Francis Llewellyn Griffith}} This cites:
* ], ''History'', vol. iii. * ], ''History'', vol. iii.
* ], ''History and Historical Documents'', vol. iv. p.&nbsp;509 * ], ''History and Historical Documents'', vol. iv. p.&nbsp;509
* ], ''Les Empires''.
* ], ''Les Empires''.</ref> Apries fled to the Babylonians and was captured and killed mounting an invasion of his native homeland in 567 BCE with the aid of a Babylonian army.<ref>Herodotus, The Histories, Book II, Chapter 169</ref> An inscription confirms the struggle between the native Egyptian and the foreign soldiery, and proves that Apries was killed and honourably buried in the third year of Amasis ({{circa|567}} BCE).<ref name="EB1911"/> Amasis then married Chedebnitjerbone II, one of the daughters of his predecessor ], in order to legitimise his kingship.<ref>{{cite web |title=Amasis |url=https://www.livius.org/articles/person/amasis/ |website=Livius |access-date=31 March 2019}}</ref>

''THE ELEPHANTINE STELA OF AMASIS,'' col. 17-18</ref> (though it is suggested that Apries had more native support than classical sources describe).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Leahy |first=Anthony |date=1988 |title=The Earliest Dated Monument of Amasis and the End of the Reign of Apries |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3821755 |journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology |volume=74 |pages=183–199 |doi=10.2307/3821755 |issn=0307-5133}}</ref> Apries then fled to an "island" (possibly an elevated or isolated base of Apries within Egypt)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Leahy |first=Anthony |date=1988 |title=The Earliest Dated Monument of Amasis and the End of the Reign of Apries |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3821755 |journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology |volume=74 |pages=195 |doi=10.2307/3821755 |issn=0307-5133}}</ref><ref>Ladynin, Ivan A. (2006). ''THE ELEPHANTINE STELA OF AMASIS: SOME PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF STUDY'', pp. 10-12</ref> and was killed while mounting a final insurrection against Amasis in 567 BCE with the aid of a shipped force (probably Greek and maybe Carian),<ref>Ladynin, Ivan A. (2006). ''THE ELEPHANTINE STELA OF AMASIS: SOME PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF STUDY'', pp. 7-11</ref> while the Babylonians also invaded Egypt the same year.<ref name=":0">''The Elephantine Stela of Amasis''</ref><ref name=":1">''The Chronicles of the Babylonian Kings, Nbk 329''</ref><ref name=":2">Ladynin, Ivan A. (2006). ''THE ELEPHANTINE STELA OF AMASIS: SOME PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF STUDY''</ref> An inscription confirms the struggle between the native Egyptian and the foreign soldiery, and proves that Apries was killed and honourably buried in the fourth year of Amasis ({{circa|567}} BCE).<ref name="EB1911"/> Amasis' revolt against Apries is also alluded to in ]. Amasis then married Khedebneithirbinet II, one of the daughters of his predecessor ], in order to legitimise his kingship.<ref>{{cite web |title=Amasis |url=https://www.livius.org/articles/person/amasis/ |website=Livius |access-date=31 March 2019}}</ref>


Some information is known about the family origins of Amasis: his mother was a certain Tashereniset, as a bust of her, today located in the British Museum, shows.<ref name="Dodson & Hilton, pp.245 & 247">{{cite book |first=Aidan |last=Dodson |first2=Dyan |last2=Hilton |name-list-style=amp |title=The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2004 |pages=245 & 247 |isbn=0-500-05128-3 }}</ref> A stone block from Mehallet el-Kubra also establishes that his maternal grandmother—Tashereniset's mother—was a certain Tjenmutetj.<ref name="Dodson & Hilton, pp.245 & 247" /> Some information is known about the family origins of Amasis: his mother was a certain Tashereniset, as a bust of her, today located in the British Museum, shows.<ref name="Dodson & Hilton, pp.245 & 247">{{cite book |first1=Aidan |last1=Dodson |first2=Dyan |last2=Hilton |name-list-style=amp |title=The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2004 |pages=245 & 247 |isbn=0-500-05128-3 }}</ref> A stone block from Mehallet el-Kubra also establishes that his maternal grandmother—Tashereniset's mother—was a certain Tjenmutetj.<ref name="Dodson & Hilton, pp.245 & 247" />


His court is relatively well known. The head of the gate guard Ahmose-sa-Neith appears on numerous monuments, including the location of his sarcophagus. He was referenced on monuments of the 30th Dynasty and apparently had a special significance in his time. Wahibre was 'Leader of the southern foreigners' and 'Head of the doors of foreigners', so he was the highest official for border security. Under Amasis the career of the doctor, Udjahorresnet, began, who was of particular importance to the ]. Several "heads of the fleet" are known. Psamtek Meryneit and Pasherientaihet / Padineith are the only known viziers. His court is relatively well known. The head of the gate guard Ahmose-sa-Neith appears on numerous monuments, including the location of his sarcophagus. He was referenced on monuments of the 30th Dynasty and apparently had a special significance in his time. Wahibre was 'Leader of the southern foreigners' and 'Head of the doors of foreigners', so he was the highest official for border security. Under Amasis the career of the doctor, Udjahorresnet, began, who was of particular importance to the ]. Several "heads of the fleet" are known. Psamtek Meryneit and Pasherientaihet / Padineith are the only known viziers.
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] describes how Amasis II would eventually cause a confrontation with the Persian armies. According to Herodotus, Amasis was asked by ] or ] for an Egyptian ] on good terms. Amasis seems to have complied by forcing an Egyptian physician into mandatory labor, causing him to leave his family behind in Egypt and move to Persia in forced exile. In an attempt to exact revenge for this, the physician grew very close to Cambyses and suggested that Cambyses should ask Amasis for a daughter in marriage in order to solidify his bonds with the Egyptians. Cambyses complied and requested a daughter of Amasis for marriage.<ref name=Hero/> ] describes how Amasis II would eventually cause a confrontation with the Persian armies. According to Herodotus, Amasis was asked by ] or ] for an Egyptian ] on good terms. Amasis seems to have complied by forcing an Egyptian physician into mandatory labor, causing him to leave his family behind in Egypt and move to Persia in forced exile. In an attempt to exact revenge for this, the physician grew very close to Cambyses and suggested that Cambyses should ask Amasis for a daughter in marriage in order to solidify his bonds with the Egyptians. Cambyses complied and requested a daughter of Amasis for marriage.<ref name=Hero/>


Amasis, worrying that his daughter would be a concubine to the Persian king, refused to give up his offspring; Amasis also was not willing to take on the Persian empire, so he concocted a deception in which he forced the daughter of the ex-pharaoh ], whom Herodotus explicitly confirms to have been killed by Amasis, to go to Persia instead of his own offspring.<ref name="Hero">{{cite book| author = Herodotus| title = The History of Herodotus Volume I,Book II| url = https://archive.org/details/historyherodotu00herogoog| year = 1737| publisher = D. Midwinter| pages = –250 }}</ref><ref name="sir">{{cite book| author = Sir John Gardner Wilkinson| title = Manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians: including their private life, government, laws, art, manufactures, religions, and early history; derived from a comparison of the paintings, sculptures, and monuments still existing, with the accounts of ancient authors. Illustrated by drawings of those subjects, Volume 1| url = https://archive.org/details/mannersandcusto18wilkgoog| year = 1837| publisher = J. Murray| page = }}</ref><ref name="Herodotus">{{cite book| author = Herodotus (Trans.) Robin Waterfield, Carolyn Dewald| title = The Histories| url = https://books.google.com/?id=Or5CKl1ObX4C&pg=PA170| year = 1998| publisher = Oxford University Press, US| isbn = 978-0-19-158955-3| page = 170 }}</ref> Amasis, worrying that his daughter would be a concubine to the Persian king, refused to give up his offspring; Amasis also was not willing to take on the Persian empire, so he concocted a deception in which he forced the daughter of the ex-pharaoh ], whom Herodotus explicitly confirms to have been killed by Amasis, to go to Persia instead of his own offspring.<ref name="Hero">{{cite book| author = Herodotus| title = The History of Herodotus Volume I,Book II| url = https://archive.org/details/historyherodotu00herogoog| year = 1737| publisher = D. Midwinter| pages = –250 }}</ref><ref name="sir">{{cite book| author = Sir John Gardner Wilkinson| title = Manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians: including their private life, government, laws, art, manufactures, religions, and early history; derived from a comparison of the paintings, sculptures, and monuments still existing, with the accounts of ancient authors. Illustrated by drawings of those subjects, Volume 1| url = https://archive.org/details/mannersandcusto18wilkgoog| year = 1837| publisher = J. Murray| page = }}</ref><ref name="Herodotus">{{cite book| author = Herodotus (Trans.) Robin Waterfield, Carolyn Dewald| title = The Histories| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Or5CKl1ObX4C&pg=PA170| year = 1998| publisher = Oxford University Press, US| isbn = 978-0-19-158955-3| page = 170 }}</ref>


This daughter of Apries was none other than ], who was, as per Herodotus's account, "tall and beautiful." Nitetis naturally betrayed Amasis and upon being greeted by the Persian king explained Amasis's trickery and her true origins. This infuriated Cambyses and he vowed to take revenge for it. Amasis died before Cambyses reached him, but his heir and son Psamtik III was defeated by the Persians.<ref name=Hero/><ref name=Herodotus/> This daughter of Apries was none other than ], who was, as per Herodotus's account, "tall and beautiful." Nitetis naturally betrayed Amasis and upon being greeted by the Persian king explained Amasis's trickery and her true origins. This infuriated Cambyses and he vowed to take revenge for it. Amasis died before Cambyses reached him, but his heir and son Psamtik III was defeated by the Persians.<ref name=Hero/><ref name=Herodotus/>
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==Egypt's wealth== ==Egypt's wealth==
] ]
Amasis brought Egypt into closer contact with Greece than ever before. Herodotus relates that under his prudent administration, Egypt reached a new level of wealth; Amasis adorned the temples of ] especially with splendid ]ic ]s and other monuments (his activity here is proved by existing remains).<ref name="EB1911"/> For example, a temple built by him was excavated at ].{{Citation needed|date=March 2017}} Amasis brought Egypt into closer contact with Greece than ever before. Herodotus relates that under his prudent administration, Egypt reached a new level of wealth; Amasis adorned the temples of ] especially with splendid ]ic ]s and other monuments (his activity here is proved by existing remains).<ref name="EB1911"/> For example, a shrine built by him was excavated at ].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at/api/download/content/9783700180517_kapitel_65_74.pdf|title=Preliminary Report on the First Season of the Tell Nebesha Project|author=1Nicky Nielsen|author2=Valentina Gasperini|author3=Mandy Mamedow|publisher=Austrian Academy of Sciences}}</ref>


Amasis assigned the commercial colony of ] on the ] branch of the ] to the Greeks, and when the ] was burnt, he contributed 1,000 ] to the rebuilding. He also married a Greek princess named ] daughter of King ] and made alliances with ] of Samos and ] of Lydia.<ref name="EB1911"/> ] cites the story by ] that Ladice cured Amasis of his ] by praying to Venus/Aphropdite.<ref name=Montaigne>{{cite book|url=https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/montaigne/michel/essays/complete.html|publisher=The University of Adelaide |title=The Essays of Michel de Montaigne |first=Michel |last=Montaigne, de |translator=Charles Cotton|editor=William Carew Hazlitt|chapter=20|access-date=November 22, 2019}}</ref> Amasis was described by Herodotus as a ].<ref>{{cite book |author=Herodotus|author-link =Herodotus|title=2.178|translator=G. C. Macaulay|translator-link=George Campbell Macaulay|url=https://en.m.wikisource.org/The_History_of_Herodotus_(Macaulay)/Book_II|quote=φιλέλλην δὲ γενόμενος ὁ Ἄμασις|trans-quote=Moreover Amasis became a lover of the Hellenes}}</ref> He assigned the commercial colony of ] on the ] branch of the ] to the Greeks, and when the ] was burnt, he contributed 1,000 ] to the rebuilding. He also married a Greek princess named ] daughter of King ] and made alliances with ] of Samos and ] of Lydia.<ref name="EB1911"/> ] cites the story by ] that Ladice cured Amasis of his ] by praying to Aphrodite.<ref name=Montaigne>{{cite book|url=http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/montaigne/michel/essays/complete.html|publisher=The University of Adelaide|title=The Essays of Michel de Montaigne|first=Michel|last=Montaigne, de|translator=Charles Cotton|editor=William Carew Hazlitt|chapter=20|access-date=November 22, 2019|archive-date=July 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702155944/https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/montaigne/michel/essays/complete.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>


Under Amasis, Egypt's agricultural based economy reached its zenith. Herodotus, who visited Egypt less than a century after Amasis II's death, writes that: Under Amasis, Egypt's agricultural based economy reached its zenith. Herodotus, who visited Egypt less than a century after Amasis II's death, writes that:
{{quote|It is said that it was during the reign of Ahmose II (Amasis) that Egypt attained its highest level of prosperity both in respect of what the river gave the land and in respect of what the land yielded to men and that the number of inhabited cities at that time reached in total 20,000.<ref>Herodotus, (II, 177, 1)</ref>}} {{Blockquote|It is said that it was during the reign of Ahmose II (Amasis) that Egypt attained its highest level of prosperity both in respect of what the river gave the land and in respect of what the land yielded to men and that the number of inhabited cities at that time reached in total 20,000.<ref>Herodotus, (II, 177, 1)</ref>}}


His kingdom consisted probably of Egypt only, as far as the ], but to this he added ], and his influence was great in ].<ref name="EB1911"/> In his fourth year ({{circa|lk=no|567}} BCE), Amasis was able to defeat an invasion of Egypt by the Babylonians under ]; henceforth, the Babylonians experienced sufficient difficulties controlling their empire that they were forced to abandon future attacks against Amasis.<ref>{{cite book |first=Alan B. |last=Lloyd |chapter=The Late Period |title=The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt |editor-first=Ian |editor-last=Shaw |editor-link=Ian Shaw (Egyptologist) |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |year=2002 |edition=Paperback |pages=381–82 |isbn=0-19-280293-3 }}</ref> However, Amasis was later faced with a more formidable enemy with the rise of Persia under ] who ascended to the throne in 559 BCE; his final years were preoccupied by the threat of the impending Persian onslaught against Egypt.<ref name="Lloyd.(2002)p.382">Lloyd. (2002) p.382</ref> With great strategic skill, Cyrus had destroyed Lydia in 546 BCE and finally defeated the Babylonians in 538 BCE which left Amasis with no major Near Eastern allies to counter Persia's increasing military might.<ref name="Lloyd.(2002)p.382"/> Amasis reacted by cultivating closer ties with the Greek states to counter the future Persian invasion into Egypt but was fortunate to have died in 526 BCE shortly before the Persians attacked.<ref name="Lloyd.(2002)p.382"/> The final assault instead fell upon his son ], whom the Persians defeated in 525 BCE after he had reigned for only six months.{{sfn|Griffith|1911}} His kingdom consisted probably of Egypt only, as far as the ], but to this he added ], and his influence was great in ].<ref name="EB1911"/> In his fourth year ({{circa|lk=no|567}} BCE), Egypt was invaded by the Babylonians, under the leadership of ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Ephʿal |first=Israel |date=2003 |title=Nebuchadnezzar the Warrior: Remarks on his Military Achievements |journal=Israel Exploration Journal |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=187–188 |jstor=27927044}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> It is believed that Amasis managed to repel this invasion, forcing Nebuchadnezzar II to retire plans to conquer his kingdom.<ref>{{cite book |first=Alan B. |last=Lloyd |chapter=The Late Period |title=The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt |editor-first=Ian |editor-last=Shaw |editor-link=Ian Shaw (Egyptologist) |publisher=Oxford Univ. Press |year=2002 |edition=Paperback |pages=381–82 |isbn=0-19-280293-3 }}</ref> (However, some have suggested that Nebuchadnezzar came to defeat Apries, the combined forces of Amasis and Nebuchadnezzar managing to kill him, securing Amasis' throne, though as vassal king.)<ref>Josephus, ''Ant.'' 10.9.7, §182</ref><ref name=":2" /> Amasis was later faced with another formidable enemy with the rise of Persia under ] who ascended to the throne in 559 BCE; his final years were preoccupied by the threat of the impending Persian onslaught against Egypt.<ref name="Lloyd.(2002)p.382">Lloyd. (2002) p.382</ref> With great strategic skill, Cyrus had destroyed Lydia in 546 BCE and finally defeated the Babylonians in 538 BCE which left Amasis with no major Near Eastern allies to counter Persia's increasing military might.<ref name="Lloyd.(2002)p.382"/> Amasis reacted by cultivating closer ties with the Greek states to counter the future Persian invasion into Egypt but died in 526 BCE shortly before the Persians attacked.<ref name="Lloyd.(2002)p.382"/> The final assault instead fell upon his son ], whom the Persians defeated in 525 BCE after he had reigned for only six months.{{sfn|Griffith|1911}}


==Tomb and desecration== ==Tomb and desecration==


Amasis II died in 526 BC. He was buried at the royal necropolis of Sais, and while his tomb has never been discovered, Herodotus describes it for us: Amasis II died in 526 BC. He was buried at the royal necropolis of Sais within the temple enclosure of Neith, and while his tomb has not been rediscovered, Herodotus describes it for us:


{{quote| a great cloistered building of stone, decorated with pillars carved in the imitation of palm-trees, and other costly ornaments. Within the cloister is a chamber with double doors, and behind the doors stands the sepulchre.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amasis.htm|title=Egypt: Amasis, the Last Great Egyptian Pharaoh|website=www.touregypt.net}}</ref>}} {{Blockquote| a great cloistered building of stone, decorated with pillars carved in the imitation of palm-trees, and other costly ornaments. Within the cloister is a chamber with double doors, and behind the doors stands the sepulchre.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=KAWAI |first=Nozomu |date=1998 |title=Royal Tombs of the Third Intermediate and Late Periods |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5356/orient1960.33.33 |journal=Orient |volume=33 |pages=33–45 |doi=10.5356/orient1960.33.33 |issn=1884-1392}}</ref>}}


Herodotus also relates the desecration of Amasis' mummy when the Persian king ] conquered Egypt and thus ended the 26th (Saite) Dynasty: Herodotus also relates the desecration of Amasis' mummy when the Persian king ] conquered Egypt and thus ended the 26th (Saite) Dynasty:
{{quote|o sooner did enter the palace of Amasis that he gave orders for his body to be taken from the tomb where it lay. This done, he proceeded to have it treated with every possible indignity, such as beating it with whips, sticking it with goads, and plucking its hairs. s the body had been embalmed and would not fall to pieces under the blows, Cambyses had it burned.<ref>Herodotus, The Histories, Book III, Chapter 16</ref>}} {{Blockquote|No sooner did enter the palace of Amasis that he gave orders for his body to be taken from the tomb where it lay. This done, he proceeded to have it treated with every possible indignity, such as beating it with whips, sticking it with goads, and plucking its hairs... As the body had been embalmed and would not fall to pieces under the blows, Cambyses had it burned.<ref>Herodotus, The Histories, Book III, Chapter 16</ref>}}


==Later reputation== ==Later reputation==
], ].]] ], ].]]
From the fifth century BCE, there is evidence of stories circulating about Amasis, in Egyptian sources (including a demotic papyrus of the third century BCE), ], ], and ]'s '']''. 'In those tales Amasis was presented as a non-conventional Pharaoh, behaving in ways unbecoming to a king but gifted with practical wisdom and cunning, a trickster on the throne or a kind of comic Egyptian ]'.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Ioannis M. |last=Konstantakos |title=Trial by Riddle: The Testing of the Counsellor and the Contest of Kings in the Legend of Amasis and Bias |journal=] |volume=55 |year=2004 |pages=85–137 (p. 90) }}</ref> From the fifth century BCE, there is evidence of stories circulating about Amasis, in Egyptian sources (including a demotic papyrus of the third century BCE), ], ], and ]'s '']''. 'In those tales Amasis was presented as a non-conventional Pharaoh, behaving in ways unbecoming to a king but gifted with practical wisdom and cunning, a trickster on the throne or a kind of comic Egyptian ]'.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Ioannis M. |last=Konstantakos |title=Trial by Riddle: The Testing of the Counsellor and the Contest of Kings in the Legend of Amasis and Bias |journal=] |volume=55 |year=2004 |pages=85–137 (p. 90) }}</ref>

], ].]]
For example, Herodotus relates that, when the Egyptians disrespected Amasis for having been born a commoner, he had his golden footbath (]) melted down, made into a statue of a god, and placed in the centre of city where people would worship it. After the people of that city had worhsipped and "did great reverence" to it, Amasis gathered them and declared to them that the golden image they now worshipped had once been a footbath where people would vomit, urinate and wash their feet. He claimed that likewise, although he was once a man of the people, he was now their king and they ought to fittingly respect him.<ref>{{cite book |author=Herodotus|author-link =Herodotus|title=2.172|translator=G. C. Macaulay|translator-link=George Campbell Macaulay|url=https://en.m.wikisource.org/The_History_of_Herodotus_(Macaulay)/Book_II}}</ref>

On another occasion, Herodotus tells that Amasis' friends admonished him for spending his time frivolously instead of on governing the country. He responded to them that archers stretch their ] only when they need them, because if they kept them constantly stretched the bows would break. "So also is the state of man: if he should always be in earnest and not relax himself for sport at the due time, he would either go mad or be struck with stupor before he was aware; and knowing this well, I distribute a portion of the time to each of the two ways of living."<ref>{{cite book |author=Herodotus|author-link =Herodotus|title=2.173|translator=G. C. Macaulay|translator-link=George Campbell Macaulay|url=https://en.m.wikisource.org/The_History_of_Herodotus_(Macaulay)/Book_II}}</ref>


==Gallery of images== ==Gallery of images==
Line 81: Line 89:
Image:Louvres-antiquites-egyptiennes-img 2713.jpg|Papyrus, written in demotic script in the 35th year of Amasis II, on display at the ] Image:Louvres-antiquites-egyptiennes-img 2713.jpg|Papyrus, written in demotic script in the 35th year of Amasis II, on display at the ]
Image:Louvres-antiquites-egyptiennes-img 2711.jpg|Grant of a parcel of land by an individual to a temple. Dated to the first year of Amasis II, on display at the Louvre Image:Louvres-antiquites-egyptiennes-img 2711.jpg|Grant of a parcel of land by an individual to a temple. Dated to the first year of Amasis II, on display at the Louvre
Image:Louvre 122006 008.jpg|A stele dating to the 23rd regnal year of Amasis, on display at the Louvre Image:Stèle de l'Apis enterré en l'an 23 du règne d'Amasis, trouvée à Saqqarah 008.jpg|A stele dating to the 23rd regnal year of Amasis, on display at the Louvre
</gallery> </gallery>

==See also==
* ]


==References== ==References==
Line 91: Line 96:


== Further reading == == Further reading ==
* {{cite journal|first=John D.|last=Ray|author-link=John D. Ray|year=1996|title=Amasis, the pharaoh with no illusions|journal=]|pp=27–31|volume=46|issue=3}} * {{cite journal|first=John D.|last=Ray|author-link=John D. Ray|year=1996|title=Amasis, the pharaoh with no illusions|journal=]|pages=27–31|volume=46|issue=3}}
* ]: ''Saite and Persian Egypt, 664 BC–332 BC (Dyns. 26–31, Psammetichus I to Alexander's Conquest of Egypt).'' In: Erik Hornung, Rolf Krauss, David A. Warburton (Hrsg.): ''Ancient Egyptian Chronology'' (= ''Handbook of Oriental studies. Section One. The Near and Middle East.'' Band 83). Brill, Leiden/Boston 2006, {{ISBN|978-90-04-11385-5}}, S. 265–283 (). * ]: ''Saite and Persian Egypt, 664 BC–332 BC (Dyns. 26–31, Psammetichus I to Alexander's Conquest of Egypt).'' In: Erik Hornung, Rolf Krauss, David A. Warburton (Hrsg.): ''Ancient Egyptian Chronology'' (= ''Handbook of Oriental studies. Section One. The Near and Middle East.'' Band 83). Brill, Leiden/Boston 2006, {{ISBN|978-90-04-11385-5}}, S. 265–283 ().
{{Pharaohs |late |state=expanded}} {{Pharaohs |late |state=expanded}}
Line 98: Line 103:


{{DEFAULTSORT:Amasis 02}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Amasis 02}}
] ]
] ]
] ]

Latest revision as of 11:02, 22 November 2024

Egyptian pharaoh from 570 to 526 BC
Amasis II
Ahmose II
Head of Amasis II, c. 550 BCEHead of Amasis II, c. 550 BCE
Pharaoh
Reign570–526 BCE
PredecessorApries
SuccessorPsamtik III
Royal titulary
Prenomen  (Praenomen)
Khnem-ib-re
He Who Embraces the Heart of Re Forever
M23L2
raW9mib
Nomen
Iaḥmos Net-za
The Moon is Born, Son of Neith
G39N5
N12msR24zA
ConsortTentkheta, mother of Psamtik III
Nakhtubasterau
Ladice
Khedebneithirbinet II? (daughter of Apries)
Tadiasir?
ChildrenPsamtik III
Pasenenkhonsu
Ahmose (D)
Tashereniset II ?
Nitocris II
MotherTashereniset I
Died526 B.C.E.
BurialTemple of Neith at Sais
Dynasty26th dynasty

Amasis II (Ancient Greek: Ἄμασις Ámasis; Phoenician: 𐤇𐤌𐤎 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.

Life

See also: Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt family tree

Most of our information about him is derived from Herodotus (2.161ff) and can only be imperfectly verified by monumental evidence. According to the Greek historian, he was of common origins. He was originally an officer in the Egyptian army. His birthplace was Siuph at Saïs. He took part in a general campaign of Pharaoh Psamtik II in 592 BC in Nubia.

A revolt which broke out among native Egyptian soldiers gave him his opportunity to seize the throne. These troops, returning home from a disastrous military expedition to Cyrene in Libya, suspected that they had been betrayed in order that Apries, the reigning king, might rule more absolutely by means of his Greek mercenaries; many Egyptians fully sympathized with them. General Amasis, sent to meet them and quell the revolt, was proclaimed king by the rebels instead, and Apries, who then had to rely entirely on his mercenaries, was defeated (though it is suggested that Apries had more native support than classical sources describe). Apries then fled to an "island" (possibly an elevated or isolated base of Apries within Egypt) and was killed while mounting a final insurrection against Amasis in 567 BCE with the aid of a shipped force (probably Greek and maybe Carian), while the Babylonians also invaded Egypt the same year. An inscription confirms the struggle between the native Egyptian and the foreign soldiery, and proves that Apries was killed and honourably buried in the fourth year of Amasis (c. 567 BCE). Amasis' revolt against Apries is also alluded to in Jeremiah 44:30. Amasis then married Khedebneithirbinet II, one of the daughters of his predecessor Apries, in order to legitimise his kingship.

Some information is known about the family origins of Amasis: his mother was a certain Tashereniset, as a bust of her, today located in the British Museum, shows. A stone block from Mehallet el-Kubra also establishes that his maternal grandmother—Tashereniset's mother—was a certain Tjenmutetj.

His court is relatively well known. The head of the gate guard Ahmose-sa-Neith appears on numerous monuments, including the location of his sarcophagus. He was referenced on monuments of the 30th Dynasty and apparently had a special significance in his time. Wahibre was 'Leader of the southern foreigners' and 'Head of the doors of foreigners', so he was the highest official for border security. Under Amasis the career of the doctor, Udjahorresnet, began, who was of particular importance to the Persians. Several "heads of the fleet" are known. Psamtek Meryneit and Pasherientaihet / Padineith are the only known viziers.

Polycrates, Tyrant of Samos, with Pharaoh Amasis II.

Herodotus describes how Amasis II would eventually cause a confrontation with the Persian armies. According to Herodotus, Amasis was asked by Cambyses II or Cyrus the Great for an Egyptian ophthalmologist on good terms. Amasis seems to have complied by forcing an Egyptian physician into mandatory labor, causing him to leave his family behind in Egypt and move to Persia in forced exile. In an attempt to exact revenge for this, the physician grew very close to Cambyses and suggested that Cambyses should ask Amasis for a daughter in marriage in order to solidify his bonds with the Egyptians. Cambyses complied and requested a daughter of Amasis for marriage.

Amasis, worrying that his daughter would be a concubine to the Persian king, refused to give up his offspring; Amasis also was not willing to take on the Persian empire, so he concocted a deception in which he forced the daughter of the ex-pharaoh Apries, whom Herodotus explicitly confirms to have been killed by Amasis, to go to Persia instead of his own offspring.

This daughter of Apries was none other than Nitetis, who was, as per Herodotus's account, "tall and beautiful." Nitetis naturally betrayed Amasis and upon being greeted by the Persian king explained Amasis's trickery and her true origins. This infuriated Cambyses and he vowed to take revenge for it. Amasis died before Cambyses reached him, but his heir and son Psamtik III was defeated by the Persians.

Herodotus also describes how, just like his predecessor, Amasis relied on Greek mercenaries and councilmen. One such figure was Phanes of Halicarnassus, who would later leave Amasis, for reasons that Herodotus does not clearly know, but suspects were personal between the two figures. Amasis sent one of his eunuchs to capture Phanes, but the eunuch was bested by the wise councilman and Phanes fled to Persia, meeting up with Cambyses and providing advice for his invasion of Egypt. Egypt was finally lost to the Persians during the battle of Pelusium in 525 BC.

Egypt's wealth

Statue of Tasherenese, mother of king Amasis II, 570-526 BCE, British Museum

Amasis brought Egypt into closer contact with Greece than ever before. Herodotus relates that under his prudent administration, Egypt reached a new level of wealth; Amasis adorned the temples of Lower Egypt especially with splendid monolithic shrines and other monuments (his activity here is proved by existing remains). For example, a shrine built by him was excavated at Tell Nebesha.

Amasis was described by Herodotus as a philhellene. He assigned the commercial colony of Naucratis on the Canopic branch of the Nile to the Greeks, and when the temple of Delphi was burnt, he contributed 1,000 talents to the rebuilding. He also married a Greek princess named Ladice daughter of King Battus III and made alliances with Polycrates of Samos and Croesus of Lydia. Montaigne cites the story by Herodotus that Ladice cured Amasis of his impotence by praying to Aphrodite.

Under Amasis, Egypt's agricultural based economy reached its zenith. Herodotus, who visited Egypt less than a century after Amasis II's death, writes that:

It is said that it was during the reign of Ahmose II (Amasis) that Egypt attained its highest level of prosperity both in respect of what the river gave the land and in respect of what the land yielded to men and that the number of inhabited cities at that time reached in total 20,000.

His kingdom consisted probably of Egypt only, as far as the First Cataract, but to this he added Cyprus, and his influence was great in Cyrene, Libya. In his fourth year (c. 567 BCE), Egypt was invaded by the Babylonians, under the leadership of Nebuchadnezzar II. It is believed that Amasis managed to repel this invasion, forcing Nebuchadnezzar II to retire plans to conquer his kingdom. (However, some have suggested that Nebuchadnezzar came to defeat Apries, the combined forces of Amasis and Nebuchadnezzar managing to kill him, securing Amasis' throne, though as vassal king.) Amasis was later faced with another formidable enemy with the rise of Persia under Cyrus who ascended to the throne in 559 BCE; his final years were preoccupied by the threat of the impending Persian onslaught against Egypt. With great strategic skill, Cyrus had destroyed Lydia in 546 BCE and finally defeated the Babylonians in 538 BCE which left Amasis with no major Near Eastern allies to counter Persia's increasing military might. Amasis reacted by cultivating closer ties with the Greek states to counter the future Persian invasion into Egypt but died in 526 BCE shortly before the Persians attacked. The final assault instead fell upon his son Psamtik III, whom the Persians defeated in 525 BCE after he had reigned for only six months.

Tomb and desecration

Amasis II died in 526 BC. He was buried at the royal necropolis of Sais within the temple enclosure of Neith, and while his tomb has not been rediscovered, Herodotus describes it for us:

a great cloistered building of stone, decorated with pillars carved in the imitation of palm-trees, and other costly ornaments. Within the cloister is a chamber with double doors, and behind the doors stands the sepulchre.

Herodotus also relates the desecration of Amasis' mummy when the Persian king Cambyses conquered Egypt and thus ended the 26th (Saite) Dynasty:

No sooner did enter the palace of Amasis that he gave orders for his body to be taken from the tomb where it lay. This done, he proceeded to have it treated with every possible indignity, such as beating it with whips, sticking it with goads, and plucking its hairs... As the body had been embalmed and would not fall to pieces under the blows, Cambyses had it burned.

Later reputation

This head probably came from a temple statue of Amasis II. He wears the traditional royal nemes head cloth, with a protective uraeus serpent at the brow. Circa 560 BCE. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

From the fifth century BCE, there is evidence of stories circulating about Amasis, in Egyptian sources (including a demotic papyrus of the third century BCE), Herodotus, Hellanikos, and Plutarch's Convivium Septem Sapientium. 'In those tales Amasis was presented as a non-conventional Pharaoh, behaving in ways unbecoming to a king but gifted with practical wisdom and cunning, a trickster on the throne or a kind of comic Egyptian Solomon'.

A bronze footbath from ancient Greece. Circa 400 BCE. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

For example, Herodotus relates that, when the Egyptians disrespected Amasis for having been born a commoner, he had his golden footbath (ποδανιπτήρ) melted down, made into a statue of a god, and placed in the centre of city where people would worship it. After the people of that city had worhsipped and "did great reverence" to it, Amasis gathered them and declared to them that the golden image they now worshipped had once been a footbath where people would vomit, urinate and wash their feet. He claimed that likewise, although he was once a man of the people, he was now their king and they ought to fittingly respect him.

On another occasion, Herodotus tells that Amasis' friends admonished him for spending his time frivolously instead of on governing the country. He responded to them that archers stretch their bows only when they need them, because if they kept them constantly stretched the bows would break. "So also is the state of man: if he should always be in earnest and not relax himself for sport at the due time, he would either go mad or be struck with stupor before he was aware; and knowing this well, I distribute a portion of the time to each of the two ways of living."

Gallery of images

  • Relief showing Amasis from the Karnak temple Relief showing Amasis from the Karnak temple
  • Papyrus, written in demotic script in the 35th year of Amasis II, on display at the Louvre Papyrus, written in demotic script in the 35th year of Amasis II, on display at the Louvre
  • Grant of a parcel of land by an individual to a temple. Dated to the first year of Amasis II, on display at the Louvre Grant of a parcel of land by an individual to a temple. Dated to the first year of Amasis II, on display at the Louvre
  • A stele dating to the 23rd regnal year of Amasis, on display at the Louvre A stele dating to the 23rd regnal year of Amasis, on display at the Louvre

References

  1. ^ Peter A. Clayton (2006). Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-500-28628-9.
  2. Schmitz, Philip C.. "Chapter 3. Three Phoenician "Graffiti" at Abu Simbel (CIS I 112)". The Phoenician Diaspora: Epigraphic and Historical Studies, University Park, US: Penn State University Press, 2021, pp. 35-39. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781575066851-005
  3. Lloyd, Alan Brian (1996), "Amasis", in Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Anthony (eds.), Oxford Classical Dictionary (3rd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-521693-8
  4. Mason, Charles Peter (1867). "Amasis (II)". In William Smith (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. Boston: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 136–137.
  5. Clayton, Peter A. (2006). Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt (Paperback ed.). Thames & Hudson. pp. 195–197. ISBN 0-500-28628-0.
  6. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainGriffith, Francis Llewellyn (1911). "Amasis s.v. Amasis II.". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 782. This cites: THE ELEPHANTINE STELA OF AMASIS, col. 17-18
  7. Leahy, Anthony (1988). "The Earliest Dated Monument of Amasis and the End of the Reign of Apries". The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 74: 183–199. doi:10.2307/3821755. ISSN 0307-5133.
  8. Leahy, Anthony (1988). "The Earliest Dated Monument of Amasis and the End of the Reign of Apries". The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. 74: 195. doi:10.2307/3821755. ISSN 0307-5133.
  9. Ladynin, Ivan A. (2006). THE ELEPHANTINE STELA OF AMASIS: SOME PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF STUDY, pp. 10-12
  10. Ladynin, Ivan A. (2006). THE ELEPHANTINE STELA OF AMASIS: SOME PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF STUDY, pp. 7-11
  11. ^ The Elephantine Stela of Amasis
  12. ^ The Chronicles of the Babylonian Kings, Nbk 329
  13. ^ Ladynin, Ivan A. (2006). THE ELEPHANTINE STELA OF AMASIS: SOME PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF STUDY
  14. "Amasis". Livius. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  15. ^ Dodson, Aidan & Hilton, Dyan (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson. pp. 245 & 247. ISBN 0-500-05128-3.
  16. ^ Herodotus (1737). The History of Herodotus Volume I,Book II. D. Midwinter. pp. 246–250.
  17. Sir John Gardner Wilkinson (1837). Manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians: including their private life, government, laws, art, manufactures, religions, and early history; derived from a comparison of the paintings, sculptures, and monuments still existing, with the accounts of ancient authors. Illustrated by drawings of those subjects, Volume 1. J. Murray. p. 195.
  18. ^ Herodotus (Trans.) Robin Waterfield, Carolyn Dewald (1998). The Histories. Oxford University Press, US. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-19-158955-3.
  19. 1Nicky Nielsen; Valentina Gasperini; Mandy Mamedow. "Preliminary Report on the First Season of the Tell Nebesha Project" (PDF). Austrian Academy of Sciences.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  20. Herodotus. 2.178. Translated by G. C. Macaulay. φιλέλλην δὲ γενόμενος ὁ Ἄμασις [Moreover Amasis became a lover of the Hellenes]
  21. Montaigne, de, Michel. "20". In William Carew Hazlitt (ed.). The Essays of Michel de Montaigne. Translated by Charles Cotton. The University of Adelaide. Archived from the original on July 2, 2018. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
  22. Herodotus, (II, 177, 1)
  23. Ephʿal, Israel (2003). "Nebuchadnezzar the Warrior: Remarks on his Military Achievements". Israel Exploration Journal. 53 (2): 187–188. JSTOR 27927044.
  24. Lloyd, Alan B. (2002). "The Late Period". In Shaw, Ian (ed.). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (Paperback ed.). Oxford Univ. Press. pp. 381–82. ISBN 0-19-280293-3.
  25. Josephus, Ant. 10.9.7, §182
  26. ^ Lloyd. (2002) p.382
  27. Griffith 1911.
  28. KAWAI, Nozomu (1998). "Royal Tombs of the Third Intermediate and Late Periods". Orient. 33: 33–45. doi:10.5356/orient1960.33.33. ISSN 1884-1392.
  29. Herodotus, The Histories, Book III, Chapter 16
  30. Konstantakos, Ioannis M. (2004). "Trial by Riddle: The Testing of the Counsellor and the Contest of Kings in the Legend of Amasis and Bias". Classica et Mediaevalia. 55: 85–137 (p. 90).
  31. Herodotus. 2.172. Translated by G. C. Macaulay.
  32. Herodotus. 2.173. Translated by G. C. Macaulay.

Further reading

  • Ray, John D. (1996). "Amasis, the pharaoh with no illusions". History Today. 46 (3): 27–31.
  • Leo Depuydt: Saite and Persian Egypt, 664 BC–332 BC (Dyns. 26–31, Psammetichus I to Alexander's Conquest of Egypt). In: Erik Hornung, Rolf Krauss, David A. Warburton (Hrsg.): Ancient Egyptian Chronology (= Handbook of Oriental studies. Section One. The Near and Middle East. Band 83). Brill, Leiden/Boston 2006, ISBN 978-90-04-11385-5, S. 265–283 (Online).
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