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Amasis II

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Amasis II
Ahmose II
Head of Amasis II, c. 550 BCE
Head 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[1]
M23L2
raW9mib
Nomen
Iaḥmos Net-za
The Moon is Born, Son of Neith[1]
G39N5
N12msR24zA
ConsortTentkheta,mother ofPsamtik III
Nakhtubasterau
Ladice
Khedebneithirbinet II? (daughter ofApries)
Tadiasir?
ChildrenPsamtik III
Pasenenkhonsu
Ahmose (D)
Tashereniset II?
Nitocris II
MotherTashereniset I
Died526 B.C.E.
BurialTemple of Neith atSais
Dynasty26th dynasty

Amasis II(Ancient Greek:ἌμασιςÁmasis;Phoenician:𐤇𐤌𐤎ḤMS)[2]orAhmose IIwas apharaoh(reigned 570 – 526 BCE) of theTwenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt,the successor ofApriesatSais.He was the last great ruler ofEgyptbefore thePersianconquest.[3]

Life[edit]

See also:Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt family tree

Most of our information about him is derived fromHerodotus(2.161ff) and can only be imperfectly verified by monumental evidence. According to the Greek historian, he was of common origins.[4]He was originally anofficerin the Egyptian army. His birthplace was Siuph atSaïs.He took part in a general campaign of PharaohPsamtik IIin 592 BC inNubia.[5]

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 toCyrenein Libya, suspected that they had been betrayed in order thatApries,the reigning king, might rule more absolutely by means of his Greekmercenaries;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[6](though it is suggested that Apries had more native support than classical sources describe).[7]Apries then fled to an "island" (possibly an elevated or isolated base of Apries within Egypt)[8][9]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),[10]while the Babylonians also invaded Egypt the same year.[11][12][13]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. 567BCE).[6]Amasis then married Khedebneithirbinet II, one of the daughters of his predecessorApries,in order to legitimise his kingship.[14]

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.[15]A stone block from Mehallet el-Kubra also establishes that his maternal grandmother—Tashereniset's mother—was a certain Tjenmutetj.[15]

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 thePersians.Several "heads of the fleet" are known. Psamtek Meryneit and Pasherientaihet / Padineith are the only known viziers.

Polycrates,Tyrant ofSamos,with Pharaoh Amasis II.

Herodotusdescribes how Amasis II would eventually cause a confrontation with the Persian armies. According to Herodotus, Amasis was asked byCambyses IIorCyrus the Greatfor an Egyptianophthalmologiston 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.[16]

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-pharaohApries,whom Herodotus explicitly confirms to have been killed by Amasis, to go to Persia instead of his own offspring.[16][17][18]

This daughter of Apries was none other thanNitetis,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.[16][18]

Herodotus also describes how, just like his predecessor, Amasis relied on Greek mercenaries and councilmen. One such figure wasPhanes 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 hiseunuchsto 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 thebattle of Pelusiumin 525 BC.[18]

Egypt's wealth[edit]

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 ofLower Egyptespecially with splendidmonolithicshrinesand other monuments (his activity here is proved by existing remains).[6]For example, a shrine built by him was excavated atTell Nebesha.[19]

Amasis assigned the commercial colony ofNaucratison theCanopicbranch of theNileto the Greeks, and when thetemple of Delphiwas burnt, he contributed 1,000talentsto the rebuilding. He also married a Greek princess namedLadicedaughter of KingBattus IIIand made alliances withPolycratesof Samos andCroesusof Lydia.[6]Montaignecites the story byHerodotusthat Ladice cured Amasis of hisimpotenceby praying to Venus/Aphropdite.[20]

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.[21]

His kingdom consisted probably of Egypt only, as far as theFirst Cataract,but to this he addedCyprus,and his influence was great inCyrene, Libya.[6]In his fourth year (c. 567BCE), Egypt was invaded by the Babylonians, under the leadership ofNebuchadnezzar II.[22][11][12]It is believed that Amasis managed to repel this invasion, forcing Nebuchadnezzar II to retire plans to conquer his kingdom.[23](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.)[24][13]Amasis was later faced with another formidable enemy with the rise of Persia underCyruswho ascended to the throne in 559 BCE; his final years were preoccupied by the threat of the impending Persian onslaught against Egypt.[25]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.[25]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.[25]The final assault instead fell upon his sonPsamtik III,whom the Persians defeated in 525 BCE after he had reigned for only six months.[26]

Tomb and desecration[edit]

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:

[It is] 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.[27]

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

No sooner did [Cambyses] enter the palace of Amasis that he gave orders for his [Amasis's] 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.[28]

Later reputation[edit]

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,andPlutarch'sConvivium 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 EgyptianSolomon'.[29]

Gallery of images[edit]

  • 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 theLouvre
  • 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[edit]

  1. ^abPeter A. Clayton (2006).Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt.p. 195.ISBN978-0-500-28628-9.
  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", inHornblower, Simon;Spawforth, Anthony(eds.),Oxford Classical Dictionary(3rd ed.), Oxford:Oxford University Press,ISBN0-19-521693-8
  4. ^Mason, Charles Peter(1867)."Amasis (II)".InWilliam 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.ISBN0-500-28628-0.
  6. ^abcdeOne or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Griffith, Francis Llewellyn(1911). "Amasis s.v. Amasis II.".InChisholm, 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.ISSN0307-5133.
  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.ISSN0307-5133.
  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. ^abThe Elephantine Stela of Amasis
  12. ^abThe Chronicles of the Babylonian Kings, Nbk 329
  13. ^abLadynin, Ivan A. (2006).THE ELEPHANTINE STELA OF AMASIS: SOME PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF STUDY
  14. ^"Amasis".Livius.Retrieved31 March2019.
  15. ^abDodson, Aidan & Hilton, Dyan (2004).The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt.Thames & Hudson. pp. 245 & 247.ISBN0-500-05128-3.
  16. ^abcHerodotus (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. ^abcHerodotus (Trans.) Robin Waterfield, Carolyn Dewald (1998).The Histories.Oxford University Press, US. p. 170.ISBN978-0-19-158955-3.
  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. ^Montaigne, de, Michel. "20". In William Carew Hazlitt (ed.).The Essays of Michel de Montaigne.Translated by Charles Cotton. The University of Adelaide. Archived fromthe originalon July 2, 2018.RetrievedNovember 22,2019.
  21. ^Herodotus, (II, 177, 1)
  22. ^Ephʿal, Israel (2003). "Nebuchadnezzar the Warrior: Remarks on his Military Achievements".Israel Exploration Journal.53(2): 187–188.JSTOR27927044.
  23. ^Lloyd, Alan B. (2002). "The Late Period". InShaw, Ian(ed.).The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt(Paperback ed.). Oxford Univ. Press. pp. 381–82.ISBN0-19-280293-3.
  24. ^Josephus,Ant.10.9.7, §182
  25. ^abcLloyd. (2002) p.382
  26. ^Griffith 1911.
  27. ^KAWAI, Nozomu (1998)."Royal Tombs of the Third Intermediate and Late Periods".Orient.33:33–45.doi:10.5356/orient1960.33.33.ISSN1884-1392.
  28. ^Herodotus, The Histories, Book III, Chapter 16
  29. ^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).

Further reading[edit]

  • 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,ISBN978-90-04-11385-5,S. 265–283 (Online).
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