Ancient Man and His First Civilizations

Egypt-7

When last we left Egypt, the Assyrians had expelled the Nubians from Egypt, and had taken control. But by now, the Assyrians themselves, have been defeated by a coalition of Media and Babylon.

The beginning of the End

Now native Egyptian rule is re-established with the ascension of Psamtik I, {some say that he was half Libyan}, who was the first king of the 26th Dynasty, he reigned for almost 50 years. Both Psamtik I, and his father NeKau I (Necho) of Sais, were originally involved with an intrigue associated with the Nubian ruler Taharqo against Assyria, but Psamtik was captured, held and indoctrinated by the Assyrians. Psamtik I was even given the Assyrian name, Nabu-shezibanni, before finally being returned to Egypt, where his father had assumed power in the Delta. To all appearances, Psamtik I had been a loyal subject of his Assyrian overlords, but as that empire's glories waned, Psamtik took the opportunity to break their hold, and in so doing, became the absolute ruler of Egypt. It was during the reign of the third king of this dynasty, king Wahibre, that the Greeks first threaten Egypt.

Here we must admit, that we have no idea which Greeks the records are talking about - is it the original ancient Greeks, or the new Caucasian Greeks - the record of the transition from one to the other - is so meager as to be nonexistent. The only indication that we have, is from the Persian king "Darius", who listed the peoples that he had conquered, with accompanying pictures - see below. Though admittedly, the Persian reliefs were done some time later, so perhaps do not even apply. Make of it what you can.

As to king Wahibre, his troubles began after he had sent his Egyptian army to help Libya against the Dorian Greeks, who were attacking their city of Cyrene. In the ensuing battle, the Egyptians were badly beaten, and upon the survivor's return to Egypt, civil war broke out. King Wahibre was blamed for the disaster, this resulted in a confrontation between the regular Egyptian army, and the Greek mercenaries in the Egyptian army.

The defeat at Cyrene, probably only provided an excuse for this revolt, because for some time, Egyptian soldiers had felt that Greek mercenaries were treated better than they, the native Egyptian army. When Wahibre sent his general “Ahmose”,  to put down this revolt, Ahmose was instead implored by the Egyptians soldiers to be their leader, a plead which he accepted. There ensued a battle between the Greek mercenaries, under the command of king Wahibre, and the Egyptians under the command of Ahmose.

Wahibre and the Greek mercenaries were defeated, and then Wahibre was captured and killed, Ahmose became king Ahmose II . He has been called the last great Egyptian Pharaoh, this is because the rule of his son, Psamtik III, was very short lived. By the time of Ahmoses death - after a long reign of some 44 years, the Persians had long ago conquered Babylon, and were already at the frontiers of Egypt. His son "Psamtik III" was eventually captured by the Persians, and Herodotus tells us that the Persian ruler Cambyses, had Ahmose's mummy exhumed and:

"subjected to every indignity, such as lashing with whips and the plucking of its hairs, until the executioners were weary. At last, as the corpse had been embalmed and would not fall to pieces under the blows, Cambyses ordered it burnt"

This Marks the end of Egyptian rule in Egypt, Egyptians will never again rule their country, even unto today.