Late Period (C. 664 – 332 BC)
This is the last period I will be covering in this piece. As it transpired, the 26th Dynasty was the last ‘native’ dynasty to rule Egypt because it was overthrown by the Persians. Psamtik I was by far the most prominent Pharaoh during this dynasty as he ruled for approximately 40% of its history. He was forced to hide in the Assyrian capital of Nineveh during the Nubian invasion and only returned to Egypt when the invading king Tanutamun was defeated by the Assyrian king Assurbanipal and driven back.
The 26th Dynasty ruled for less than 140 years as its last king Psamtik III was defeated by the invading Persian King Cambyses II at the Battle of Pelusium in 525 BC. As many as 50,000 Egyptians died that day and the Persian ruler now because the leader of Egypt in what is known as the 27th Dynasty, the First Persian Period or Achaemenid Egypt.
The best known Persian leaders are Darius the Great and his son Xerxes. Egypt under Darius was similar to how it had been in the past as he rebuilt the nation’s temples and even supported its religious cults. Xerxes, on the other hand, was supposedly tyrannical, and his reign was marked by a number of uprisings which carried on for the rest of the 27th Dynasty. A rebellion led by Amyrtaeus in 404 BC was successful and resulted in the overthrow of Darius II with the rebel leader installed as king.
His six-year reign is referred to as the 28th Dynasty but it ended with his execution at the hands of Nefaarud I who defeated him in battle. The 29th Dynasty reigned for just 18 years and also ended with the murder of the Pharaoh. The 30th Dynasty was the last to feature a native ruler. In 343 BC, the Persians once again took control of Egypt with Artaxerxes III as leader. The 31st Dynasty was to rule for just 11 years as Alexander the Great defeated the Persians and became ruler of Egypt and the Persian Empire.
This is where I will leave the history of ancient Egypt for now. There could be future pieces on Alexander and the Ptolemaic Dynasty that followed him.