Psamtik II
Psamtik II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Psammetichus II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pharaoh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reign | 595–589 BC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Predecessor | Necho II | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Successor | Apries | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Consort | 26th dynasty |
Psamtik II (Ancient Egyptian: Nfr-jb-Rꜥ Psmṯk, pronounced Psamāṯăk[1]), known by the Graeco-Romans as Psammetichus or Psammeticus, was a king of the Saite-based Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt (595 BC – 589 BC). His prenomen, Nefer-Ib-Re, means "Beautiful [is the] Heart [of] Re."[2] He was the son of Necho II.[3]
Campaigns and battles
Psamtik II led a foray into
When King Psammetichus (i.e., Psamtik II) came to Elephantine, this was written by those who sailed with Psammetichus the son of Theocles, and they came beyond Kerkis as far as the river permits. Those who spoke foreign tongues (Greek and Carians who also scratched their names on the monument) were led by Potasimto, the Egyptians by Amasis.[5]
Kerkis was located near the Fifth Cataract of the Nile "which stood well within the Cushite Kingdom."[6]
This was the first confrontation between Egypt and Nubia since the reign of Tantamani. A Kushite king named Anlamani had revived the power of the kingdom of Napata. Psamtik II's campaign was likely initiated to destroy any future aspirations the Kushites may have had to reconquer Egypt. The Egyptian army advanced to Pnubs (Kerma) and the capital city of Napata in a series of fierce battles, where they looted its temples and destroyed the royal Kushite statues.[7] The Kushite capital was sacked under the reign of the native Kushite king Aspelta who was the younger brother of Anlamani and the son of Senkamanisken. The Year 3 Karnak stela is dated to II Shemu day 10 of Psamtik II's reign and states that:
The army that your Majesty sent to Nubia has reached the land of Pnubs....Nubians from all parts [of Kush] had arisen against him, their hearts full of anger when he attacked those who had rebelled against him there; because he was furious at those who had arisen against him. His Majesty took part in the combat as soon as he reached the battle. The rebels capitulated before a single arrow was unleashed against them....Those who tried to flee did not succeed and were brought back as prisoners: four thousand two hundred men.[8]
As a result of Psamtik's devastating campaign, Kush's power was crushed, and its kings from Aspelta onwards lost any opportunity of ever regaining control of Egypt. Instead, the Nubian rulers decided to shift their capital further south from Napata to the relative safety of Meroë. Curiously, however, Psamtik II does not appear to have capitalized on his victory. His troops retreated back to the First Cataract, and Elephantine continued to be the southern border of Egypt.
An outcome of this campaign was the deliberate destruction of monuments belonging to the 25th Dynasty Kushite kings in Egypt "by hacking out their names and the emblems of royalty from their statues and reliefs."[6] Later, in 591 BC, during the fourth year of his reign, Psamtik II launched an expedition into Palestine "to foment a general Levantine revolt against the Babylonians" that involved, among others, Zedekiah of the Kingdom of Judah.[9] Or according to Dan’el Kahn, "592 B.C. seems to be the date of the military reconquest of the Levant by Psammetichus II."[10]
Monuments
Psamtik II was both a dynamic warrior pharaoh as well as a prolific builder in his brief 6-year reign. A significant Saite
Under Psamtik II's reign, a pair of obelisks more than 21.79 metres high were erected in the temple of
Psamtik II was also responsible for founding the
- "a pronaos with four papyrus bundle columns and screen walls. During the construction of the pronaos, the side walls were extended for the addition of a court[yard]. This extension, was, however, only carried out in the 30th Dynasty [by Nectanebo I and Nectanebo II.] The eight papyrus columns of the pronaos still show the New Kingdom type of open, bell-shaped capitals."[15]
A massive sandstone gateway through an outer enclosure wall still stands almost 5 metres tall and was constructed during the Ptolemaic or Roman periods.[16] Many inscriptions and decrees were carved on the gateway on a wide variety of topics such as taxation, inheritance, the court system and the rights of women, with the earliest text dating to 49 AD.[16]
The Temple of Psamtik II at Hibis was completely preserved until 1832 when its roof and portions of the temple were removed for the construction of an aluminium factory.[15] Only excavation work by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1910-1911 and restorations performed by the Egyptian Antiquities Service arrested its decline.[15] Today, the Hibis temple remains—together with the Oracle or Ammoneion of Siwa—as "the best preserved and best-documented temple of the early Egyptian Late Period and is therefore a primary monument to the history of [Egyptian temple] building."[15]
Successor
When Psamtik II died in 589 BC, he was succeeded by Apries who was his son by Queen Takhut, a Princess of Athribis. Psamtik and Queen Takhut were also the parents of Menekhubaste, a Priestess of Atum at Heliopolis, and Ankhnesneferibre, a God's Wife of Amun who served in this powerful office in Upper Egypt to the end of the Saite period in 525 BC, when Egypt was conquered by the Persians.[17] The date of Psamtik II's death is mentioned in the Adoption stela of Ankhnesneferibre: Year 7, I Akhet day 23.[18]
References
- JSTOR 3822031. Retrieved 19 August 2022.
- ^ Peter Clayton, Chronicle of the Pharaohs, Thames and Hudson, 1994. p.195
- ISBN 978-1906137410, p. 18 (the father-son relation is known from Herodotus and confirmed by an inscription on a statue)
- ^ The New Encyclopædia Britannica: Micropædia, Vol.9, 15th edition, 2003. p.756
- ^ "king Psammetichus II (Psamtik II)". Touregypt.net. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
- ^ a b Britannica, p.756
- ^ Charles Bonnet & Dominique Valbelle, The Nubian Pharaohs, The American University in Cairo Press, 2005. p.166-167
- ^ Bonnet & Valbelle, pp.166-167
- ^ Alan B. Lloyd, 'The Late Period' in The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (ed. Ian Shaw), Oxford Univ. Press 2002 paperback, p.381
- .
- ^ a b c d e Dieter Arnold, Temples of the Last Pharaohs, Oxford University Press, 1999. p.76
- ^ Nestor L'Hôte, Sur le Nil avec Champollion: Lettres, journaux et dessins inédits de Nestor L'Hôte: premier voyage en Egypte, 1828-1830
- ISBN 978-0-19-969967-4.
- ^ a b Arnold, p.77
- ^ a b c d Arnold, Temples, p.79
- ^ a b "Hibis". Egyptsites.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-11-20.
- ^ Christian Settipani, Nos ancêtres de l'Antiquité, 1991. pp.153 & 161
- ^ Bonnet & Valbelle, p.170