against the enemy. The conflict soon became general throughout the whole line, and the battle was for a long time obstinately disputed; till at length, a considerable slaughter having been made on both sides, the Egyptians gave way, and fled.

From Pelusium to Memphis was now open to the invader, and with rapid marches he hastened towards the ancient capital of Lower Egypt. Hoping, however, to obtain advantageous terms without the necessity of another battle, Cambyses sent a Persian up the river in a Mitylenian vessel, to treat with the Egyptians: but as soon as they saw the vessel enter Memphis, they rushed in a crowd from the citadel, destroyed it, and tore the crew to pieces. At the news of this outrage, the indignation of Cambyses was excessive: he immediately laid siege to Memphis, and having succeeded in reducing the place, he indulged his resentment by putting many of the inhabitants to the sword*: the king was taken prisoner, and 2000 Egyptians of the same age as the son of Psammenitus, preceded by the young prince, being compelled to march in procession before the conqueror, were condemned to death as a retaliation for the murder of the Persian and Mitylenian heralds; ten of the first rank among the Egyptians being chosen for every one of those who suffered on that occasion. † Psammenitus himself was pardoned;

* Diodorus (i. 46.) says that at this time numerous artificers, and immense wealth, were carried off to Persia; and that the palaces and splendid buildings of Persepolis, Susa, and the cities of Media, were erected by them at the command of the victors.

There were, therefore, 200 Mitylenians in the vessel destroyed at Memphis.

and such was the respect entertained by the Persians for the persons of kings* that he would in all probability have been restored to a tributary throne, if he had not entered into an ill-timed conspiracy against the monarch who had spared his life.

Egypt now became a province of Persia; and Cambyses and his seven successors compose the 27th Dynasty.

The name of Cambyses, as may be easily imagined, is never met with on Egyptian monuments; but a visiter to the slate and breccia quarries on the road from Coptos to the Red Sea has, at a later period, recorded the name of this monarch in hieroglyphics, adding to it the date of his sixth year.

*Herodot. iii. 14, 15. "The Persians," says the historian, "are accustomed to honour the sons of kings, and to restore the throne to those whose parents have rebelled against them." The same feeling is evinced by the Turks and other Asiatics; and respect for the person of a king was strongly marked in the case of Charles XII.

Two other ovals also occur: one of Darius, with the number 36; the other of Xerxes, with the year twelve: showing the inscription to have been written in the twelfth of Xerxes; and the date 36, intended as the full extent of Darius's reign, accords with the authority of ancient history. On another rock, at the same place, are the sixteenth year of Xerxes and the fifth of Artaxerxes (Longimanus); and these four are the only monarchs of the 27th Dynasty whose names I have seen in Egypt. In the principal temple at El Khargeh, in the Great Oasis, that of Darius again occurs, a considerable portion of the building having been erected by him; and it is remarkable that he is the only Persian king whose phonetic name is accompanied by a prenomen, like those of the ancient Pharaohs of Egypt; a circumstance satisfactorily confirming the remark of Didorous, "that he obtained while living the appellation of Divus*, which was applied to no other of the (Persian) kings, and received after death the same honours which it had been customary to bestow upon the ancient sovereigns of the country.t

The rule of Darius was mild and equitable; and he was not only careful to avoid every thing that might offend the religious prejudices, or hurt the feelings, of his foreign subjects, but having made

The title "Good God" was given by the Egyptians to all the Pharaohs.

+ Diodor. i. 25. This appears singular, since they were in open rebellion at the time of his death. They did not, however, destroy his monuments or efface his name on that occasion; which seems to indicate more than usual respect for a foreign ruler.

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diligent inquiry respecting the jurisprudence and constitution of the Egyptians, he corrected some abuses, and introduced many salutary laws, which continued to form part of their code, until, in common with many of those enacted by his Pharaonic predecessors, they were altered or abrogated by the Ptolemies, after the Macedonian conquest."

Impatient, however, of foreign rule, and anxious to free their country from the presence of a people whose cruelties at the time of Cambyses's invasion they could never pardon or forget, the Egyptians, thinking the reverses of Persia during the Greek war offered a favourable opportunity for throwing off the yoke, revolted towards the close of Darius's reignt, and succeeded in expelling the Persians from the whole valley of the Nile. For upwards of a year they continued in open rebellion, and defied the power of his successor; but in the second year of Xerxes they were again subdued, and treated with increased severity, Achæmenes, the brother of the king, being appointed governor of the country.

Affairs remained in this state one and twenty years, until the death of Xerxes, when considerable confusion took place in Persia; which being augmented by the intrigues of Artabanust, and the rebellion of Bactria, afforded the Egyptians another opportunity for asserting their independence; and

Diodor. loc. cit.

+ Herodotus (vii. 1. 7.) says Darius reigned 36 years, and that the revolt of the Egyptians took place in the fourth year after the battle of Marathon, the year before his death.

Ctesias, in Persicis, calls him Artapanus, and makes Achæmenes a brother of Artaxerxes.

prevailing on the Athenians to assist them with a fleet of forty sail, they attacked and overwhelmed the Persian garrisons. Upon intelligence of this, an army of 400,000 foot, and a fleet of 200 sail* were equipped by Artaxerxes, and placed under the command of Achæmenes. Inarus the son of Psamaticus, a native of Libya, and Amyrtæus† of Saïs, who had been invested with sovereign power, and were charged with the defence of the country, made every effort to resist him; and the two armies having met, the Persians were defeated with the loss of 100,000 men, and Achæmenes received a mortal wound from the hand of Inarus, of which he died.

Enraged at the failure of an expedition which he had undertaken contrary to the advice of his friends, Artaxerxes resolved on sending an overwhelming force, under the combined command of Megabyzus and Artabazus, consisting of 200,000 men, and a fleet of 300 sail, independent of the remnant of the former army, which swelled the amount to 500,000. Both armies fought valiantly, and many were slain on either side; at length Megabyzus having wounded Inarus in the thigh, obliged him to leave the field, and the route became general. Inarus, with a body of Greek auxiliaries, having taken refuge in Byblus, which was strongly fortified, obtained for himself and companions a

* Ctesias says 80 ships. Diodorus considers Achæmenes the son of Darius. lib. xi.

+ Ctesias only says, "Inarus the Lydian and another Egyptian." Thucydides (lib. i.) and other authors mention Amyrtæus. Some consider Inarus a Libyan; and Thucydides styles him "King" of that

country.

Ctesias, in Persic.