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B.C.

Masaherth.

Men-kheper-Rā.

Pai-netchem III.

Dynasty XXII., Libyans who ruled the country from
Bubastis (Tell-Basta).

The founder of the family. of the kings of the
XXIInd dynasty was a Libyan called Buiuuaua

966. Shashanq (Shishak) I. (see 1 Kings xiv. 25-28; 2 Chron. xii. 2-13) besieged Jerusalem, and having conquered it, pillaged the Temple and carried away much spoil. Thus Palestine became once again subject to Egypt.

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Uasarkenȧ III. In the reign of this king Piankhi
the Ethiopian invaded Egypt, and a full account of
his conquest is found on the stele which he set up
at Gebel Barkal. The text gives a detailed
account of the expedition of this king into Egypt
and of his conquest of that country.
reported to Piankhi in the 21st year of his reign,
that the governors of the northern towns had made

It was

B.C.

766.

a league together and had revolted against his authority. He set out for Egypt with his soldiers, and when he arrived at Thebes he made offerings to Amen-Ra, and commanded his soldiers to pay proper homage to the god. Passing northwards from Thebes he captured city after city, and finally besieged Memphis, which he soon captured, and thus made himself master of Egypt. The details of the capture of the towns, the speeches of the king and of his vassal princes, and the general information contained in the narrative, give this inscription an importance possessed by few others. Piankhi was the founder of the first native Nubian kingdom, and made Napata his capital. The order of the reigns of his successors is unknown.

Dynasty XXIV., from Saïs (Sâ el-Ḥagar).

733. Bak-en-ren-f (Bocchoris). Whilst Bak-en-ren-f was reigning in the Delta, there ruled at Thebes Kashta, a Nubian, who may have been a son, or grandson, of Piankhi. He married Shep-enApt, the high-priestess of Amen, and thus legalised his position as king of Egypt. He had issue Shabaka, who became king, and Amenȧrṭās

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Lynasty XXV., from Ethiopia (Nubia).

700. Shabaka. Some think that this king is to be identified with the So of the Bible (see 2 Kings xvii. 4), but there is no satisfactory evidence for so doing. Shabaka's sister was Queen Amenȧrtās, who married the Nubian Prince Piankhi.

B.C.

700. Shabataka.

He was defeated by Sennacherib at

the Battle of Altaķu, and was subsequently deposed by Tirhakah, who cast him into prison, and is said to have had him murdered.

693. Taharqa (Tirhakah, 2 Kings xix. 9) is famous for having conquered Sennacherib and delivered Hezekiah; he was, however, defeated by Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, the son and grandson of Sennacherib. He built a temple at Gebel Barkal, which is now in ruins, and another at Semnah. The latter was discovered and excavated by Mr. J. W. Crowfoot and the writer in 1905, and the objects found in it are now in the Museum at Khartum. He was succeeded by TanuathÀmen, the Tandamanie of the cuneiform inscriptions, who was compelled to flee before Ashurbanipal.

Dynasty XXVI., from Saïs.

666. Psemthek I. (Psammetichus) was the son of Nekau, whom Ashurbanipal had appointed Governor of Saïs and Memphis. He allowed Greeks to settle in the Delta, and employed Greek soldiers to fight for him. He protected his country by garrisons stationed at Elephantine, Pelusium, Daphne, and Marea. He added a large gallery, with side chambers, to the Serapeum.

612. Nekau II. (Necho) defeated Josiah, king of Judah, and was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar II. son of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon. See 2 Kings xxiii. 29 ff; Jeremiah xlvi. 2. He maintained a large army, which was largely recruited from the Greeks, and he was a great patron of all trading enterprises. He began to clear out and enlarge the

B.C. canal between the Nile and the Red Sea, a work which was probably intended to facilitate the movements of his fleets.

596. Psammetichus II.

591. Uah-ab-Ra (Hophra of the Bible, Gr. Apries) marched to the help of Zedekiah, king of Judah, who was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar II. See Jeremiah xliv. 30. His army rebelled against him, and he was dethroned; Amasis, a general in his army, then succeeded to the throne.

572. Аāḥmes or Amāsis II. favoured the Greeks, and granted them many privileges; in his reign Naucratis became a great city.

528. Psammetichus III. was defeated at Pelusium by Cambyses the Persian, and taken prisoner; he was afterwards slain for rebellion against the Persians.

Dynasty XXVII., from Persia.

527. Cambyses marched against the Nubians and the inhabitants of the Oases. He was a contemporary of the Nubian king Nastasen, or Nastasenen, who, in the account of his reign which he caused to be cut on a stele, now in the Berlin Museum, states that he defeated and overthrew the army of an enemy, whom he calls Kambasutent There seems to

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be little doubt that these hieroglyphics represent the name "Cambyses." If this be so, there is good reason for believing that Cambyses advanced into Nubia and reached some place near the Third Cataract before he was made to retreat before Nastasen. It also seems to show that he

B.C. followed the course of the Nile, and did not 527. attempt to cross the Abû Ḥamed desert. The army which he sent against the Oasis of Siwa (Jupiter Ammon) was overwhelmed by a sand storm in the desert, probably soon after it left the Oasis of Khârgah. He is said to have committed suicide.

521. Darius I. (Hystaspes) endeavoured to open up the ancient routes of commerce; he established a coinage, and adopted a conciliatory and tolerant. system of government, and favoured all attempts to promote the welfare of Egypt. He completed the digging of the canal to join the Nile with the Red Sea, which had been begun by Necho. built a temple at Hebt, in the Oasis of Khârgah. 486. Xerxes I., the Great. He suppressed the revolt which

was

headed by Khabbesha m

He

465. Artaxerxes I., during whose reign the Egyptians revolted, headed by Inarôs. In the battle of Papremis, the Persians were defeated, and Akhaemenes, the Satrap of Egypt, was killed. 425. Darius II. (Nothus), during whose reign the Egyptians revolted successfully, and Amyrtæus became king of Egypt.

405. Artaxerxes II.

Dynasty XXVIII., from Saïs.

Amen-rut (Amyrtæus), reigned six years.

Dvnasty XXIX., from Mendes.

399. Naifāauruț I.

393. Haker.

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