5 The heirs of Psamtek I
-
Roger Forshaw
Abstract
Nekau II, Psamtek I’s son, inherited the throne in 610 BC and continued the Egyptian policy of campaigning against the Babylonians in the Near East. After initial victories, Nekau was defeated at Carchemish in 605 BC and the Egyptians withdrew back to Egypt, losing all their possessions in the Levant. Nekau then concentrated on building up a navy, and Herodotus records that he built a canal to the Red Sea and sent a naval expedition around Africa. Nekau was succeeded by his son, Psamtek II, who sent an army to Nubia to crush the Kushites and undertook a seemingly peaceful expedition to Syria–Palestine, possibly in an attempt to reassert Egyptian claims to Syria–Palestine. Early suggestions that Psamtek directed a damnatio memoriae against his father, Nekau, for surrendering Egyptian territorial possessions in the Levant appear unsubstantiated and probably more a policy of usurpation of some of Nekau’s monuments to promote his own rule.
Abstract
Nekau II, Psamtek I’s son, inherited the throne in 610 BC and continued the Egyptian policy of campaigning against the Babylonians in the Near East. After initial victories, Nekau was defeated at Carchemish in 605 BC and the Egyptians withdrew back to Egypt, losing all their possessions in the Levant. Nekau then concentrated on building up a navy, and Herodotus records that he built a canal to the Red Sea and sent a naval expedition around Africa. Nekau was succeeded by his son, Psamtek II, who sent an army to Nubia to crush the Kushites and undertook a seemingly peaceful expedition to Syria–Palestine, possibly in an attempt to reassert Egyptian claims to Syria–Palestine. Early suggestions that Psamtek directed a damnatio memoriae against his father, Nekau, for surrendering Egyptian territorial possessions in the Levant appear unsubstantiated and probably more a policy of usurpation of some of Nekau’s monuments to promote his own rule.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Epigraph v
- Contents vii
- List of figures viii
- Foreword xi
- Preface xii
- Abbreviations xiv
- Chronologies xvi
- 1 Political turmoil and ‘Libyan’ settlers 1
- 2 Kushite and Assyrian invaders 24
- 3 Psamtek ‘the Great’ 52
- 4 Egypt, a new beginning 77
- 5 The heirs of Psamtek I 124
- 6 Haaibra versus Ahmose II 146
- 7 Fall of the house of Sais 172
- 8 The Saite era within the history of Pharaonic civilisation 182
- References 189
- Index 221
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Epigraph v
- Contents vii
- List of figures viii
- Foreword xi
- Preface xii
- Abbreviations xiv
- Chronologies xvi
- 1 Political turmoil and ‘Libyan’ settlers 1
- 2 Kushite and Assyrian invaders 24
- 3 Psamtek ‘the Great’ 52
- 4 Egypt, a new beginning 77
- 5 The heirs of Psamtek I 124
- 6 Haaibra versus Ahmose II 146
- 7 Fall of the house of Sais 172
- 8 The Saite era within the history of Pharaonic civilisation 182
- References 189
- Index 221
