Pharaoh.se

The Twenty-eighth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt

Amyrtaeos was a He was defeated in open battle by his successor, Neferites I and executed at Memphis.

Following the death of Darius II in 404 BC, Amyrtaeus, who had been a persistent threat to the Persians for years, expelled the Persians from Memphis and proclaimed himself king. Due to the ongoing involvement in other conflicts, the Persians were unable to respond effectively, allowing Amyrtaeus to liberate the Delta while Upper Egypt remained under Persian control. Amyrtaeus was probably the grandson of Amyrtaeus of Sais, who led a rebellion in 465 BC. The dynasty was brought to a sudden and decisive end with the defeat of Amyrtaeus in an open battle by Neferites I, who subsequently had him executed at Memphis.

Dynasty 28

The chronological order

Table 1: The king of the Twenty-eighth Dynasty
№ Pharaoh Dates (BC)
1Amyrtaeus404–399

The Twenty-eighth Dynasty according to Manetho

Diodorus states that the king of Egypt was Psammetichus; it is possible that Psamtik/Psammetichus was the throne name of Amyrtaeus, since only his personal name is known.

ACCORDING TO AFRICANUS

Twenty-eighth dynasty

  1. Amyrteos of Sais 6 years
ACCORDING TO EUSEBIOS

Twenty-eighth dynasty

  1. Amyrtaios of Sais 6 years
ARMENIAN TRANSLATION

Twenty-eighth Dynasty

  1. Amiwrtēos of Sais 6 years

Diodorus, Library of History

14.35 At the close of this year, in Athens Laches was archon and in Rome the consul­ship was administered by military tribunes, Manius Claudius, Marcus Quinctius, Lucius Julius, Marcus Furius, and Lucius Valerius;​ and the Ninety-fifth Olympiad was held, that in which Minos of Athens won the "stadion." [ = 400 BC]

This year Artaxerxes, the King of Asia, after his defeat of Cyrus, had dispatched Tissaphernes to take over all the satrapies which bordered on the sea. Consequently the satraps and cities which had allied themselves with Cyrus were in great suspense, lest they should be punished for their offences against the King.

Now all the other satraps, sending ambassadors to Tissaphernes, paid court to him and in every way possible arranged their affairs to suit him; but Tamōs, the most powerful satrap, who commanded Ionia, put on triremes his possessions and all his sons except one whose name was Glōs and who became later commander of the King's armaments.

Tamōs then, in fear of Tissaphernes, sailed off with his fleet to Egypt and sought safety with Psammetichus, the king of the Egyptians, who was a descendant of the famous Psammetichus. Because of a good turn he had done the king in the past, Tamōs believed that he would find in him a haven, as it were, from the perils he faced from the King of Persia.

But Psammetichus, completely ignoring both the good turn and the hallowed obligation due to suppliants, put to the sword the man who was his suppliant and friend, together with his children, in order to take for his own both Tamōs' possessions and his fleet.