Persia and Egypt

     Ahmose II seems to have realized the menace that Cyrus the Great posed. Ahmose joined an alliance with Lydia and Babylonia against the Persian King, but the members of the alliance were too scattered to deter the Persians. Lydia fell first followed by Babylonia.

     Ahmose died before the Persians could invade Egypt, and Psamtek III had to deal with the impending invasion. The battle of Pelusium resulted in a complete victory for Cambyses (who succeeded Cyrus to the throne after Cyrus' death in combat) and the capture of Psamtek.

Frieze of Archers from Darius' Palace at Susa

     When Cambyses died in 522 B. C., the Egyptians revolted, but by 519 or 518 Darius, the new Persian King, succeeded in regaining control of Egypt. Darius built (or re-built) the temple of Amen in the Kharga Oasis (Shaw, Ian, ed. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford: University of Oxford Press, 2000, p. 383). Darius turned against the Greeks after subjugating the Egyptians, but was humiliated at the Battle of Marathon in what is surely one of the most important battles in the history of the world (how would the history of Europe been changed by a Persian victory???).


Photo Copyright (C) by John Freed 2012