Late Period
Amyrtaeus of Sais
28th Dynasty · 404-399 BCE
Open full-size illustration →Source: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Background
Amyrtaeus is the sole king of the 28th Dynasty, remembered for single-handedly ending decades of Persian rule over Egypt, only to be overthrown and executed by one of his own countrymen within a few years of victory. Additional detail: UCL Digital Egypt.
Dynastic chronology: Shaw, Oxford History of Ancient Egypt (2000)
Full profile
Breaker of Persian rule
Amyrtaeus was a prince from Sais who successfully led a guerrilla campaign against the Achaemenid Persian Empire, ultimately breaking Persian rule and restoring native Egyptian independence around 400 BCE. His authority extended as far south as Elephantine. However, his reign was short-lived; after less than a year of official rule, he was captured and executed in Memphis following a defeat in battle against rival forces.
Overthrown by his own successor
The rival who ended Amyrtaeus's reign was not a returning Persian army but a fellow Egyptian: Nepherites I, a general based in the Delta city of Mendes, rose against him, defeated him in open battle, and had him executed at Memphis in the autumn of 399 BCE. Nepherites went on to found the 29th Dynasty from his own power base at Mendes, meaning the man who had finally thrown off well over a century of on-and-off Persian domination was toppled from within, by another Egyptian, rather than by the empire he had just defeated.
Sources for this profile
- Shaw, I. (Ed.). (2000). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press.
- Dodson, A., & Hilton, D. (2004). The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. Thames & Hudson.
- Leprohon, R. J. (2013). The Great Name: Ancient Egyptian Royal Titulary. Society of Biblical Literature.
- UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. Chronology. UCLA.
- University College London. Digital Egypt for Universities.
The complete, APA-formatted reference list is on the Academic Sources & Bibliography page.