Late Period
Psamtik III
26th Dynasty (Saite) · 664-525 BCE
Reign begins526 BCE
Reign ends525 BCE
Dynasty span664-525 BCE
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The final native pharaoh
Psamtik III inherited the throne as a young and untested ruler just as the massive Persian Empire under Cambyses II prepared to invade Egypt. Facing insurmountable odds and the largest military force of the ancient world at the time, his brief reign ended abruptly with the Persian conquest, marking the collapse of the 26th Dynasty and the end of native dynastic rule in ancient Egypt.