Editing Amasis II (section)

==Life==
{{see also|Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt family tree}}
Most of our information about him is derived from [[Herodotus]] (2.161ff) and can only be imperfectly verified by monumental evidence. According to the Greek historian, he was of common origins.<ref name="DGRBM">{{cite encyclopedia | last = Mason | first = Charles Peter | author-link = Charles Peter Mason | title = Amasis (II) | editor = William Smith | editor-link = William Smith (lexicographer) | encyclopedia = [[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]] | volume = 1 | pages = 136–137 | publisher = [[Little, Brown and Company]] | location = Boston | year = 1867 | url = http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0145.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20051219054121/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0145.html| url-status = usurped| archive-date = December 19, 2005}}</ref> He was originally an [[officer]] in the Egyptian army. His birthplace was Siuph at [[Saïs]]. He took part in a general campaign of Pharaoh [[Psamtik II]] in 592 BC in [[Nubia]].<ref name="Clayton 195-97">{{cite book |last=Clayton |first=Peter A. |title=Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Thames & Hudson |edition=Paperback |pages=195–197 |year=2006 |isbn=0-500-28628-0 }}</ref>

A revolt which broke out among native Egyptian soldiers gave him his opportunity to seize the throne. These troops, returning home from a disastrous military expedition to [[Cyrene (city)|Cyrene]] in Libya, suspected that they had been betrayed in order that [[Apries]], the reigning king, might rule more absolutely by means of his Greek [[mercenaries]]; many Egyptians fully sympathized with them. General Amasis, sent to meet them and quell the revolt, was proclaimed king by the rebels instead, and Apries, who then had to rely entirely on his mercenaries, was defeated<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Amasis|display=Amasis s.v. Amasis II.|volume=1|page=782|first=Francis Llewellyn|last=Griffith|author-link=Francis Llewellyn Griffith}} This cites:

* [[William Flinders Petrie|W. M. Flinders Petrie]], ''History'', vol. iii.
* [[James Henry Breasted]], ''History and Historical Documents'', vol. iv. p.&nbsp;509
* [[Gaston Maspero]], ''Les Empires''.

''THE ELEPHANTINE STELA OF AMASIS,'' col. 17-18</ref> (though it is suggested that Apries had more native support than classical sources describe).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Leahy |first=Anthony |date=1988 |title=The Earliest Dated Monument of Amasis and the End of the Reign of Apries |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3821755 |journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology |volume=74 |pages=183–199 |doi=10.2307/3821755 |issn=0307-5133}}</ref> Apries then fled to an "island" (possibly an elevated or isolated base of Apries within Egypt)<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Leahy |first=Anthony |date=1988 |title=The Earliest Dated Monument of Amasis and the End of the Reign of Apries |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3821755 |journal=The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology |volume=74 |pages=195 |doi=10.2307/3821755 |issn=0307-5133}}</ref><ref>Ladynin, Ivan A. (2006). ''THE ELEPHANTINE STELA OF AMASIS: SOME PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF STUDY'', pp. 10-12</ref> and was killed while mounting a final insurrection against Amasis in 567 BCE with the aid of a shipped force (probably Greek and maybe Carian),<ref>Ladynin, Ivan A. (2006). ''THE ELEPHANTINE STELA OF AMASIS: SOME PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF STUDY'', pp. 7-11</ref> while the Babylonians also invaded Egypt the same year.<ref name=":0">''The Elephantine Stela of Amasis''</ref><ref name=":1">''The Chronicles of the Babylonian Kings, Nbk 329''</ref><ref name=":2">Ladynin, Ivan A. (2006). ''THE ELEPHANTINE STELA OF AMASIS: SOME PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF STUDY''</ref> An inscription confirms the struggle between the native Egyptian and the foreign soldiery, and proves that Apries was killed and honourably buried in the fourth year of Amasis ({{circa|567}} BCE).<ref name="EB1911"/> Amasis' revolt against Apries is also alluded to in [[Jeremiah 44:30]]. Amasis then married Khedebneithirbinet II, one of the daughters of his predecessor [[Apries]], in order to legitimise his kingship.<ref>{{cite web |title=Amasis |url=https://www.livius.org/articles/person/amasis/ |website=Livius |access-date=31 March 2019}}</ref>

Some information is known about the family origins of Amasis: his mother was a certain Tashereniset, as a bust of her, today located in the British Museum, shows.<ref name="Dodson & Hilton, pp.245 & 247">{{cite book |first1=Aidan |last1=Dodson |first2=Dyan |last2=Hilton |name-list-style=amp |title=The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt |publisher=Thames & Hudson |year=2004 |pages=245 & 247 |isbn=0-500-05128-3 }}</ref> A stone block from Mehallet el-Kubra also establishes that his maternal grandmother—Tashereniset's mother—was a certain Tjenmutetj.<ref name="Dodson & Hilton, pp.245 & 247" />

His court is relatively well known. The head of the gate guard Ahmose-sa-Neith appears on numerous monuments, including the location of his sarcophagus. He was referenced on monuments of the 30th Dynasty and apparently had a special significance in his time.  Wahibre was 'Leader of the southern foreigners' and 'Head of the doors of foreigners', so he was the highest official for border security. Under Amasis the career of the doctor, Udjahorresnet, began, who was of particular importance to the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]]. Several "heads of the fleet" are known. Psamtek Meryneit and Pasherientaihet / Padineith are the only known viziers.

[[File:Polykrates with Pharao Amasis II.jpg|thumb|[[Polycrates]], Tyrant of [[Samos]], with Pharaoh Amasis II.]]
[[Herodotus]] describes how Amasis II would eventually cause a confrontation with the Persian armies. According to Herodotus, Amasis was asked by [[Cambyses II]] or [[Cyrus the Great]] for an Egyptian [[ophthalmologist]] on good terms. Amasis seems to have complied by forcing an Egyptian physician into mandatory labor, causing him to leave his family behind in Egypt and move to Persia in forced exile. In an attempt to exact revenge for this, the physician grew very close to Cambyses and suggested that Cambyses should ask Amasis for a daughter in marriage in order to solidify his bonds with the Egyptians. Cambyses complied and requested a daughter of Amasis for marriage.<ref name=Hero/>

Amasis, worrying that his daughter would be a concubine to the Persian king, refused to give up his offspring; Amasis also was not willing to take on the Persian empire, so he concocted a deception in which he forced the daughter of the ex-pharaoh [[Apries]], whom Herodotus explicitly confirms to have been killed by Amasis, to go to Persia instead of his own offspring.<ref name="Hero">{{cite book| author = Herodotus| title = The History of Herodotus Volume I, Book II| url = https://archive.org/details/historyherodotu00herogoog| year = 1737| publisher = D. Midwinter| pages = [https://archive.org/details/historyherodotu00herogoog/page/n260 246]–250 }}</ref><ref name="sir">{{cite book| author = Sir John Gardner Wilkinson| title = Manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians: including their private life, government, laws, art, manufactures, religions, and early history; derived from a comparison of the paintings, sculptures, and monuments still existing, with the accounts of ancient authors. Illustrated by drawings of those subjects, Volume 1| url = https://archive.org/details/mannersandcusto18wilkgoog| year = 1837| publisher = J. Murray| page = [https://archive.org/details/mannersandcusto18wilkgoog/page/n240 195] }}</ref><ref name="Herodotus">{{cite book| author = Herodotus (Trans.) Robin Waterfield, Carolyn Dewald| title = The Histories| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Or5CKl1ObX4C&pg=PA170| year = 1998| publisher = Oxford University Press, US| isbn = 978-0-19-158955-3| page = 170 }}</ref>

This daughter of Apries was none other than [[Nitetis]], who was, as per Herodotus's account, "tall and beautiful." Nitetis naturally betrayed Amasis and upon being greeted by the Persian king explained Amasis's trickery and her true origins. This infuriated Cambyses and he vowed to take revenge for it. Amasis died before Cambyses reached him, but his heir and son Psamtik III was defeated by the Persians.<ref name=Hero/><ref name=Herodotus/>

Herodotus also describes how, just like his predecessor, Amasis relied on Greek mercenaries and councilmen. One such figure was [[Phanes of Halicarnassus]], who would later leave Amasis, for reasons that Herodotus does not clearly know, but suspects were personal between the two figures. Amasis sent one of his [[eunuch]]s to capture Phanes, but the eunuch was bested by the wise councilman and Phanes fled to Persia, meeting up with Cambyses and providing advice for his invasion of Egypt. Egypt was finally lost to the Persians during the [[Battle of Pelusium (525 BC)|battle of Pelusium]] in 525 BC.<ref name=Herodotus/>