Editing Amasis II (section)

==Tomb and desecration==

Amasis II died in 526 BC. He was buried at the royal necropolis of Sais within the temple enclosure of Neith, and while his tomb has not been rediscovered, Herodotus describes it for us:

{{Blockquote|[It is] a great cloistered building of stone, decorated with pillars carved in the imitation of palm-trees, and other costly ornaments. Within the cloister is a chamber with double doors, and behind the doors stands the sepulchre.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=KAWAI |first=Nozomu |date=1998 |title=Royal Tombs of the Third Intermediate and Late Periods |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5356/orient1960.33.33 |journal=Orient |volume=33 |pages=33–45 |doi=10.5356/orient1960.33.33 |issn=1884-1392}}</ref>}}

Herodotus also relates the desecration of Amasis' mummy when the Persian king [[Cambyses II|Cambyses]] conquered Egypt and thus ended the 26th (Saite) Dynasty:
{{Blockquote|No sooner did [Cambyses] enter the palace of Amasis that he gave orders for his [Amasis's] body to be taken from the tomb where it lay. This done, he proceeded to have it treated with every possible indignity, such as beating it with whips, sticking it with goads, and plucking its hairs... As the body had been embalmed and would not fall to pieces under the blows, Cambyses had it burned.<ref>Herodotus, The Histories, Book III, Chapter 16</ref>}}