Editing Cambyses II (section)

==Policies in Egypt==
[[Image:Louvres-antiquites-egyptiennes-p1020068.jpg|thumb|Statue of an [[Apis (deity)|Apis]].]]
In accordance with the traditional Egyptian royal custom, Cambyses took the titles of "king of Upper and Lower Egypt" and "descendant of (the gods) [[Ra]], [[Horus]], [[Osiris]]," used by the previous Egyptian pharaohs. Cambyses used propaganda to show his Egyptian conquest as a legitimate unification with the native Egyptians, and that he was himself of Egyptian descent, claiming to be the son of Princess Nitetis, a daughter of the pharaoh [[Apries]]. At [[Sais, Egypt|Sais]], Cambyses had himself crowned in the temple of the goddess [[Neith]] as part of a religious ritual, during which he made sacrifices to the Egyptian gods.{{sfn|Dandamayev|1990|pp=726–729}}

According to ancient historians, Cambyses' rule of Egypt was marked by brutality, looting temples, ridiculing the local gods, and defilement of the royal tombs.{{sfn|Dandamayev|1990|pp=726–729}} Historians such as Herodotus put an emphasis on Cambyses' supposed killing of the Egyptian [[sacred bull]] [[Apis (deity)|Apis]].{{sfn|Dandamayev|1990|pp=726–729}}{{sfn|Briant|2002|p=57}} However, no looting of temples has been reported by contemporary Egyptian sources.{{sfn|Dandamayev|1990|pp=726–729}} In addition, Cambyses is said to have ordered the burial of an Apis in a [[sarcophagus]].{{sfn|Dandamayev|1990|pp=726–729}}{{sfn|Llewellyn-Jones|2017|p=69}} The successor of the Apis died in 518 BC, four years after Cambyses had already died.{{sfn|Dandamayev|1990|pp=726–729}}

The [[epitaph]] of the Apis buried in 524 BC, states:

{{quote|[Year] 6, third month of the season Shemou, day 10 (?), under the Majesty of the king of Upper and Lower Egypt [...] endowed with eternal life, the god was brought in [peace toward the good West and laid to rest in the necropolis in] his [place] which is the place which his Majesty had made for him, [after] all [the ceremonies had been done for him] in the embalming hall [...] It was done according to everything his Majesty had said [...]{{sfn|Briant|2002|p=57}}}}

A legend on the sarcophagus also says:

{{quote|(Cambyses], the king of Upper and Lower Egypt [...] made as his monument to his father Apis-Osiris a large sarcophagus of granite, dedicated by the king [...], endowed with all life, with all perpetuity and prosperity (?), with all health, with all joy, appearing eternally as king of Upper and Lower Egypt.{{sfn|Briant|2002|p=57}}}}

This thus debunks Cambyses' supposed killing of the Apis, and according to Briant, proves that Herodotus documented bogus reports.{{sfn|Briant|2002|p=57}} Rather, Cambyses took part in the preservation and burial ceremony of an Apis.{{sfn|Briant|2002|p=57}} Other similar sources also make mention of Cambyses' careful treatment towards Egyptian culture and religion.{{sfn|Llewellyn-Jones|2017|p=69}} According to the Egyptian [[Demotic Chronicle]], Cambyses decreased the immense income that the Egyptian temples received from the Egyptian pharaohs. Only the three main temples were given permission to maintain all their entitlements.{{sfn|Dandamayev|1990|pp=726–729}} In response to this action, Egyptian priests who had lost their entitlements circulated spurious stories about Cambyses.{{sfn|Dandamayev|1990|pp=726–729}}{{sfn|Llewellyn-Jones|2017|p=68}} The issue with the temples dated back to the earlier pharaohs, who had also tried to reduce the economic power of the temples.{{sfn|Briant|2002|p=60}} This issue would continue until the demise of ancient Egypt.{{sfn|Briant|2002|p=60}} Like Cyrus in Babylon, Cambyses allowed the Egyptian nobility to maintain their jurisdictions.{{sfn|Llewellyn-Jones|2017|p=69}}