Psammetichus II
Encyclopedia
Psamtik II was a king of the Saite based Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt
(595 BC – 589 BC). His prenomen, Nefer-Ib-Re, means "Beautiful [is the] Heart [of] Re." He was the son of Necho II
.
Psamtik II's reign and states that:
As a result of Psamtik's devastating campaign, Kush's power was crushed, and its kings from Aspelta onwards lost any opportunity of ever regaining control of Egypt. Instead, the Nubian rulers decided to shift their capital further south from Napata to the relative safety of Meroë
. Curiously, however, Psamtik II does not appear to have capitalized on his victory. His troops retreated back to the First Cataract, and Elephantine continued to be the southern border of Egypt.
An outcome of this campaign was the deliberate destruction of monuments belonging to the 25th Dynasty Kushite kings in Egypt "by hacking out their names and the emblems of royalty from their statues and reliefs." Later, in 591 BC, during the fourth year of his reign, Psamtik II launched an expedition into Palestine "to foment a general Levantine revolt against the Babylonians" that involved, among other, Zedekiah
of the Kingdom of Judah
.
was likely built by Psamtik II and his son Apries
at the village of El-Mahalla El-Kubra which lies equidistant from Sebennytos
and Behbeit El-Hagar in the Lower Nile Delta. Officials from the Napoleonic expedition to Egypt observed "an extraordinary number of pharaonic building elements of granite and turquoise reused in modern buildings" at this site; this discovery was subsequently confirmed by Nestor L'Hôte
in 1828 who counted more than 120 granite columns built into this village's mosque alone. A 1.8 metre long fragment of red granite with the name of Psamtik II and a door lintel of Apries was also seen at El-Mahalla El-Kubra.
Under Psamtik II's reign, a pair of more than 21.79 metre high obelisks were erected in the temple of Heliopolis
; the first Emperor of Rome, Augustus
later had one of the obelisks, which had probably been thrown down by the Persian invaders in 525 BC, brought to Rome in 10 BC.
Psamtik II also constructed a kiosk on Philae island. This kiosk today "represents the oldest known monument known on the island" and consisted "of a double row of four columns, which were connected by screen walls."
Psamtik II was also responsible for founding the Temple-house at Hibis in El-Kharga Oasis
for the triad of Amun
, Mut
, and Khonsu with significant installations for the cult of Osiris
. This 19.5 X 26 metre temple was originally situated on the bank of an ancient lake which has now disappeared and its temple decorations were only completed under the Persian kings Darius I and possibly Darius II
. The Hibis temple consisted of a hypostyle hall with two-by-two papyrus capital columns, a hall of offerings, three sanctuaries in the rear section of the temple and a chapel at the side of the sanctuaries for the cult of Psamtik II. The front of the temple house of Hibis featured:
A massive sandstone gateway through an outer enclosure wall still stands almost 5 metres tall and was constructed during the Ptolemaic or Roman periods. Many inscriptions and decrees were carved on the gateway on a wide variety of topics such as taxation, inheritance, the court system and the rights of women, with the earliest text dating to 49 AD.
The Temple of Psamtik II at Hibis was completely preserved until 1832 when its roof and portions of the temple were removed for the construction of an aluminium factory. Only excavation work by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1910-1911 and restorations performed by the Egyptian Antiquities Service arrested its decline. Today, the Hibis temple remains—together with the Oracle or Ammoneion of Siwa
--as "the best preserved and best-documented temple of the early Egyptian Late Period and is therefore a primary monument to the history of [Egyptian temple] building."
who was his son by Queen Takhut, a Princess of Athribis
. Psamtik and Queen Takhut were also the parents of Menekhubaste, a Priestess of Atum at Heliopolis, and Ankhnesneferibre
, a God's Wife of Amun
who was served in this powerful office in Upper Egypt through to the remainder of the Saite period in 525 BC when Egypt was conquered by the Persians. The date of Psamtik II's death is mentioned in the Adoption stela of Ankhenesneferibre: Year 6, I Akhet day 23.
Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt
The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt was the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC . The Dynasty's reign The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt (also written Dynasty XXVI or Dynasty 26) was the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC...
(595 BC – 589 BC). His prenomen, Nefer-Ib-Re, means "Beautiful [is the] Heart [of] Re." He was the son of Necho II
Necho II
Necho II was a king of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt .Necho II is most likely the pharaoh mentioned in several books of the Bible . The Book of Kings states that Necho met King Josiah of the Kingdom of Judah at Megiddo and killed him...
.
Psamtik II's reign and states that:
As a result of Psamtik's devastating campaign, Kush's power was crushed, and its kings from Aspelta onwards lost any opportunity of ever regaining control of Egypt. Instead, the Nubian rulers decided to shift their capital further south from Napata to the relative safety of Meroë
Meroë
Meroë Meroitic: Medewi or Bedewi; Arabic: and Meruwi) is an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. Near the site are a group of villages called Bagrawiyah...
. Curiously, however, Psamtik II does not appear to have capitalized on his victory. His troops retreated back to the First Cataract, and Elephantine continued to be the southern border of Egypt.
An outcome of this campaign was the deliberate destruction of monuments belonging to the 25th Dynasty Kushite kings in Egypt "by hacking out their names and the emblems of royalty from their statues and reliefs." Later, in 591 BC, during the fourth year of his reign, Psamtik II launched an expedition into Palestine "to foment a general Levantine revolt against the Babylonians" that involved, among other, Zedekiah
Zedekiah
Zedekiah or Tzidkiyahu was the last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by Babylon. He was installed as king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon, after a siege of Jerusalem to succeed his nephew, Jeconiah, who was overthrown as king after a reign of only three months and...
of the Kingdom of Judah
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah was a Jewish state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. It is often referred to as the "Southern Kingdom" to distinguish it from the northern Kingdom of Israel....
.
Monuments
Psamtik II was both a dynamic warrior pharaoh as well as a prolific builder in his brief 6 year reign. A significant Saite templeEgyptian temple
Egyptian temples were built for the official worship of the gods and commemoration of pharaohs in Ancient Egypt and in regions under Egyptian control. These temples were seen as houses for the gods or kings to whom they were dedicated...
was likely built by Psamtik II and his son Apries
Apries
Apries is the name by which Herodotus and Diodorus designate Wahibre Haaibre, Ουαφρης , a pharaoh of Egypt , the fourth king of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt. He was equated with the Waphres of Manetho, who correctly records that he reigned for 19 years...
at the village of El-Mahalla El-Kubra which lies equidistant from Sebennytos
Sebennytos
Sebennytos or Sebennytus or Egyptian: Tjebnutjer Arabic: سمنود Samannud was an ancient city of Lower Egypt, located on the Damietta branch of the Nile in the delta...
and Behbeit El-Hagar in the Lower Nile Delta. Officials from the Napoleonic expedition to Egypt observed "an extraordinary number of pharaonic building elements of granite and turquoise reused in modern buildings" at this site; this discovery was subsequently confirmed by Nestor L'Hôte
Nestor L'Hôte
Nestor Hippolyte Antoine l’Hôte was a French Egyptologist, artist and explorer. He published hundreds of sketches and drawings of Egypt and its monuments.-Publications:...
in 1828 who counted more than 120 granite columns built into this village's mosque alone. A 1.8 metre long fragment of red granite with the name of Psamtik II and a door lintel of Apries was also seen at El-Mahalla El-Kubra.
Under Psamtik II's reign, a pair of more than 21.79 metre high obelisks were erected in the temple of Heliopolis
Heliopolis (ancient)
Heliopolis was one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt, the capital of the 13th Lower Egyptian nome that was located five miles east of the Nile to the north of the apex of the Nile Delta...
; the first Emperor of Rome, Augustus
Augustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
later had one of the obelisks, which had probably been thrown down by the Persian invaders in 525 BC, brought to Rome in 10 BC.
Psamtik II also constructed a kiosk on Philae island. This kiosk today "represents the oldest known monument known on the island" and consisted "of a double row of four columns, which were connected by screen walls."
Psamtik II was also responsible for founding the Temple-house at Hibis in El-Kharga Oasis
Kharga Oasis
El-Kharga , also known as Al-Kharijah, is the southernmost of Egypt's five western oases. It is located in the Libyan Desert, about 200 km to the west of the Nile valley, and is some 150 km long. It is located in and is the capital of New Valley Governorate...
for the triad of Amun
Amun
Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...
, Mut
Mut
Mut, which meant mother in the ancient Egyptian language, was an ancient Egyptian mother goddess with multiple aspects that changed over the thousands of years of the culture. Alternative spellings are Maut and Mout. She was considered a primal deity, associated with the waters from which...
, and Khonsu with significant installations for the cult of Osiris
Osiris
Osiris is an Egyptian god, usually identified as the god of the afterlife, the underworld and the dead. He is classically depicted as a green-skinned man with a pharaoh's beard, partially mummy-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive crown with two large ostrich feathers at either side, and...
. This 19.5 X 26 metre temple was originally situated on the bank of an ancient lake which has now disappeared and its temple decorations were only completed under the Persian kings Darius I and possibly Darius II
Darius II
Darius II , was king of the Persian Empire from 423 BC to 405 BC.Artaxerxes I, who died on December 25, 424 BC, was followed by his son Xerxes II. After a month and a half Xerxes II was murdered by his brother Secydianus or Sogdianus...
. The Hibis temple consisted of a hypostyle hall with two-by-two papyrus capital columns, a hall of offerings, three sanctuaries in the rear section of the temple and a chapel at the side of the sanctuaries for the cult of Psamtik II. The front of the temple house of Hibis featured:
- "a pronaos with four papyrus bundle columns and screen walls. During the construction of the pranaos, the side walls were extended for the addition of a court[yard]. This extension, was, however, only carried out in the 30th Dynasty [by Nectanebo I and Nectanebo II.] The eight papyrus columns of the pronaos still show the New KingdomNew KingdomThe New Kingdom of Egypt, also referred to as the Egyptian Empire is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt....
type of open, bell-shaped capitals."
A massive sandstone gateway through an outer enclosure wall still stands almost 5 metres tall and was constructed during the Ptolemaic or Roman periods. Many inscriptions and decrees were carved on the gateway on a wide variety of topics such as taxation, inheritance, the court system and the rights of women, with the earliest text dating to 49 AD.
The Temple of Psamtik II at Hibis was completely preserved until 1832 when its roof and portions of the temple were removed for the construction of an aluminium factory. Only excavation work by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1910-1911 and restorations performed by the Egyptian Antiquities Service arrested its decline. Today, the Hibis temple remains—together with the Oracle or Ammoneion of Siwa
Siwa Oasis
The Siwa Oasis is an oasis in Egypt, located between the Qattara Depression and the Egyptian Sand Sea in the Libyan Desert, nearly 50 km east of the Libyan border, and 560 km from Cairo....
--as "the best preserved and best-documented temple of the early Egyptian Late Period and is therefore a primary monument to the history of [Egyptian temple] building."
Successor
When Psamtik II died in 589 BC, he was succeeded by ApriesApries
Apries is the name by which Herodotus and Diodorus designate Wahibre Haaibre, Ουαφρης , a pharaoh of Egypt , the fourth king of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt. He was equated with the Waphres of Manetho, who correctly records that he reigned for 19 years...
who was his son by Queen Takhut, a Princess of Athribis
Athribis
Athribis or Athlibis Athribis or Athlibis Athribis or Athlibis (Greek: or was the Greek name for two cities of ancient Egypt: this article concerns the chief town of the Athribite, the Tenth nome, in Lower Egypt...
. Psamtik and Queen Takhut were also the parents of Menekhubaste, a Priestess of Atum at Heliopolis, and Ankhnesneferibre
Ankhnesneferibre
Ankhnesneferibre held the office of Divine Adoratrice of Amun during the 26th Dynasty of Egypt from around 586 to 525 BC...
, a God's Wife of Amun
God's Wife of Amun
God's Wife of Amun was the highest ranking priestess of the Amun cult, an important Ancient Egyptian religious institution centered in Thebes during the Egyptian 25th and 26th dynasties...
who was served in this powerful office in Upper Egypt through to the remainder of the Saite period in 525 BC when Egypt was conquered by the Persians. The date of Psamtik II's death is mentioned in the Adoption stela of Ankhenesneferibre: Year 6, I Akhet day 23.