Nepherites I founded the
Twenty-ninth Dynasty of ancient
EgyptThe History of Ancient Egypt spans the period from the early predynastic settlements of the northern Nile Valley to the Roman conquest in 30 BC...
(according to an account preserved in a
papyrusPapyrus is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt....
in the
Brooklyn MuseumThe Brooklyn Museum is an encyclopedia art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At 560,000 square feet, the museum holds New York City's second largest art collection with roughly 1.5 million works....
) by defeating
AmyrtaeusAmyrtaeus of Sais is the only king of the Twenty-eighth dynasty of Egypt and is thought to be related to the royal family of the Twenty-sixth dynasty...
in open battle, and later putting him to death at
MemphisMemphis was the ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch, the first nome of Lower Egypt. Its ruins are located near the town of Helwan, south of Cairo.According to legend related by Manetho, the city was founded by the pharaoh Menes around 3000 BC. Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, it remained an...
. Nepherites made his capital at
MendesMendes , the Greek name of the Ancient Egyptian city of Djedet, also known in Ancient Egypt as Per-Banebdjedet and Anpet, is known today as Tell El-Ruba ....
. This brief dynasty is often considered part of the
Late PeriodThe Late Period of Ancient Egypt refers to the last flowering of native Egyptian rulers after the Third Intermediate Period from the 26th Saite Dynasty into Persian conquests and ended with the death of Alexander the Great...
.
On Nepherites' death, two rival factions fought for the throne: one behind his son Muthis, and the other supporting an usurper
PsammuthesPsammuthes was an Egyptian Pharaoh of the Twenty-ninth dynasty during 393 BC. Upon the death of Nepherites I, two rival factions fought for the throne: one supported Muthis son of Nefaarud, and the other supported an usurper named Psammuthes. Both men were, however, overcome by an unrelated man...
; although Psammuthes was successful, he only managed to reign for a year.
Twenty-Ninth Dynasty
| Name |
Dates |
| Nepherites I |
398 - 393 BC |
PsammuthesPsammuthes was an Egyptian Pharaoh of the Twenty-ninth dynasty during 393 BC. Upon the death of Nepherites I, two rival factions fought for the throne: one supported Muthis son of Nefaarud, and the other supported an usurper named Psammuthes. Both men were, however, overcome by an unrelated man...
|
393 BC |
HakorHakor, or Akoris, was the Pharaoh of Egypt from 393 BC to 380 BC. Hakor overthrew his predecessor Psammuthes and falsely proclaimed himself to be the grandson of Nepherites I, founder of the 29th Dynasty, on his monuments in order to legitimise his kingship...
(Achoris) |
393 - 380 BC |
| Nepherites II |
380 BC |
Psammuthes was overthrown by
HakorHakor, or Akoris, was the Pharaoh of Egypt from 393 BC to 380 BC. Hakor overthrew his predecessor Psammuthes and falsely proclaimed himself to be the grandson of Nepherites I, founder of the 29th Dynasty, on his monuments in order to legitimise his kingship...
, who claimed to be the grandson of Nepherites I. He successfully resisted
PersianThe Achaemenid Empire , sometimes known as First Persian Empire and/or Persian Empire, was founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation...
attempts to reconquer Egypt, drawing support from Athens (until the
Peace of AntalcidasThe Peace of Antalcidas , also known as the King's Peace, was a peace treaty guaranteed by the Persian King Artaxerxes II that ended the Corinthian War in ancient Greece. The treaty's alternate name comes from Antalcidas, the Spartan diplomat who traveled to Susa to negotiate the terms of the...
in 386 BC), and from the rebel king of
CyprusCyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
,
EvagorasEvagoras was the king of Salamis in Cyprus. The son of Nicocles, a previous king of Salamis, he claimed descent from Teucer, the son of Telamon and half-brother of Ajax, and his family had long been rulers of Salamis, although during his childhood Salamis came under Phoenician control, which...
. Although his son Nepherites II became king on his death, the younger Nepherites was unable to keep hold on his inheritance.