Kingdom of Egypt (664–332 BCE)

Kingdom of Egypt 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖 𐦲𐦨𐦤
664 BCE–332 BCE
Egypt (yellow) and nearby countries in 600 BCE
Capital	Zau
Official languages	Middle Egyptian
Common languages	Demotic
Dominant mode of production	Slavery
Government	Monarchy

The late Kingdom of Egypt was an ancient state in northeast Africa ruled by the 26th through 31st dynasties of Egypt. It was the first period of Egyptian history that relied on iron instead of bronze tools.

Third Intermediate Period

Berber rule (22nd and 23 Dynasties)

After the collapse the New Kingdom in the 11th century BCE, Egypt split into a northeastern kingdom with its capital in Djanet and a southern kingdom based in Waset. Around 950 BCE, the Libyan chief Shashenq invaded northern Egypt and declared himself the first pharaoh of the 22nd Dynasty. He allied with northern Egyptian nobles, but Lower Egypt split into separate kingdoms under his successors in the ninth and eighth centuries BCE.

Nubian rule (25th Dynasty)

The Nubian king Pii conquered much of Upper Egypt, including Waset, in the late 8th century BCE. Taefnekhet, the ruler of Zau, allied with the Libyans against the Nubians. The Nubians defeated him at three battles and captured Men-nefer with the support of the clergy of Waset. The next Nubian king of Egypt was Shabaka, who captured and executed King Bakenrenef of Lower Egypt.

Assyrian rule

In 671 BCE, King Aššuraḫaiddina of Assyria invaded Egypt and defeated the Nubian pharaoh Taheruq to capture Men-nefer. Aššurbāniapli, the next Assyrian king, fought the Nubians again and drove them south in 667 BCE. The Assyrians imprisoned Nekau I, the ruler of Men-nefer and Zau who had negotiated with Taheruq, but Aššurbāniapli pardoned him and returned him to his office. When Taheruq died in 664 BCE, his successor Tenutamen invaded Lower Egypt. The native Egyptians saw him as a liberator for fighting against the Assyrians. However, a second Assyrian army invaded soon after and sacked Waset for its support for the Nubians.

26th Dynasty

Pesmetjek I, son of Nekau, freed Lower Egypt from the Assyrians and conquered Waset from the Nubians with the help of mercenaries from Ionia and Caria. He reunified all of Egypt and founded the 26th Dynasty with its capital at Zau in 655 BCE. Nekau II went to war with Judah and killed King Yoshiyyahu in battle at Megiddo in 608 BCE. For three years, Egypt ruled Palestine and Syria and collected tribute in gold and silver from Judah.

After the Babylonians conquered the Levant in 605 BCE, Pharaoh Wahibra allied with Judah against Babylon. Wahbira's navy defeated the Phoenician city of Sur and then went to war with Sidun. The Babylonians repelled an Egyptian attack on the walled city of Yerushalayim. Wahibra attacked the Greek city of Kyrene in Libya but lost, leading the army to mutiny and install Iahmes II as pharaoh. Pesmetjek III ruled for less than a year before the Persian king Kambujiyah II invaded Egypt.

Persian rule (27th Dynasty)

The Phoenicians, Palestinian bedouins, and the Egyptian vassal of Cyprus allied with the Persian invaders. Phanes, the commander of Pesmetjek's mercenaries, betrayed him and told the Persians about the Egyptians' military plans. The Persians defeated Egypt at the Battle of Peramen, where both sides suffered heavy losses. The rest of the Egyptian army fled to Men-nefer, and the Berbers and Greek settlers paid tribute to Kambujiyah, who officially became pharaoh in 525 BCE.