Achaemenid Dynasty in Egypt

Achaemenid Empire

The Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BC) was the first great Persian political entity in Western and Central Asia which stretched, at its peak, from Asia Minor to the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia through Egypt. It was founded by Cyrus II (the Great, r. c. 550-530 BC) whose vision of a vast, all-inclusive Persian Empire was, more or less, maintained by his successors.

The Persians arrived in the region of modern-day Iran as part of a migratory group of Aryans (meaning “noble” or “free” and referencing a class of people, not a race). The Aryans – made up of many tribes such as the Alans, Bactrians, Medes, Parthians, and Persians, as well as others – settled in the area which became known as Ariana (Iran) – “the land of the Aryans”. The tribe which eventually became known as the Persians settled at Persis (modern-day Fars) which gave them their name.

Cyrus II defeated the Medes, Lydians, Elamites, and Babylonians to found his empire which, once it was consolidated, was further expanded upon by his successors. The empire reached its height under Darius I (the Great, r. 522-486 BC) who launched the first Persian invasion of Greece which was defeated at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. This was a setback for the Persians but did nothing to diminish Darius I's reign.

Many scholars date Xerxes' reign as the beginning of the decline of the empire. His son and successor, Xerxes I (r. 486-465 BC), raised a large army and led it in the second Persian invasion of Greece which was also defeated by 479 BC. This defeat did affect the empire because Xerxes I was simply not the kind of king his father had been, depleted the treasury for his campaign, and spent the rest of his reign despondent over his failure. His interest in affairs of state evaporated afterwards and he concerned himself more with his harem and building projects. Many scholars date his reign as the beginning of the decline of the empire.

Persian power was renewed by Artaxerxes I (r. 465-424 BC) who helped to destabilize Greece by funding Sparta in the First Peloponnesian War (460-446 BC), a policy continued under Darius II (r. 424-404 BC) in the Second Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC). The reign of Artaxerxes II (404-358 BC) was marked by widespread revolts which increased under his successors, especially in Egypt, and the empire had lost much of its original cohesion by the time of Darius III (r. 336-330 BC) who was defeated by Alexander the Great, marking the end of the Achaemenid Empire.

Achaemenid Dynasty in Egypt

Achaemenid dynasty, in ancient Egypt, the 27th dynasty (525–404 BC), was established after Egypt was conquered by the Persian Achaemenian Empire and the latter empire’s ruler, Cambyses II, had himself crowned as pharaoh.

The policy of the Achaemenid kings seems to have been conciliatory to national beliefs and sentiments. There are conflicting views of Cambyses II’s reign. The Egyptian courtier Udjahorresne depicts an ideal ruler in the pharaonic tradition, while Herodotus draws a portrait of a savage tyrant. Cambyses II apparently reduced the revenues given the Egyptian priesthood by more than half. Certainly Darius (reigned 522–486 BC) proved himself a more beneficent ruler and, in a visit to Egypt, displayed his consideration for the religion of the country. He restored the priests’ privileges, ordered a written codification of Egyptian law, and completed or repaired the canal from the Nile to the Red Sea. At the very end of his reign, however, several years after the Achaemenid defeat at Marathon, Egypt rebelled. Xerxes (reigned 486–465 BC) put down the revolt with severity.

The disorders that marked the accession of his successor, Artaxerxes (reigned 466–424 BC), gave Egypt another opportunity to rebel, aided by an Athenian force. In 455 BC, however, the Achaemenids captured and destroyed two Athenian fleets and quickly ended the rebellion. The reigns of Xerxes II and Darius II were uneventful until 404 BC, when Egypt regained its independence under Amyrtaeus of Sais. The Persians briefly reconquered Egypt under Artaxerxes III between 343 and 341 BC, and it remained under Achaemenid rule until 332 BC, when the satrap surrendered to Alexander the Great.

Art During the The Achaemenid Era

The Persian Period remains difficult to gauge because of a lack of monuments and statues. In addition, there are as problems in identifying particular features of the material culture of the period. Specific groups of materials do paint a picture of certain communities and point to continuities that surely existed. For example, a remarkable fifth-century B.C. group of papyri documents the lives and concerns of the Jewish community at Elephantine, while the records of the local temple bureaucracy at Ayn Manawir in Kharga Oasis reveal a community actively maintaining religious practices and interactions with other oasis and Nile valley communities.