Nectanebo II

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nectanebo II in hieroglyphs
praenomen or throne name
nomen or birth name

Nectanebo II (ruled 360 - 343 BC), also known by the name Nakhthoreb, was the third and last king of the Thirtieth dynasty of Egypt and also the last native Egyptian ruler of the country.

Black siltstone obelisk of King Nectanebo II. According to the vertical inscriptions he set up this obelisk at the doorway of the sanctuary of Thoth, the Twice-Great, Lord of Hermopolis. Nowadays it is placed in the British Museum, London.

Nectanebo was placed on the Egyptian throne by Spartan king Agesilaus II, who helped him overthrow Teos and fight off a rival pretender. After a reign of 17 years, he was defeated by the Persian king Artaxerxes III, and fled first to Memphis and then into Upper Egypt, and finally into exile in Nubia where he vanishes from history. With Nectanebo's flight all organized resistance to the Persians collapsed, and Egypt once again was reduced to a satrapy of the Persian Empire.

There is an apocryphal tale, appearing in the pseudo-historical Alexander Romance, which details another end for the last true Pharaoh of Egypt. Soon after Alexander the Great's confirmation of godhood was confirmed by the Oracle of Zeus Ammon, a rumor was begun that Nectanebo II did not travel to Nubia but instead to the court of Philip II of Macedon in the guise of an Egyptian magician. He coupled with Phillip's wife Olympias and from his issue came Alexander. This myth would hold strong appeal for Egyptians who desired continuity and harbored a strong dislike for foreign rule.