| Apries | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Wahibre | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
head of Apries, Louvre |
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| Pharaoh of Egypt | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | 589–570 BC, 26th dynasty | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Psamtik II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Amasis II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Died | 567 BC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Apries (Ancient Greek: Ἁπρίης) is the name by which Herodotus (ii. 161) and Diodorus (i. 68) designate Wahibre Haaibre, Ουαφρης (Pharaoh-Hophra), a pharaoh of Egypt (589 BC – 570 BC), the fourth king (counting from Psamtik I) of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt. He was equated with the Waphres of Manetho, who correctly records that he reigned for 19 years. Apries is also called Hophra in Jeremiah 44:30.
Apries inherited the throne from his father, pharaoh Psamtik II, in February 589 BC and his reign continued his father's history of foreign intrigue in Palestinian affairs.[3] Apries was an active builder who constructed "additions to the temples at Athribis (Tell Atrib), Bahariya Oasis, Memphis and Sais."[4] In Year 4 of his reign, Apries' sister Ankhnesneferibre was adopted as the new God's Wife of Amun at Thebes.[5] However, Apries' reign was also fraught with internal problems. In 588 BC, Apries dispatched a force to Jerusalem to protect it from Babylonian forces sent by Nebuchadrezzar II. His forces were quickly crushed and Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians. His unsuccessful attempt to intervene in the politics of the Kingdom of Judah was followed by a mutiny of soldiers from the strategically important Aswan garrison.[6]
While the mutiny was contained, Apries later attempted to protect Libya from incursions by Dorian Greek invaders but his efforts here backfired spectacularly as his forces were mauled by the Greek invaders.[6] When the defeated army returned home, a civil war broke out between the indigenous Egyptian army troops and foreign mercenaries in the Egyptian army. At this time of crisis, the Egyptians turned in support towards a victorious general, Amasis II who had led Egyptian forces in a highly successful invasion of Nubia in 592 BC under pharaoh Psamtik II, Apries' father.[6] Amasis quickly declared himself pharaoh in 570 BC and Apries fled Egypt and sought refuge in another foreign country. When Apries marched back to Egypt in 567 BC with the aid of a Babylonian army to reclaim the throne of Egypt, he was likely killed in battle with Amasis' forces.[7][8] Amasis thus secured his kingship over Egypt and was now the unchallenged ruler of Egypt.
Amasis, however, reportedly treated Apries' mortal remains with respect and observed the proper funerary rituals by having Apries' body carried to Sais and buried there with "full military honours."[5] Amasis, the former general who had declared himself pharaoh also married Apries' daughter Chedebnitjerbone II to legitimise his accession to power. While Herodotus claimed that the wife of Apries was called Nitetis in (Greek), "there are no contemporary references naming her" in Egyptian records.[9]
Eusebius placed the eclipse of Thales in 585 BC in the eighth or twelfth year of Apries' reign.
An obelisk which Apries erected at Sais was moved by the 3rd century AD Roman Emperor Diocletian and originally placed at the Temple of Isis in Rome. It is today located in front of the Santa Maria sopra Minerva basilica church in Rome.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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