Nectanebo II

Nectanebo II
Nakhthorheb

Head of Nectanebo II, Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon
Pharaoh of Egypt
Reign 360–342 BC[b], 30th Dynasty
Predecessor Teos
Successor Artaxerxes III
Father Tjahepimu

Nectanebo II (Manetho's transcription of Egyptian Nakhthorheb[1][a] (Nḫht-Ḥr-Ḥbyt, "Strong is Horus of Hebit"[2]), ruled in 360—342 BC[b]) was the third and last pharaoh of the Thirtieth dynasty, as well as the last native ruler of Ancient Egypt.[3] Under Nectanebo II Egypt prospered. During his reign the Egyptian artists delivered a specific style that left a distinctive mark on the relief sculpture of the Ptolemaic era.[4] Like his indirect predecessor Nectanebo I, Nectanebo II showed enthusiasm for nearly every Egyptian cult and more than a hundred Egyptian sites bear evidence of his attentions.[5] Nectanebo II, however, undertook more constructions and restorations than Nectanebo I, commencing in particular the enormous temple of Isis (Iseum).

For several years Nectanebo II was successful in keeping Egypt safe from the Achaemenid Empire.[6] Betrayed by his former servant Mentor of Rhodes, however, Nectanebo II was ultimately defeated by the combined Persian-Greek forces in the Battle of Pelusium. In 342 BC the Persians occupied Memphis and the rest of Egypt, incorporating the country back into the Achaemenid Empire. Nectanebo fled south and preserved his power for some time; his subsequent fate is unknown.

Contents

Portraits

Except the small-scale greywacke statue in the Metropolitan Museum, which shows Nectanebo II standing before the image of Horus, no other annotated portraits of Nectanebo II are known.[7] In the greywacke statue, Nectanebo II is shown in a nemes and uraeus. His bent arm with the sword stands for the hieroglyph nakht, the falcon represents Horus, while the hieroglyph in Nectanebo's right hand stands for heb.[8] Other portraits attributed to Nectanebo II (all featuring the khepresh) include a quartzite head in the museum of the University of Pennsylvania, a basalt head in Alexandria, a granite head, acquired by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and a damaged quartzite head.[7]

Rise to power

In 525 BC Egypt was subjected to the Achaemenid Empire. Because of internal struggles for the royal succession in the empire Egypt managed to regain independence in 404 BC. The Persians, however, persevered to reclaim Egypt. In 389 BC, pharaoh Hakor negotiated a treaty with Athens and for three years (from 385 to 383 BC) managed to withstand the Persian attempts to reconquer Egypt.[9] However, following the conclusion of the Peace of Antalcidas in 387 BC between Persia and the Greek city-states, Egypt and Cyprus became the only obstacles to Persian hegemony in the Mediterranean. At the beginning of 360 BC, Nectanebo's predecessor Teos started preparations for war against intruders. In the same year, the Egyptian army set off, travelling along the coast by land and sea. Nectanebo II accompanied his uncle Teos in that campaign and was in charge of the machimoi.[10] In an attempt to raise finances for the war quickly, Teos imposed taxes on Egyptians and seized temple property.[11] Egyptians, particularly the priests, resented those measures and supported Nectanebo II. Teos asked Spartan military leader Agesilaus and Athenian general Chabrias to preserve support for him.[12] Agesilaus, however, said he was sent to aid Egypt and not to wage war against it.[12] Chabrias with his mercenaries returned home.[12] Teos decided to flee to the Persian court, where he ultimately died of natural causes.

Nectanebo further contended with an unknown pretender to the throne from the town of Djedet, who proclaimed himself pharaoh.[12] The revolt was probably led by one of the descendants of Nepherites, whose family had ruled the town before.[13] The claimant sent messengers to Agesilaus in an attempt to persuade Agesilaus to his side.[12] Agesilaus remained loyal to Nectanebo, fearing to become a turncoat and betrayer. At one of the towns in the Nile Delta the troops of Nectanebo and Agesilaus were besieged by the usurper, who had gained many sympathisers. Despite the enemy's numerical superiority, Nectanebo and Agesilaus were victorious and the revolt was put down in the fall of 360 BC.[5] Acknowledging Agesialus, Nectanebo sent him 220 talents of gold.

Reign

Religion played an important part in Nectanebo's domestic policy. He began his reign by officiating over the funeral of an Apis bull in Memphis. There Nectanebo added a relief decoration to the eastern and western temples of Apis.[14] Among notable sanctuaries, erected under Nectanebo II, are a temple of Khnum in Abu and a temple of Amun at Sekhtam. He also dedicated a diorite naos to Anhur-Shu (a fragment of it was found in the temples of Tjebnutjer).[4] Nectanebo II was responsible for the increasing popularity of the Bakha cult.[5] Under Nectanebo II a decree, forbidding the stone quarrying in the so-called Mysterious Mountains in Abydos, was issued.[15]

Foreign affairs under Nectanebo II were thwarted by repeated Persian attempts to reoccupy Egypt. Before the accession of Nectanebo II to the throne, Persians attempted to reclaim Egypt in 385, 383, and 373 BC. Nectanebo used the peace to build up a new army and employed Greek mercenaries, which was a usual practice at the time. In about 351 BC the Persians embarked on a new attempt to reclaim Egypt. After a year of fighting Nectanebo and his allied generals Diophantus of Athens and Lamius of Sparta managed to defeat the Persians. Having scored a resounding victory over the Persians, Nectanebo II was acclaimed as "Nectanebo the divine falcon" by his people and cults were set up in his name.[16] In 345/44 BC Nectanebo supported the Phoenician rebellion against the Persians, led by the king of Sidon Tennes[17] and dispatched a military aid of 4,000 Greek mercenaries, led by Mentor of Rhodes.[18] However, having heard of the approach of the forces of Artaxerxes III, Mentor opened communication with the Persians in collusion with Tennes.[18]

At the end of 344 BC ambassadors of Artaxerxes III arrived in Greece asking for the Greeks' participation in a campaign against Egypt.[19] Athens and Sparta treated the ambassadors with courtesy, but refrained from concluding an alliance against Egypt.[19] Other cities, however, decided to support the Persians: Thebes sent 1,000 hoplites and Argos 3,000.[19] In the winter of 343 BC Artaxerxes set off for Egypt. The Egyptian army, headed by Nectanebo, consisted of 60,000 Egyptians, 20,000 Libyans and as many Greek mercenaries.[20] In addition Nectanebo had a number of flat-bottomed boats to prevent an enemy from entering the Nile mouths.[21] The vulnerable points along his Mediterranean sea border and east boundary were protected by strongholds, fortifications and entrenched camps.[21] Persian forces were strengthened by Mentor and his men, well acquainted with the eastern border of Egypt, and by 6,000 Ionians.[18]

Nectanebo II was ultimately defeated and in the summer of 342 BC Artaxerxes had entered Memphis,[22] where the Persians installed a satrap.[23] Nectanebo fled to Upper Egypt and finally to Nubia, where he was granted asylum. He, however, preserved the power for some time. With the help of Chababash Nectanebo made a vain attempt to regain the throne.[24]

Nectanebo and the Alexander Romance

Main article: Alexander Romance

There is an apocryphal tale, appearing in the pseudo-historical Alexander Romance, which details another end for the last Egyptian Pharaoh of Egypt. Soon after Alexander the Great's 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. There, while Philip was away on campaign, Nectanebo convinced his wife Olympias that Amun was to come to her and that they would father a son. Nectanebo, disguising himself as Amun, slept with Olympias and from his issue came Alexander.[25] This myth would hold strong appeal for Egyptians who desired continuity and harbored a strong dislike for foreign rule.

In the early Ptolemaic tale of Nectanebo and Petesis,[26] only preserved in a Greek fragment from the Memphis Serapeum, the Pharaoh has a prophetic dream of Isis, in which the god Onuris is angry with him because of his unfinished temple in Sebennytos. Nectanebo calls in the best sculptor of the realm, Petesis, to finish the job, but he bungles his assignment when he gets drunk and chases a beautiful girl instead. The narrative ends abruptly here, but this is probably the preface to the fall of Egypt to the Persians.[27]

Notes

a ^ : Also Nektanebos or Nakhtnebef.[28]

b ^ : According to J. von Beckerath & A. Dodson; 360–343 BC according to N. Grimal and 359/58–342/41 BC according to D. Arnold.[29]

References

  1. ^ Kipfer, Barbara Ann (2000). Encyclopedic dictionary of archaeology. Springer. p. 384. ISBN 0306461587. 
  2. ^ I. A. Ladynin (2009). ""Nectanebos-the-Falcons": Sculpture Images of Nectanebo II Before the God Horus and Their Concept". Vestnik drevnej istorii. http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=22338380. Retrieved March 1, 2011. 
  3. ^ "Nakhthorhebyt". Digital Egypt for Universities. http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/chronology/nakhthorbyt.html. Retrieved March 1, 2011. 
  4. ^ a b Myśliwiec, Karol (2000). The twilight of ancient Egypt: first millennium B.C.E.. Cornell University Press. p. 173. ISBN 0801486300. 
  5. ^ a b c Grimal, Nicolás; Nicolas-Christophe Grimal (1994). A history of ancient Egypt. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 379. ISBN 0306461587. 
  6. ^ Sharpe, Samuel (1838). The history of Egypt under the Ptolomies. E.Maxon. p. 19. 
  7. ^ a b "An Egyptian Colossal Quartzite Head of the Pharaoh Nectnaebo II". Christie's. http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=5078748. Retrieved March 5, 2011. 
  8. ^ "The God Horus Protecting King Nectanebo II". David Rumsey Map Collection/AMICA Library. http://www.davidrumsey.com/amica/amico1256763-105620.html. Retrieved March 5, 2011. 
  9. ^ Grimal, p. 374
  10. ^ Grimal, p. 377
  11. ^ Educational Britannica Educational (2010). Ancient Egypt: From Prehistory to the Islamic Conquest. The Rosen Publishing Group. pp. 88–89. ISBN 1615302107. 
  12. ^ a b c d e Dandamaev, M. A. (1989). A political history of the Achaemenid empire. BRILL. p. 301. ISBN 9004091726. 
  13. ^ Sharpe, Samuel (1859). The history of Egypt from the earliest times till the conquest by the Arabs: A. D. 640. Moxon. p. 211. 
  14. ^ Myśliwiec, p. 171
  15. ^ Assmann, Jan (2005). Death and salvation in ancient Egypt. Cornell University Press. p. 190. ISBN 0801442419. 
  16. ^ Blyth, Elizabeth (2006). Karnak: evolution of a temple. Taylor & Francis. p. 222. ISBN 041540486X. 
  17. ^ Brosius, Maria (2006). The Persians: an introduction. Taylor & Francis. p. 29. ISBN 0415320895. 
  18. ^ a b c H. R. Hall. "Cambridge's Ancient History of Greece". Third Millenium Library. http://www.third-millennium-library.com/readinghall/UniversalHistory/OLD_GREECE/4OI-3OI_BC/6-EGYPT.html. Retrieved March 4, 2011. 
  19. ^ a b c Dandamaev, p. 309
  20. ^ Dandamaev, p. 310
  21. ^ a b Maspero, G. (2003). History of Egypt. Kessinger Publishing. p. 309. ISBN 0766135128. 
  22. ^ Brosius, p. 30
  23. ^ Watterson, Barbara (1998). The Egyptians. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 182. ISBN 0631211950. 
  24. ^ Myśliwiec, p. 177
  25. ^ Ogden, Daniel, Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook. Oxford University Press, 2002, ISBN 978-0195135756, p. 59 searchable at [1]
  26. ^ Maspero, Gaston, Popular Stories of Ancient Egypt (1915), p. 239-242
  27. ^ Koenen, Ludwig, "The Dream of Nektanebos", The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 22 (1985): 171-194.
  28. ^ "Spelling Conventions". UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology. http://www.uee.ucla.edu/contributors/spelling.htm#N. Retrieved March 5, 2011. 
  29. ^ "XXXth Dynasty". Narmer.pl. http://www.narmer.pl/dyn/30en.htm. Retrieved March 2, 2011. 

External links

Preceded by
Teos		 Pharaoh of Egypt
Thirtieth Dynasty		 Succeeded by
Artaxerxes III