by
Damien F. Mackey
This
catastrophic (for Egypt and the Ramessides) event
has
been repeated again and again in the history books.
Abridging the ‘Bridge Too
Far’ conventional system
The fall of the old Egyptian capital of Memphis, now to
Esarhaddon (c. 670 BC), now to Ashurbanipal, now (potentially) to Nebuchednezzar,
and now to Cambyses (c. 525 BC), is startlingly, in fact, just the one
historical event, though spread out by conventional historians over a
period of roughly (670-525 =) 150 years.
The connecting factor (indeed, there are many of them), from the point of view of Egypt, is
the common presence of the Egyptian commander-son of pharaoh Tirhakah
(Taharqa), Nes-Anhuret, for Esarhaddon, Usanahuru for
Ashurbanipal, and, again, Udjahorresne[t] for Cambyses (and ‘Darius’) –
the designated heir and successor of pharaoh Tirhakah and Commander of the
Egyptian Fleet.
Esarhaddon and Nes-Anhuret, Ashurbanipal and
Usanahuru
(DOC) Esarhaddon
and Nes-Anhuret, Ashurbanipal and Usanahuru
He, as Udjahorresne[t], served - but also mentored -
Cambyses in Egypt and gave him his royal Egyptian name, Mesuti-Ra:
The article deals with a well-known fragment of Udjahorresnet’s
autobiography describing his compiling an Egyptian royal titulary for Cambyses
after his appearance in Egypt and Udjahorresnet’s elevation at his court. A
comparison of Cambyses’ and Darius’ I solar prenomina (Mswty-RꜤ and Stwt-RꜤ, which can be understood as
“the image of Re” and “the likeness of Re”) and an interpretation of the Fayum
stela Berlin ÄS 7493 depicting Darius I in the image of the falcon Horus leads
one to suspect that the theory finding an excuse to the rule of Achaemenids in
Egypt postulated their “deriving” their qualities of sacral ritual rulers from
gods incorporated in them. This theory must have been forwarded in
Udjahorresnet’s time by his party loyal to the Persian rule.
Cartouche of Cambyses (“Mesuti-Ra Cambyses”)
Stated differently, Udjahorresne helped Cambyses behave
like a true Egyptian king.
Then, typically, the Greeks (Plutarch) got hold of
Udjahorresne/Usanahuru and turned him into a Spartan admiral, the famous –
though quite fictitious – Lysander:
Lysander and Usanhuru
The radical
shortening of the conventional Assyro-Babylonian-Medo-Persian history
undertaken here must necessitate a similar condensing of Egyptian dynastic
history.
That is
achieved, in part, by recognising pharaoh Ramses II ‘the Great’ as, all at
once, Tirhakah (for Esarhaddon-Ashurbanipal) and Amasis (for Cambyses).
See e.g. my
article:
The
Complete Ramses II
But there is
also an amazing Psammetichus connection, as discussed in my article:
Chaldean
armies come to Egypt
(7) Chaldean
armies come to Egypt
There
I wrote:
Psammetichus and other links
Psammetichus
coincidences
We
are told that:
·
Ashurbanipal
invaded Egypt at the time of Psammetichus I (c. 664 BC);
·
Nebuchednezzar
invaded Egypt at the time of Psammetichus II (c. 595-589 BC);
·
Cambyses
invaded Egypt at the time of Psammetichus III (c. 526-525 BC).
….
Memphis taken
This
catastrophic (for Egypt and the Ramessides) event has been repeated again and
again in the history books.
Commencing
with Esarhaddon, and working our way through to Cambyses, let us take
Nebuchednezzar here as our common denominator.
Esarhaddon, who was Nebuchednezzar
in his building of Babylon and in his paranoïc madness, and who failed
in his first assault on Egypt and was driven back – just as was the case
with Nebuchednezzar:
Esarhaddon | Assyrian
King, Neo-Assyrian Empire Ruler | Britannica
“When Egypt inspired a revolt of the Phoenician
city of Tyre, Esarhaddon attacked Egypt (675); he had little success until 671,
when he seized Memphis and defeated the
Egyptian king Taharqa, who fled south, leaving
the entire country to Esarhaddon. For the first time a Mesopotamian ruler
included “king of Egypt” among his royal titles”.
Likewise,
Nebuchednezzar initially had little success with invading Egypt:
Nebuchadnezzar Fails to
Conquer Egypt So Jeremiah’s Prophecy Was Updated - TheTorah.com
Nebuchadnezzar
attacked Egypt in his fourth regnal year (601/600 B.C.E.). Pharaoh Necho
II, in anticipation of this attack, had spent considerable resources massively
fortifying the eastern entrances to Egypt at Tell el Qedwa and Tell el-Ghaba on
the Pelusiac estuary of the Nile, as well as the gate and fortifications of his
capital city, Tanis (biblical Zoan). He thus succeeded in stopping the invasion
cold, forcing Nebuchadnezzar’s army to retreat. Even the Babylonian
Chronicle—which tends to avoid explicitly mentioning a defeat—has trouble
spinning this campaign as a success:
In the month Kislev he
(Nebuchadnezzar) took his army's lead and marched to Egypt. (When) the king of
Egypt heard (the news) he m[ustered] his army. They fought one another in the
battlefield and both sides suffered severe losses (lit. they inflicted a major
defeat upon one another). The king of Akkad and his army turned and [went back]
to Babylon.[7] ….
[End of quote]
Esarhaddon, later,
brilliantly conquered Memphis:
The Conquest of Egypt: A
Turning Point in Near Eastern History
Esarhaddon’s Egyptian
campaign marks one of the most extraordinary military achievements of the
ancient world. After an initial invasion in 673 BC, he reorganized and launched
a second campaign in 671 BC, culminating in the capture of Memphis, the heart of
Egyptian political power.
This victory had several
profound implications:
- First Assyrian
Conquest of Egypt: No previous Assyrian ruler had successfully subdued
Egypt. Esarhaddon accomplished what Tiglath-Pileser III and Sennacherib
had not.
- Defeat of Taharqa: The Kushite
pharaoh Taharqa was driven south, and his royal family was captured and
deported to Nineveh.
- Imperial Integration: Esarhaddon
reorganized Egypt into a vassal system, installing local rulers such as
Necho I under Assyrian oversight.
- Symbolic Domination: His victory
stelae, such as those at Zincirli and Nahr el-Kalb, visually proclaimed
Assyria’s supremacy over Egypt, even juxtaposing Assyrian and earlier
Egyptian imperial legacies.
[End of quote]
Ashurbanipal, who was Nebuchednezzar
in his (same) 43-year reign, and having a burning fiery furnace,
and in his definitive conquest of Egypt (cf. Jeremiah 43:10-13; Ezekiel 29:19-20), provides for us the entire account of
the conquest of Egypt that we do not have from Nebuchednezzar’s (under that
name) records.
Ashurbanipal brilliantly
conquered Memphis:
Assyrian Army Attacking
Memphis - World History Encyclopedia
Gypsum
panel showing the Assyrian army attacking the Egyptian city of Memphis and commemorating
the final victory of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal II over the Egyptian
king Taharqa in 667 BCE. Panel 17, Room M of the North Palace at Nineveh, Northern Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq,
Neo-Assyrian Period, 645-635 BCE.
This wall slab was originally painted for the
interior walls of Ashurbanipal's palace at Nineveh. At the top, the
overwhelming wave of the Assyrian army storms the Egyptian fortress, tries to
set fire to the gate, and undermines the walls. The Nubian soldiers,
recognizable by the single upright feathers on their heads, are being marched
off as prisoners. Egyptian civilian prisoners are shown as a group with two
children on a donkey. Below is the River Nile with fish and crabs.
Cambyses, who was Nebuchednezzar in
his name,
Cambyses
also named Nebuchadnezzar
(8) Cambyses also
named Nebuchadnezzar
in his madness,
and in his definitive conquest of Egypt, famously conquered Memphis:
How to
cite this article: Rickard, J (18 February 2015), Siege of Memphis,
early 525 BC , https://www.historyofwar.org/articles/siege_memphis_525.html
The siege of
Memphis (early 525 BC) was the last recorded resistance to Cambyses II of Persia's invasion of Egypt, and came after the main
Egyptian army had been defeated at Pelusium.
Early in 525
Cambyses led his army across the Sinai and defeated the armies of Pharaoh
Psamtik III at Pelusium.
In the aftermath of the battle the Pharaoh retreated to Memphis, and prepared
to defend the city.
Cambyses
sent a Persian herald on a Mytilenean ship up the Nile to Memphis to suggest a
truce. The defenders of Memphis reacted by attacking the ship, killing the crew
and bringing the smashed remains of the ship into the city.
Cambyses
reacted by laying siege to Memphis. Herodotus doesn’t say how long the siege
lasted, but implies that it was long enough for the Libyans and the Greeks of
Cyrene to sent tribute to him.
Eventually
the city fell and Psamtik III was captured. Herodotus records a story about
Cambyses's attempts to humiliate the former Pharaoh by forcing his daughter to
carry out menial tasks and killing his son. As is typical in this sort of story
Psamtik impressed Cambyses with his responses, and was taken into honourable
captivity instead of being executed. He committed suicide a few years later,
after being caught in a plot against the Persians.
Cambyses
established a new 27th Dynasty, and appears to have been accepted in Egypt.
Herodotus claimed that he was an unpopular ruler, but contemporary Egyptian
records suggest otherwise. He remained in Egypt for most of the rest of his
reign, only setting off for home when a revolt broke out in the heart of the
Persian Empire.
