Cambyses

King of Persia 525-522 BC.

    Cyrus II, the Achaemenid ruler who established the *Persian empire, sent his son Cambyses to overthrow Egypt's Twenty-sixth Dynasty and to annex the country as part of his empire. Cambyses first dealt with *Phoenicia and acquired their fleet and then went on to attack Egypt, routing the Egyptians at the Battle of Pelusium in 525 BC after a considerable conflict. Fleeing to Memphis, the Egyptians finally surrendered after a siege, and the kingdom passed from *Psammetichus III (*Amasis' son, who had only ruled the country for a few months) to the Persians. Thus, the Twenty-seventh Dynasty ushered in the first period of Persian domination which lasted until 401 BC when independence was briefly regained for some sixty years (Twenty-eighth to Thirtieth Dynasties), before Artaxerxes III reconquered Egypt in 343-2 BC and the brief second period of *Persian domination (the Thirty-first Dynasty), followed.

    Following his conquest of Egypt, Cambyses' reign lasted only another three years. He experienced failure in various endeavours, including the disappearance, as the result of a sandstorm, of a complete army that he had sent out to the Siwa Oasis. According to *Herodotus, Cambyses' fury at his misfortune may have upset the balance of his mind. Herodotus describes Cambyses as an evil and cruel ruler who neglected the gods and even killed one of the sacred Apis-bulls whose cult was pursued at Saqqara. This story may be fictional, for in the Serapeum at Saqqara, where the mummified bulls were eventually buried, there is a sarcophagus of one of these animals which bears an inscription recalling that it was dedicated by Cambyses. Although other documentary evidence indicates that he may have destroyed some of the temples of the gods, in at least one account it is claimed that he honoured Egypt's deities.

    In 522 BC, Cambyses returned to Persia to deal with a pretender to his throne; he may have died en route, and Egypt was briefly left in charge of a satrap named Aryandes.

BIBL. Herodotus, The Histories, Bk. iii, 1 ff.

Biographical Dictionary of Ancient Egypt by Rosalie and Antony E. David

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(reigned 525–522 BC)

   Persian ruler, son of Cyrus, king of Persia and Mesopotamia. He carried out a successful invasion of Egypt in 525 BC, overthrowing Dynasty 26. The invasion caused some damage, although the extent of cannot be determined. Cambyses adopted a few Egyptian royal customs, including taking the throne name Mesutire, chosen byUdjahorresnet. He canceled many of the privileges of Egyptian temples and so became unpopular with the Egyptian priesthood. Later stories of his cruelty, including the murder of the Apis bull, cannot be substantiated and may be exaggerated. He was briefly succeeded by his supposed brother, Bardiya, and then his cousin, Darius I.

Historical Dictionary Of Ancient Egypt by Morris L. Bierbrier