Amasis

King 570-526 BC.

    Amasis originally held the position of army general in Nubia under *Psammetichus II, but he was placed on the throne following a nationalistic uprising which attempted to rid Egypt of King *Apries.

    According to *Herodotus, Amasis came from an ordinary background; historical sources represent him as a popular, shrewd and sometimes drunken ruler. The civil war in which the native Egyptians supported him against *Apries and his *Greek mercenary forces came to a conclusion with Amasis' triumph at the battle of Momemphis. At first, he treated *Apries well but ultimately the populace decided the former ruler's fate.

    When he became king, Amasis nevertheless found it necessary to make use of the services of *Greek mercenaries as his predecessors had done, but he kept the support of the native Egyptians who had given him the throne by balancing his reliance on foreign help with an action to check the growth of Greek merchants in Egypt. He limited their activities to Naucratis, an exclusively Greek city which had been founded in the Delta in the reign of *Psammetichus I, and this became the only centre in Egypt where they were permitted to trade freely.

    He was succeeded by his son, *Psammetichus III; six months later, *Cambyses invaded Egypt with the result that the country became a province of the Persian empire.

BIBL. Herodotus, The Histories, Bk. ii, 1-2.

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

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   See Ahmose II.

Historical Dictionary Of Ancient Egypt by Morris L. Bierbrier