Persians (in Egypt)

525-332 BC.

    Egypt was conquered by the Persian king *Cambyses in 525 BC; thus annexed to the Persian Empire, Egypt experienced domination in this so-called First Persian Period (the Twenty-seventh Dynasty) which lasted until 401 BC when the country regained independence for a span of sixty years. A later Persian king, Artaxerxes III, then reconquered Egypt and the Second Persian Period (the Thirty-first Dynasty) lasted until the Macedonian king, *Alexander the Great, arrived in 332 BC.

    Egypt thus became a satrapy of the Persian Empire, ruled by a governor (satrap), and the attitudes of the Persian rulers towards their possession varied considerably: later writers recorded that *Cambyses was an impious tyrant, while *Darius I apparently took an interest in Egypt, overhauling the legal system and restoring the ancient canal that ran from the Nile to the Red Sea.

    There is no evidence that the Persians excessively exploited Egypt, and they apparently observed at least some of a Pharaoh's religious duties. Persia ruled Egypt for over one hundred and thirty years; numbers of foreigners came to the country, Egyptian soldiers fought in the Persian campaigns, and Egyptian artists and officials worked at the Persian capital cities. However, it seems that these conquerors had very little impact on the native civilisation of Egypt and that, as foreigners, they were unwelcome rulers.

BIBL. Posener, G. La premiere domination Perse en Egype. Cairo: 1936; Kienitz, F.K. Die politische. pp. 76-112, 231 ff.

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