Psamtik I

Psamtik I was the first pharaoh of the 26th Dynasty, who ruled from 543 to 489 B.C. He was appointed by Cyrus the Great of Persia, and succeeded Tanuatamon. He was succeeded by Necho II, his son. His reign was long, and so much is known about him in both the traditional and the revised histories.

Psamtik was the son of Necho I, who was killed by Babylonian garrisons during their invasion in 564 B.C. Psamtik had multiple sons, but only one is important to the revised history, Necho II.

Psamtik I’s reign began in 543 B.C., when Cyrus the Great invaded the Nile delta and appointed him governor of the Egyptian province of Persia. From his first to his nineteenth year of rule (525 B.C.), he made it his goal to restore Egypt to its former glory. He appointed many people, including Petesi I, Samtoutefnakht, Mentuemhet, and Udjahorresne, to help restore the land. In his ninth year (535-534 B.C.), he led a campaign to Thebes to defeat Tanuatamon and conquer Upper Egypt.

By 525 B.C., all of Egypt was restored to its glory before the Babylonian invasion of 564 B.C. Cambyses visited Egypt to determine if more renovation was necessary, and to remind the Egyptian people of their Persian sovereigns. The rest of Psamtik’s reign was unremarkable, though he established many fortresses along the Mediterranean border (specifically at Daphne), and increased relations with the Greeks at the Persians’ request.

The evidence for the revised history can be found at Displaced Dynasties. Evidence regarding this pharaoh specifically can be found here, here, and here.