Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 1.djvu/589

 APPENDIX 111. 486 adventurers, hy their means ho reduced all the other kings of Ix>wer Ejjj'pt, Tanquishing them ut the dociHivu buttle of MomemjthiH. Ho followed up this success by throwing off the yoke of the AsHyriun monanhs, and after expelling the Ethiopians from the Thebais, once more established a united Egypt from the Mediterranean to the Nubian frontier. Thus was founded the XXVI. Dynasty: Satte. M. 665, B. 666. PsAMMETiCHUS (Psametik) I., undor whom the Greeks for the first time obtained a permanent footing in Lower Egypt, chiefly as mercenaries and traders in the Mediterranean seaports. 13. 666. He encouraged foreign trade, establisheil continuous relations with Greece and I'hoenicia, and thus broke away from the old traditions of isolation and sec^lusion which had formed the guiding principle in the policy of the native sovereigns for many generations. Necho (Neco), son of Psametik I., who equipped a fleet to circumnavigate Africa, and attempted to reopen Sethi's canal between the Nile and the Red Sea. He warred at first successfully against the Assyrians, overthrowing their ally Josiah, King of Judah, at the battle of Megiddo ; but was himself ultimately defeated by Nebuchadnezzar at Kar-Khemish, in the Euphrates Valley. B. 612. But this check was compensated by a great increase of internal prosperity and the development of commercial relations with the surrounding nations. In his time the native arts and industries again experienced a short and last revival on the banks of the Nile. PSAMMETICHUS II. B. 596. HoPHEA (Uahbra), or Apries, son of Psammetichus II., during whose reign many Jews settled in Egypt. He went to the oid of Zetlekiah, who was besieged by Nebuchadnezzar ; but afterwards withdrew, allowing tlie Babylonians to capture the city and destroy the kingdom of Judah. His fleets gained some considerable triumphs in the Syrian waters ; but he was afterwards completely defeated in a war against the Greeks of Cyrene, who had already acquired great political power. Thereupon his army revolted, and proclaimed king his general Ahmes. Hophra was dethroned and put to death by the rebels in 671 B.C. Ahmes (Amasis), under whose long and flourishing reign Egypt recovered much of her former greatness. Amasis was a fortunate p.nd able rtder, who distin- guished himself in the arts of war and peace. He even extended the limits of the monarchy by the acquisition of the island of Cyprus, which had been successively subject to the Assyrian and Babylonian empires. Of all the kings of this dynasty Ahmes most favoured the Greeks, and during his reign they were encouraged by man}' i>rivileges to settle in the country. In the Delta was now founde<l the Hellenic city of Naucratis, whose prosperity already foreshadowed that of the neighbouring Alexan- dria. Nevertheless this momentary revival of the ancient glories of the Egyptian empire could scarcely disguise the inherent weakness and decay of the national