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SAIS (Ancient city) EGYPT
City of Egypt
on the Nile delta.
Sais was the capital of Egypt
during the XXVIth dynasty, that is from 664 to 525 B. C., a period of Renaissance
(sometimes called the Saitic Renaissance) after the rule of Nubian Pharaohs of
the XXVth dynasty and invasions by Assyrian kings, culminating with the sack of
Thebes of Egypt
by the later in 663. The leadership of Nubian Pharaohs had indeed been loose,
leaving room for a multiplicity of local kings in various parts of the delta,
including Sais, and some of the kings of Sais had already tried to play a leading
role against the dominion of Nubia
over Egypt, leading to the
short lived XXIVth dynasty (724-712).
The first Pharaoh of the XXVIth dynasty was Psammetichus I (664-610),
who started, following in the footsteps of his father Necos I, in making alliance
with Ashurbanipal against the Nubians, but then freed Egypt
from Assyrian dominion and, with the help of Greek mercenaries from Ionia
and Caria, reunited Egypt
under his own leadership. His son, Necos II (610-595), gave Egypt
a fleet, with the help of the Greeks, commissioned a trip around Africa and started
the building of a canal between the Nile
and the Red Sea, which would be completed (or reopenend) by Darius the Great.
Necos was succeeded by Psammetichus II (595-589), who had to turn
against the Nubians trying a comeback and, with the help of Greek mercenaries,
put a definitive end to attempts by southern kings to invade Egypt.
Amasis had friendly relations with the Greeks, making alliance with those of Cyrene
and granting freedom to the colony of Naucratis.
Toward the end of his reign, Persia
became the leading power in the Middle East, taking over the role assumed earlier
by Babylonia, and, under the short reign of Amasis' successor, Psammetichus III
(526-525), Cambyses conquered Egypt
and proclaimed himself Pharaoh, starting the XXVIIth dynasty by Egyptian count.
This period of Egyptian history is important because it marks the
beginning of relations between Egypt
and Greece. Because the Saitic
pharaohs employed Greek mercenaries, they created a body of interpreters, and
this made the reciprocal knowledge of the two cultures possible. Besides, it came
at a time Egypt itself was
rediscovering its own roots, rebuilding a lost unity and studying antique traditions.
Many Greek thinkers of this time are said to have visited Egypt.
In the Vth and IVth centuries, Sais was no longer the capital of Egypt,
which had become a vassal of Persia
before being subjected by Alexander the Great (332). But the relations between
the two peoples remained good and nearby Naucratis
was a gateway for those Greeks wishing to visit the country. Sais was the center
of the cult of the Egyptian goddess Neith, who was identified by the Greeks with
Athena.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1998), ed.
This extract is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
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