Seheruibre Padibastet (Ancient Egyptian: ''shrw-
jb-
rꜥ pꜣ-dj-bꜣstt'') better known by his Hellenised name Petubastis III (or IV, depending on the scholars) was a native
ancient Egyptian ruler (ruled c. 522 – 520 BC), who revolted against
Persian rule.
["Ancient Egypt: History and Chronology, 27th dynasty"](_blank)
Biography
Petubastis was a local
prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...
,
dynast and probably a member of the
old royal Saite line who attempted to take control of Egypt and seize power.
[Eiddon Stephen Edwards, The Cambridge Ancient History, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p 262] Although he assumed the royal titles and the titulary of a
pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...
, he has been a largely unknown character and a shadowy figure in
Egyptian history
The history of Egypt has been long and wealthy, due to the flow of the Nile River with its fertile banks and delta, as well as the accomplishments of Egypt's native inhabitants and outside influence. Much of Egypt's ancient history was a myste ...
.
Recent excavations at Amheida in the
Dakhla Oasis
Dakhla Oasis (Egyptian Arabic: , , "''the inner oasis"''), is one of the seven oases of Egypt's Western Desert. Dakhla Oasis lies in the New Valley Governorate, 350 km (220 mi.) from the Nile and between the oases of Farafra and Khar ...
have suggested that Petubastis may have had his royal residence there, a location reasonably far from the
Nile valley which was under Persian control. Some blocks from the destroyed temple of
Thoth
Thoth (; from grc-koi, Θώθ ''Thṓth'', borrowed from cop, Ⲑⲱⲟⲩⲧ ''Thōout'', Egyptian: ', the reflex of " eis like the Ibis") is an ancient Egyptian deity. In art, he was often depicted as a man with the head of an ibis or ...
at Amheida bear inscriptions attributable to him, as well as his almost complete
royal titulary.
[ From Amheida, Petubastis may have ambushed and defeated the so-called " Lost Army of Cambyses", which was described some decades later by ]Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer
A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society ...
as a military expedition sent by Cambyses II to the Oracle of Zeus-Ammon
Amun (; also ''Amon'', ''Ammon'', ''Amen''; egy, jmn, reconstructed as (Old Egyptian and early Middle Egyptian) → (later Middle Egyptian) → (Late Egyptian), cop, Ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ, Amoun) romanized: ʾmn) was a major ancient Egyptian ...
in the Siwa Oasis, only to be obliterated by a sand storm
A dust storm, also called a sandstorm, is a meteorological phenomenon common in arid and semi-arid regions. Dust storms arise when a gust front or other strong wind blows loose sand and dirt from a dry surface. Fine particles are transport ...
.
Shortly after this, Petubastis would have reached Memphis
Memphis most commonly refers to:
* Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt
* Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city
Memphis may also refer to:
Places United States
* Memphis, Alabama
* Memphis, Florida
* Memphis, Indiana
* Memp ...
in order to be formally crowned as pharaoh, and adopted a royal titulary resembling those of the previous Saite Dynasty.
Petubastis probably took advantage of the disruption caused by the usurpation by Bardiya of the Persian throne after the death of Cambyses to rebel. According to the 2nd century Greek military author Polyaenus
Polyaenus or Polyenus ( ; see ae (æ) vs. e; grc-gre, Πoλύαινoς, Polyainos, "much-praised") was a 2nd-century CE Greek author, known best for his ''Stratagems in War'' ( grc-gre, Στρατηγήματα, Strategemata), which has been pr ...
, who wrote about the revolt, it was oppressive taxation
A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, o ...
imposed by the then Persian satrap Aryandes that led to the revolt.
The Behistun Inscription, which offers the greatest insight into the events during this period, mentions a rebellion in Egypt which occurred at the same time as other rebellions in the eastern parts of the Persian Empire. Darius I, the author of the Behistun Inscription, does not go into any detail about how he dealt with the rebellion in Egypt. Polyaenus reports that Darius moved to Egypt to suppress the revolt, and entered into Memphis during the mourning period for the death of an Apis bull
In ancient Egyptian religion, Apis or Hapis ( egy, ḥjpw, reconstructed as Old Egyptian with unknown final vowel > Medio-Late Egyptian , cop, ϩⲁⲡⲉ ''ḥapə''), alternatively spelled Hapi-ankh, was a sacred bull worshiped in the Me ...
. Cunningly, the Great King
Great king, and the equivalent in many languages, refers to historical titles of certain monarchs, suggesting an elevated status among the host of kings and princes. This title is most usually associated with the '' shahanshah'' (shah of shahs ...
promised one hundred talents of gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
for the one that would provide a new Apis, impressing the natives to the point that they moved en masse to his side.Polyaenus, ''Stratagems'' VII, 11 §7
This story suggests that the rebellion was not yet quelled when Darius came to Egypt in 518 BC.
Petubastis was ultimately defeated by Darius, who later ensured the control of the western oases by embarking on an active campaign of works there (the most famous being the
Temple of Hibis
The Temple of Hibis is the largest and best preserved ancient Egyptian temple in the Kharga Oasis, as well as the only structure in Egypt dating to the Saite-Persian period (664–404 BCE) which has come down to modern times in relatively good co ...
at
Kharga Oasis
The Kharga Oasis (Arabic: , ) ; Coptic: ( "Oasis of Hib", "Oasis of Psoi") is the southernmost of Egypt's five western oases. It is located in the Western Desert, about 200 km (125 miles) to the west of the Nile valley. "Kharga" or ...
). At the same time, he most likely destroyed as much evidence as he could regarding Petubastis and his rebellion, including the temple at Amheida and the true fate of the lost army of Cambyses.
Attestations
Prior to the rediscovery of several blocks referring to him in the Dakhla Oasis,
[ the existence of this shadowy rebel ruler was confirmed by inscriptions found on two ]seal
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...
s and one scarab that bear his name written in a royal form inside a cartouche
In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name. The first examples of the cartouche are associated with pharaohs at the end of the Third Dynasty, but the f ...
. His figure appears on a door jamb once covered in gold leaf, now at the Louvre Museum
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
, and on a wooden panel now in Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...
(KS 289).[ There also exists a document that has been dated to 522 BC, which was the first year of his reign.]
See also
* Psammetichus IV – a proposed Egyptian ruler who rebelled against the Achaemenid rule in the 480s BC
*Inaros II
Inaros (II), also known as Inarus, (fl. ca. 460 BC) was an Egyptian rebel ruler who was the son of an Egyptian prince named Psamtik, presumably of the old Saite line, and grandson of Psamtik III. In 460 BC, he revolted against the Persians wit ...
– another Egyptian ruler who rebelled against the Achaemenid rule in the 460s BC
References
Further reading
*Uzume Z. Wijnsma (2018), "The Worst Revolt of the Bisitun Crisis: A Chronological Reconstruction of the Egyptian Revolt under Petubastis IV". ''Journal of Near Eastern Studies'' 77 (2), pp. 157–173.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petubastis 03
6th-century BC Pharaohs
Non-dynastic pharaohs
Egyptian rebels
Ancient Egyptian princes
6th-century BC rulers
Rebellions against the Achaemenid Empire
520s BC deaths