Apries () is the name by which

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

(ii. 161) and

Diodorus Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (; 1st century BC) was an ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which survive intact, b ...

(i. 68) designate Wahibre Haaibre, a pharaoh of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

(589 BC570 BC), the fourth king (counting from Psamtik I) of the

Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XXVI, alternatively 26th Dynasty or Dynasty 26) was the last native dynasty of ancient Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC (although other brief periods of rule by Egyptians followed). T ...

. He was equated with the Waphres of

Manetho Manetho (; ''Manéthōn'', ''gen''.: Μανέθωνος, ''fl''. 290–260 BCE) was an Egyptian priest of the Ptolemaic Kingdom who lived in the early third century BCE, at the very beginning of the Hellenistic period. Little is certain about his ...

, who correctly records that he reigned for 19 years. Apries is also called Hophra in Jeremiah 44:30 (; ).

Biography

Apries inherited the throne from his father, pharaoh Psamtik II, in February 589 BC. Apries was an active builder who constructed "additions to the temples at Athribis (Tell Atrib), Bahariya Oasis, Memphis and Sais." In Year 4 of his reign, Apries' sister Ankhnesneferibre was adopted as the new God's Wife of

Amun Amun was a major ancient Egyptian deity who appears as a member of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. Amun was attested from the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. His oracle in Siwa Oasis, located in Western Egypt near the Libyan Desert, r ...

at Thebes. However, Apries' reign was also fraught with internal problems. In 588 BC, Apries dispatched a force to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

to protect it from Babylonian forces sent by

Nebuchadnezzar II Nebuchadnezzar II, also Nebuchadrezzar II, meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir", was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from the death of his father Nabopolassar in 605 BC to his own death in 562 BC. Often titled Nebuchadnezzar ...

(Jer. 37:5; 34:21). His forces quickly withdrew, however, apparently avoiding a major confrontation with the Babylonians. Jerusalem, following an 18-month-long siege, was destroyed by the Babylonians in either 587 BC or 586 BC. Apries's unsuccessful attempt to intervene in the politics of the

Kingdom of Judah The Kingdom of Judah was an Israelites, Israelite kingdom of the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. Centered in the highlands to the west of the Dead Sea, the kingdom's capital was Jerusalem. It was ruled by the Davidic line for four centuries ...

was followed by a mutiny of soldiers from the strategically important

Aswan Aswan (, also ; ) is a city in Southern Egypt, and is the capital of the Aswan Governorate. Aswan is a busy market and tourist centre located just north of the Aswan Dam on the east bank of the Nile at the first cataract. The modern city ha ...

garrison. According to classical historians, Apries campaigned in the Levant, took

Sidon Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, t ...

and so terrified the other cities of Phoenicia that he secured their submission. However, this supposed submission was likely short lived. A recently uncovered stela from Tahpanhes records that Nebuchadnezzar II attempted to invade Egypt in 582 BC, but Apries' forces were capable to repel the invasion. In

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika (, , after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between the 16th and 25th meridians east, including the Kufra District. The coastal region, als ...

to the west,

Battus II of Cyrene Battus II of Cyrene, sometimes called ''Eudaimon'' (''the Blessed'') or the Latin equivalent ''Felix'', (; ruled from c. 583 BC to 560 BC) was the third Greek king of Cyrenaica and Cyrene and a member of the Battiad dynasty. Ancestry Battus I ...

had encouraged further Greek settlement in his city, especially from the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

and

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

. This sparked conflict with the indigenous Libyans, whose king Adicran appealed to Apries for help around 570 BC. Apries launched a military expedition against Cyrene, but was decisively defeated at the Battle of Irasa. When the defeated army returned home, a civil war broke out in the Egyptian army between the indigenous troops and the foreign mercenaries. The Egyptians threw their support to

Amasis II Amasis II ( ; ''ḤMS'') or Ahmose II was a pharaoh (reigned 570526 BCE) of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, the successor of Apries at Sais, Egypt, Sais. He was the last great ruler of Ancient Egypt, Egypt before the Achaemenid Empire, Persian ...

, a general who had led Egyptian forces in a highly successful invasion of

Nubia Nubia (, Nobiin language, Nobiin: , ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the confluence of the Blue Nile, Blue and White Nile, White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), and the Cataracts of the Nile, first cataract ...

in 592 BC under Pharaoh Psamtik II, Apries' father. Amasis quickly declared himself pharaoh in 570 BC, and Apries fled Egypt and sought refuge in a foreign country. When Apries marched back to Egypt in 567 BC with the aid of a Babylonian army to reclaim the throne of Egypt, he was likely killed in battle with Amasis' forces. Alternatively, Herodotus ( Histories 2.169) holds that Apries survived the battle, and was captured and treated well by the victorious Amasis, until the Egyptian people demanded justice against him, whereby he was placed into their hands and strangled to death.Herodotus, Histories, Book II, Chapter 169 Amasis thus secured his kingship over Egypt and was then its unchallenged ruler. Amasis, however, reportedly treated Apries' mortal remains with respect and observed the proper funerary rituals by having Apries' body carried to Sais and buried there with "full military honours." Amasis, the former general who had declared himself pharaoh, also married Apries' daughter, Khedebneithirbinet II, to legitimise his accession to power. While Herodotus claimed that the wife of Apries was called Nitetis (Νιτῆτις) (in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

), "there are no contemporary references naming her" in Egyptian records.

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

placed the

eclipse of Thales The eclipse of Thales was a solar eclipse in the early 6th century BC that was, according to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus (writing about 150 years later), accurately predicted by the Greek philosopher Thales of Miletus. If Herodotus' acc ...

in 585 BC, in the eighth or twelfth year of Apries' reign.

Monuments

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

which Apries erected at Sais was moved by the 3rd century AD Roman Emperor

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

and originally placed at the Temple of Isis in Rome. It is today located in front of the

Santa Maria sopra Minerva Santa Maria sopra Minerva is one of the major Church (building), churches of the Order of Preachers (also known as the Dominicans) in Rome, Italy. The church's name derives from the fact that the first Christian church structure on the site was b ...

basilica church in Rome. File:Sphinx of Apries-N 515-IMG 0583-gradient.jpg, Sphinx of Pharaoh Apries, from the collection of

Count Caylus Anne Claude de Tubières-Grimoard de Pestels de Lévis, ''comte de Caylus'', marquis d'Esternay, baron de Bransac (Anne Claude Philippe; 31 October 16925 September 1765), was a French antiquarian, proto-archaeologist and man of letters. Born in P ...

, now in the

Louvre Museum The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is a national art museum in Paris, France, and one of the most famous museums in the world. It is located on the Rive Droite, Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arron ...

File:Pulcino della Minerva (Leverich).jpg, Apries' obelisk in Rome is known as the '' Pulcino della Minerva''

References

Works cited

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Apries 570s BC deaths 6th-century BC pharaohs Pharaohs of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt Year of birth unknown Pharaohs in the Bible

Biography

Monuments

See also

References

Works cited