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 Egyptians (, ; , ; ) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian identity is closely tied to Geography of Egypt, geography. The population is concentrated in the Nile Valley, a small strip of cultivable land stretchi ...

followed). The dynasty's reign (664–525 BC) is also called the Saite Period after the city of

Sais Sais (, ) was an ancient Egyptian city in the Western Nile Delta on the Canopic branch of the Nile,Mish, Frederick C., Editor in Chief. "Saïs." '' Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary''. 9th ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster Inc., 19 ...

, where its

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

s had their capital, and marks the beginning of the

Late Period of ancient Egypt The Late Period of ancient Egypt refers to the last flowering of native Egyptian rulers after the Third Intermediate Period in the 26th Saite Dynasty founded by Psamtik I, but includes the time of Achaemenid Persian rule over Egypt after the ...

.Aidan Dodson, Dyan Hilton. ''The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt''. The American University in Cairo Press, London 2004

History

This dynasty traced its origins to the Twenty-fourth Dynasty.

Psamtik I Wahibre Psamtik I (Ancient Egyptian: ) was the first pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, the Saite period, ruling from the city of Sais in the Nile delta between 664 and 610 BC. He was installed by Ashurbanipal of the Neo-Assyrian E ...

was probably a descendant of

Bakenranef Bakenranef, known by the ancient Greeks as Bocchoris (Ancient Greek: , ; Latin: ) or Bochchoris (, ; Latin: ) was briefly a king of the 24th Dynasty of Egypt. Based at Sais in the western Delta, he ruled Lower Egypt from c. 725 to 720 BC. Thou ...

. However, other sources describe him as of Libyan descent. Following the Neo-Assyrian conquest of Egypt during the reigns of

Taharqa Taharqa, also spelled Taharka or Taharqo, Akkadian: ''Tar-qu-ú'', , Manetho's ''Tarakos'', Strabo's ''Tearco''), was a pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt and qore (king) of the Kingdom of Kush (present day Sudan) from 690 to 664 BC. ...

and

Tantamani Tantamani ( Meroitic: 𐦛𐦴𐦛𐦲𐦡𐦲, , Neo-Assyrian: , ), also known as Tanutamun or Tanwetamani (d. 653 BC) was ruler of the Kingdom of Kush located in Northern Sudan, and the last pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt. ...

, and the subsequent collapse of the

Napata Napata
(2020). (Old Egyptian ''Npt'', ''Npy''; Meroitic language, Meroitic ''Napa''; and Ναπάται) was a city of ...

-based

Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt The Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XXV, alternatively 25th Dynasty or Dynasty 25), also known as the Nubian Dynasty, the Kushite Empire, the Black Pharaohs, or the Napatans, after their capital Napata, was the last dynasty of t ...

, Psamtik I was recognized as sole king over all of Egypt. Psamtik formed alliances with King

Gyges of Lydia Gyges (reigned c. 680–644 BC) was the founder of the Mermnad dynasty of Lydian kings and the first known king of the Lydian kingdom to have attempted to transform it into a powerful empire. Gyges reigned 38 years according to Herodotus. At ...

, who sent him mercenaries from

Caria Caria (; from Greek language, Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; ) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Carians were described by Herodotus as being Anatolian main ...

and

ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

that Psamtik used to unify all of Egypt under his rule. Battle of Carchemish

With the sack of

Nineveh Nineveh ( ; , ''URUNI.NU.A, Ninua''; , ''Nīnəwē''; , ''Nīnawā''; , ''Nīnwē''), was an ancient Assyrian city of Upper Mesopotamia, located in the modern-day city of Mosul (itself built out of the Assyrian town of Mepsila) in northern ...

in 612 BC and the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, both Psamtik and his successors attempted to reassert Egyptian power in the Near East but were driven back by the

Neo-Babylonian Empire The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire, historically known as the Chaldean Empire, was the last polity ruled by monarchs native to ancient Mesopotamia. Beginning with the coronation of Nabopolassar as the King of Babylon in 626 BC a ...

under

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 ...

. With the help of Greek mercenaries, Pharaoh Apries was able to hold back Babylonian attempts to conquer Egypt. The Persians would eventually invade Egypt in 525 BCE when Emperor

Cambyses II Cambyses II () was the second King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning 530 to 522 BCE. He was the son of and successor to Cyrus the Great (); his mother was Cassandane. His relatively brief reign was marked by his conquests in North Afric ...

captured and later executed Psamtik III in the First Achaemenid conquest of Egypt. Cambyses founded the First Egyptian Satrapy, a territory of the Achaemenid Empire, and was crowned the first

of the Dynasty XXVII.

Archaeology

In May 2020, an Egyptian-Spanish archaeological mission headed by Esther Ponce revealed a unique cemetery, which consists of one room built with glazed limestone dating back to the 26th Dynasty (also known as the El-Sawi era) at the site of ancient

Oxyrhynchus Oxyrhynchus ( ; , ; ; ), also known by its modern name Al-Bahnasa (), is a city in Middle Egypt located about 160 km south-southwest of Cairo in Minya Governorate. It is also an important archaeological site. Since the late 19th century, t ...

. Archaeologists also uncovered bronze coins, clay seals, Roman tombstones and small crosses. On October 3, 2020, Egypt unveiled 59 coffins of priests and clerks from the 26th dynasty, dating to nearly 2,500 years ago.

Art

File:Pottery vessel. Applique face of god Bes on surface. Pink-brown ware. From Egypt. 26th Dynasty. The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London.jpg, Pottery vessel showing the face of god Bes from the 26th Dynasty. Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London File:Female amulet E17114 mp3h8679.jpg, Female figure, Louvre Museum. The name of Psamtik I is inscribed under the feet. File:Sphinx of Apries-N 515-IMG 0583-gradient.jpg, Sphinx of Apries, from the collection of Anne Claude de Caylus File:Sarcophagus of Harkhebit, 595–526 BCE, 26th dynasty of Egypt.jpg, alt=Sarcophagus of Harkhebit: "Royal Seal Bearer, Sole Companion, Chief Priest of the Shrines of Upper and Lower Egypt, and Overseer of the Cabinet", 595–526 BCE, Saqqara, 26th dynasty of Egypt., Sarcophagus of Harkhebit "Royal Seal Bearer, Sole Companion, Chief Priest of the Shrines of

Upper and Lower Egypt In History of ancient Egypt, Egyptian history, the Upper and Lower Egypt period (also known as The Two Lands) was the final stage of prehistoric Egypt and directly preceded the Early Dynastic Period (Egypt), unification of the realm. The concepti ...

, and Overseer of the Cabinet", 595–526 BCE,

Saqqara Saqqara ( : saqqāra ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in the markaz (county) of Badrashin in the Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for ...

, 26th dynasty of Egypt.

Pharaohs of the 26th Dynasty

The 26th Dynasty may be related to the 24th Dynasty.

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 ...

begins the dynasty with: * Ammeris the Nubian (= ? Ammeris), 12 (or 18) years * Stephinates (= ? Tefnakht II), 7 years * Nechepsos (= ? Nekauba), 6 years * Necho (= ?

Necho I Menkheperre Necho I (Egyptian language, Egyptian: Nekau, Ancient Greek, Greek: Νεχώς Α' or Νεχώ Α', Akkadian language, Akkadian: Nikuu. or Nikû.) (? – near Memphis, Egypt, Memphis) was a ruler of the ancient Egyptian city of Sais, E ...

), 8 years. When the Nubian King

Shabaka Neferkare Shabaka, or Shabako ( Meroitic: 𐦰𐦲𐦡𐦐𐦲 (sha-ba-ka), Egyptian: 𓆷𓃞𓂓 ''šꜣ bꜣ kꜣ'', Assyrian: ''Ša-ba-ku-u'', Šabakû ) was the third Kushite pharaoh of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt, who reigned fr ...

defeated Bakenranef, son of

Tefnakht Shepsesre Tefnakht (in ) was a prince of Sais and founder of the relatively short Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt; he rose to become a Chief of the Ma in his home city. He is thought to have reigned roughly 732 BCE to 725 BCE, or seven years. T ...

, he likely installed a Nubian commander as governor at Sais. This may be the man named Ammeris. Stephinates may be a descendant of Bakenrenef. He is sometimes referred to as Tefnakht II in the literature. Nechepsos has been identified with a local king named Nekauba (678–672 BC). Manetho's Necho is King

(672–664 BC); Manetho gives his reign as 8 years.Kitchen, Kenneth A. ''The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, 1100-650 B.C.'' (Book & Supplement) Aris & Phillips. 1986 Necho was killed during a conflict with the Nubian king

. Psamtik I fled to

– capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire – and returned to Egypt when

Ashurbanipal Ashurbanipal (, meaning " Ashur is the creator of the heir")—or Osnappar ()—was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 669 BC to his death in 631. He is generally remembered as the last great king of Assyria. Ashurbanipal inherited the th ...

defeated Tantamani and drove him back south. Scholars now start the 26th Dynasty with the reign of

Sextus Julius Africanus Sextus Julius Africanus ( 160 – c. 240; ) was a Christian traveler and historian of the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries. He influenced fellow historian Eusebius, later writers of Church history among the Church Fathers, and the Greek sch ...

states in his often accurate version of Manetho's ''Epitome'' that the dynasty numbered nine pharaohs, beginning with a "Stephinates" ( Tefnakht II) and ending with Psamtik III. Africanus also notes that

and

ruled for 54 and 8 years respectively.

Timeline of the 26th Dynasty

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:12 PlotArea = top:100 bottom:100 right:100 left:100 AlignBars = early DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:-664 till:-500 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:-664 Colors = id:canvas value:rgb(0.97,0.97,0.97) id:PA value:green id:GP value:red Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Rulers PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:Rulers from: -664 till: -610 color:PA text:"

(664–610 BC)" from: -610 till: -595 color:PA text:"

Necho II Necho II (sometimes Nekau, Neku, Nechoh, or Nikuu; Greek: Νεκώς Β'; ) of Egypt was a king of the 26th Dynasty (610–595 BC), which ruled from Sais. Necho undertook a number of construction projects across his kingdom. In his reign, accor ...

(610–595 BC)" from: -595 till: -589 color:PA text:" Psamtik II (595–589 BC)" from: -589 till: -570 color:PA text:"

Wahibre Haaibre Apries () is the name by which Herodotus (ii. 161) and Diodorus (i. 68) designate Wahibre Haaibre, a pharaoh of Egypt (589 BC570 BC), the fourth king (counting from Psamtik I) of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt. He was equated with the Waphr ...

(589–570 BC)" from: -570 till: -526 color:PA text:"

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 ...

(570–526 BC)" from: -526 till: -525 color:PA text:" Psamtik III (526–525 BC)" barset:skip

References

Bibliography

* Aidan Dodson, Dyan Hilton. ''The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt''. The American University in Cairo Press, London, 2004. *

Kenneth Kitchen Kenneth Anderson Kitchen (1932 – 6 February 2025) was a British biblical scholar, Ancient Near Eastern historian, and Personal and Brunner Professor Emeritus of Egyptology and honorary research fellow at the School of Archaeology, Classics and ...

, ''The Third Intermediate Period in Egypt, 1100–650 B.C.'' (Book & Supplement) Aris & Phillips. 1986 .
Karl Jansen-Winkeln''Bild und Charakter der ägyptischen 26. Dynastie''
''Altorientalische Forschungen'', 28 (2001), 165–182. {{Ancient Egypt topics States and territories established in the 7th century BC States and territories disestablished in the 6th century BC 26 Nile Delta 7th century BC in Egypt 6th century BC in Egypt 660s BC 7th-century BC establishments in Egypt 6th-century BC disestablishments 525 BC 1st-millennium BC disestablishments in Egypt