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See also:PSAMMETICHUS (See also:Egypt. Psammetk) , the name of three See also:kings of the Saite, XXVIth See also:Dynasty, called by See also:Herodotus respectively Psammetichus, Psammis and Psammenitus. The first of these is generally considered to be the founder of the dynasty; See also:Manetho, however, carries it back through three or four predecessors who ruled at See also:Sais as See also:petty kings under the XXVth, Ethiopian, Dynasty. The name is frankly written so as to mean " the See also:man of methek," i.e. " mixed drink," whether as a tippler or as a vendor of strong drink. The See also:Egyptian See also:scribes do not conceal the opprobrious elements, but it has been suggested that the name may be due to false See also:etymology of a See also:foreign name (though all the names throughout the dynasty appear to be Egyptian), or that Methek may have been an unknown deity. The See also:story in Herodotus of the Dodecarchy and the rise of Psammetichus is fanciful. It is known from See also:cuneiform texts that twenty See also:local princelings were appointed by Esarhaddon and confirmed by See also:Assur-bani-See also:pal to govern Egypt. Niku (Necho), See also:father of Psammetichus, was the See also:chief of these kinglets, but they seem to have been quite unable to hold the Egyptians to the hated Assyrians against the more sympathetic Ethiopian. The See also:labyrinth built by a See also: (664-610 B.C.) was able to defy the Assyrians and the Ethiopians, and during a See also:long reign marked by intimate relations with the Greeks restored the prosperity of Egypt. The See also:short reign of the second Psammetichus (594-589 B.C.) is noteworthy for the graffiti of his See also:Greek, Phoenician and Carian mercenaries at See also:Abu Simbel (q.v.). The third of the name was the unfortunate See also:prince whose reign terminated after six months in the See also:Persian See also:conquest of Egypt (525 B.C.). It has been conjectured that the See also:family of the Psammetichi was of Libyan origin; on the other See also:hand, some would recognize See also:negro features in a portrait of Psammetichus I., which might connect him with the Ethiopian rulers. See above, EGYPT: See also:History; on the name, F. Ll. See also:Griffith, See also:Catalogue of the See also:Rylands See also:demotic papyri; the portrait, H. Schafer in Zeitschrift See also:fair aegyptische Sprache, xxxiii. 116. (F. LL. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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