Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

PSAMMETICHUS (Egypt. Psammetk)

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 541 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

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:king of the XIIth Dynasty is ascribed by Herodotus to the Dodecarchy, or See also:rule of 12, which must represent this See also:combination of rulers. If the dynasties were numbered thus before Manetho, the See also:numeral may be the cause of Herodotus's confusion. After his father's See also:death Psammetichus I.

(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.

End of Article: PSAMMETICHUS (Egypt. Psammetk)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
PSALTERY, PSALTERION
[next]
PSELLUS (Gr.'I' XXor)