Necho II

Egyptian names: Wehemibra Nekau

Relatives:

• father: Psammetichus I
• wife: Tahut
• son: Psammetichus II

Main deeds:

• 610: Accession; Necho inherits a war against Babylonia, in which Egypt supports Assyria
• 609: Intervention in Palestine; meeting with king Josiah of Judah in Megiddo (according to 2 Kings 23.29); or battle against Josiah (according to 2 Chronicles 35.20-24); Judah and the Phoenician towns become Egyptian tributaries
• Necho builds his HQs at Riblah on the Orontes, supporting the Assyrian king Aššur-Uballit II (Fall of Nineveh Chronicle)
• War in Syria (Late years of Nabopolassar chronicle)
• 605: Nebuchadnezzar defeats Necho near Karchemiš (Early Years of Nebuchadnezzar chronicle)
• 601: Babylonian attack on Egypt repelled
• 597: Loss of Judah; Jerusalem is captured by the Babylonians
• 595: Death of Necho II; he is succeeded by his son Psammetichus II
• Without known date: first circumnavigation of Africa (Herodotus, Histories, 4.42)
• Necho's names are sometimes erazed from his monuments, which may signify that his foreign policy was seen as a failure; his successor refrained from foreign interventions

Buildings:

• According to Herodotus, Histories, 2.158, Necho started to build a canal between the Nile and the Red Sea (finished by Darius I the Great)
• An ancient Hyksos fortress at Pithom was rebuilt
• Continued building activity at the temple of Neith in Sais