Psammetichus I

Egyptian names: Wahibra Psamtik I

Relatives:

• father: Necho I
• wife: Mehtemweskhet
• children: Nitocris, Necho II

Main deeds:

• 666: Aššurbanipal makes Necho I viceroy of Memphis and Sais; Psammetichus is heir apparent
• 664: Death of the Kushite king Taharqo; his son Tanwetamani attacks Lower Egypt but is repelled near Memphis by Necho, who is killed in action; Psammetichus flees to Assyria, receives support and returns; he pursues Tanutamun and sacks Thebes; Upper Egypt is left to a local strong man named Montuemhat
• c.658?: Coalition with Gyges of Lydia
• Psammetichus employs Greek and Carian mercenaries and achieves military supremacy over the other rulers in Lower Egypt and the Libyan tribes in the west
• 656: Psammetichus' daughter Nitocris is adopted as "god's wife of Amun" in Thebes by the current priestesses with that name, a lady named Shepenwepet II and a sister of the Kushite king Taharqa named Amenirdis II; she is received and recognized by Montuemhat and Ibi; as a result, Psammetichus can unify Egypt
• 651-648: Civil war in Assyria; Egypt slips out of Assyrian control; forts are built at Pelusiac and Damietta branches of the Nile, Elephantine, and Marea; according to Herodotus (Histories, 2.157) Psammetichus devoted twenty nine-years to the siege of Ashdod in Palestine and warded off a Scythian invasion (1.103-105)
• c.620: Psammetichus founds Naucratis, a Greek port of trade in the western Delta (Herodotus calls it "the camps")
• 616: Egyptian troops support the Assyrians (Fall of Nineveh Chronicle)
• 612: The Assyrian capital Nineveh captured by the Babylonians and Medes
• 610: Death; Psammetichus is succeeded by his son Necho II

Buildings:

• Temples of the creator deities Atum and Neith in Sais (Herodotus, Histories, 2.169-170, 175)
• Temple of Banebdjedet at Mendes
• Temples of Buto, Ptah, the Apis, and the Osiris-Apis at Memphis (the latter is a predecessor of the Serapeum in Saqqara)
• Forts at Tell el-Kedua, Daphnae, Tell el-Balamun
• Retaining walls for the sacred lake of Tanis
• A temple at Hermopolis Parva
• A chapel for Osiris at Karnak (dedicated by Nitocris)