The Late Period and Persian Conquest
Ancient EgyptA Civilization Under Pressure
By the seventh century BC, Egypt was no longer the unchallenged superpower of the ancient world. After centuries of fragmentation and foreign rule by Libyan and Kushite dynasties, the land along the Nile faced rising empires to the east. The Late Period, conventionally dated from around 664 BC to 332 BC, was an age of revival and resistance, of impressive cultural achievement shadowed by repeated invasion. Egypt would change hands several times, yet its ancient gods, temples, and scribal traditions endured even as new rulers tried to bend them to their will.
The Saite Renaissance
The story of the Late Period begins with recovery. After Assyrian armies sacked Thebes in 663 BC, a family of rulers from the Delta city of Sais rose to reunite the country. Psamtik I (reigned roughly 664–610 BC) founded the 26th Dynasty and skillfully balanced foreign threats while reasserting Egyptian independence. The Saite kings looked backward for inspiration, deliberately reviving the art, titles, and religious styles of the Old and Middle Kingdoms. They also welcomed Greek and Carian mercenaries and traders, establishing the settlement of Naukratis as a hub of commerce. This 'Saite Renaissance' produced some of the most refined sculpture and craftsmanship of Egypt's long history.
The Persians Arrive
Everything changed in 525 BC. The Persian king Cambyses II, son of Cyrus the Great, defeated the Egyptian pharaoh Psamtik III at the battle of Pelusium near the eastern Delta. Egypt became a province, or satrapy, of the vast Achaemenid Persian Empire, beginning the 27th Dynasty. The Greek historian Herodotus, writing decades later, portrayed Cambyses as a cruel madman who mocked Egyptian gods, but many modern historians argue this hostile image reflects later propaganda rather than fact. In reality, Persian rulers such as Darius I respected local institutions, completed a canal linking the Nile to the Red Sea, and were recorded in Egyptian temple inscriptions as legitimate pharaohs.
Rebellion and Brief Freedom
Persian rule was never fully accepted. Egyptians launched repeated revolts, and in 404 BC they succeeded in expelling their overlords. For roughly six decades, native dynasties—the 28th, 29th, and 30th—governed an independent Egypt. The pharaoh Nectanebo I and his successors built and restored temples across the land, including major work at Philae and a grand gateway at Karnak. Yet this last flowering of native rule was fragile. Egypt leaned heavily on Greek mercenaries and shifting alliances to hold off the Persians, who never abandoned their claim to the Nile.
The Second Persian Period and the End of an Age
In 343 BC, the Persian king Artaxerxes III reconquered Egypt, driving out Nectanebo II, traditionally remembered as the last native Egyptian pharaoh. This second Persian occupation proved short-lived and deeply unpopular. Within roughly a decade, a new conqueror appeared from the west: Alexander the Great of Macedon. In 332 BC he entered Egypt and was welcomed largely as a liberator from Persian rule. With Alexander's arrival, the Late Period ended and a new Greek-speaking era began. The age of native pharaohs, stretching back nearly three thousand years, had effectively drawn to a close—even as Egyptian religion and culture continued to shape the world for centuries more.
Key Dates to Remember
- 664 BC — Psamtik I founds the 26th Dynasty from Sais, beginning the Late Period and the Saite Renaissance.
- 525 BC — Cambyses II defeats Psamtik III at Pelusium, making Egypt a Persian satrapy under the 27th Dynasty.
- 404 BC — Egyptians expel the Persians and restore native rule under a series of indigenous dynasties.
- 343 BC — Artaxerxes III reconquers Egypt; Nectanebo II, traditionally the last native pharaoh, is driven out.
- 332 BC — Alexander the Great takes Egypt from Persia, ending the Late Period and opening the Greek era.