Volume 1 - Nebuchadnezzar & the Egyptian Exile
The first volume in the Displaced Dynasties series was motivated by a single consideration. Almost seven chapters in the Hebrew Bible, exclusively contained in the writings of the biblical prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah, describe an invasion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, dated with some precision around the year 565 B.C. According to these two eyewitnesses the devastation inflicted on Egypt was catastrophic. Every temple in the country (with one exception) was demolished. Most of the population of Egypt was slaughtered or taken captive. Only a small remnant survived. For years Egypt was left without a resident pharaoh. Temple worship ceased. The devastation lasted for forty years, though from extra biblical sources we can determine that sporadic restoration activity was underway during the final two decades, following the 543 B.C. takeover of the country by Cyrus the Great. This rebuilding intensified under Cambyses, following his 525 B.C. expedition to Egypt, and into the reign of Darius I.
There is but a single problem with this history. According to Egyptologists it never happened. The denial is based on an Egyptian timeline which places Manetho’s 26th (Saite) dynasty in the time frame 664-525 B.C., leaving no room either for a twenty year interregnum or for an 18 year rule by the Persians prior to 525 B.C. Amasis (570-526 B.C.), the penultimate Saite dynasty king, ruled throughout the critical forty year period.
But the historians are wrong. The fault lies in the Egyptian chronology on which the traditional history is based. That chronology, throughout the relevant period, is in error by 121 years! Saite dynasty dates need to be lowered by that amount, moving the dynasty to a position overlapping the first Persian domination of Egypt.
In the traditional history the Saite dynasty kings ruled Egypt for 139 years, from 664-525 B.C. They were succeeded by the Persians, who ruled for 121 years, from 525-404 B.C., this on the assumption that Cambyses came to Egypt in 525 B.C. as a conqueror and destroyer, initiating Persian rule over Egypt. We argue instead that in 543 B.C. Cyrus the Great invaded and conquered an Egypt defended only by a small Babylonian army of occupation. He immediately established Psamtik I as a vassal king, the first of the Saite dynasty pharaohs to rule Egypt as a province of the Persian Empire. In that capacity the 26th dynasty kings governed Egypt for 139 years, from 543-404 B.C.
Every chapter of this 1st volume of the Displaced Dynasties series argues directly, or indirectly, for this revised timeline.
There is but a single problem with this history. According to Egyptologists it never happened. The denial is based on an Egyptian timeline which places Manetho’s 26th (Saite) dynasty in the time frame 664-525 B.C., leaving no room either for a twenty year interregnum or for an 18 year rule by the Persians prior to 525 B.C. Amasis (570-526 B.C.), the penultimate Saite dynasty king, ruled throughout the critical forty year period.
But the historians are wrong. The fault lies in the Egyptian chronology on which the traditional history is based. That chronology, throughout the relevant period, is in error by 121 years! Saite dynasty dates need to be lowered by that amount, moving the dynasty to a position overlapping the first Persian domination of Egypt.
In the traditional history the Saite dynasty kings ruled Egypt for 139 years, from 664-525 B.C. They were succeeded by the Persians, who ruled for 121 years, from 525-404 B.C., this on the assumption that Cambyses came to Egypt in 525 B.C. as a conqueror and destroyer, initiating Persian rule over Egypt. We argue instead that in 543 B.C. Cyrus the Great invaded and conquered an Egypt defended only by a small Babylonian army of occupation. He immediately established Psamtik I as a vassal king, the first of the Saite dynasty pharaohs to rule Egypt as a province of the Persian Empire. In that capacity the 26th dynasty kings governed Egypt for 139 years, from 543-404 B.C.
Every chapter of this 1st volume of the Displaced Dynasties series argues directly, or indirectly, for this revised timeline.
Ancient Egypt Timeline
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Table of Contents & Preface
Chapter 1: Nebuchadnezzar's Wars Rise of Nebuchadnezzar Invasion of Egypt Amasis or Exile Chapter 2: A Saite/Persian Dynasty Displaced Dynasties Herodotus or Pseudo-Herodotus? Demotic Chronicle Chapter 3: Osorkons, Sheshonks and Takeloths Osorkon II & Takeloth II Shifting Sun & Suffocating Wind Assyrian Invasions Rudamon & His Successors Chapter 4: Invasion & Exile (570-543 B.C.) Rudamon to Shabataka Taharka the Conqueror The Great Flood Taharka's Lament Taharka in Nubia Babylonian Garrisons Tanuatamon Chapter 5: Repair & Restoration (543-525 B.C.) Cyrus, King of Egypt Rise of Psamtik I Petition of Petesi Mentuemhet Tomb of Petorsiris Chapter 6: Cambyses in Egypt (525-522 B.C.) Cambyses' Expedition Elephantine Papyri: Petition to Bagoas Cambyses' Apis Bull |
Chapter 7: Udjahorresne - Statue & Tomb The Udjahorresne Statue Inscription: The Preamble Napatan & Meroitic Kingdoms Udjahorresne Statue Inscription: The Bibliography Udjahorresne's Tomb Chapter 8: Necao & the Persian Wars Necao Wahemibre & Darius I Canal Construction & Circumnavigation Triremes & Rebellion Apis Bulls of the 1st Persian Domination Basiliphorous & "Beautiful" Names Chapter 9: Psamtik II & the Inaros Rebellion Xerxes & Samtoutefnakht A 5th Century Psamtik II Ankhnesneferibre & Psamtik III Inaros & His Contemporaries Chapter 10: Amasis & the Greeks Amasis & Apries Naucratis The Architect Khnemibre Chapter 11: A Second "Cambyses" The Amyrtaeus Rebellion The Governor/Pharaoh Kbdj Appendix A: The Tang-I-Var Inscription Index |
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