PSAMMETICHUS (Egypt. Psammetk)

This article appears in Volume V22, Page 541 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: PRE-PYR

PSAMMETICHUS (Egypt. Psammetk) , the name of three kings of the Saite, XXVIth Dynasty, called by

Herodotus

HERODOTUS (c. 484-425 B.C.)

respectively Psammetichus, Psammis and Psammenitus. The first of these is generally considered to be the founder of the dynasty;

Manetho

MANETHO (Mav40cov in an inscription of Carthage; MaveBees in a papyrus)

, however, carries it back through three or four predecessors who ruled at Sais as

petty

PETTY, SIR WILLIAM (1623-1687)

kings under the XXVth, Ethiopian, Dynasty. The name is frankly written so as to mean " the man of methek," i.e. " mixed drink," whether as a tippler or as a vendor of strong drink. The Egyptian scribes do not conceal the opprobrious elements, but it has been suggested that the name may be due to false etymology of a foreign name (though all the names throughout the dynasty appear to be Egyptian), or that Methek may have been an unknown deity. The story in

Herodotus

HERODOTUS (c. 484-425 B.C.)

of the Dodecarchy and the rise of Psammetichus is fanciful. It is known from cuneiform texts that twenty local princelings were appointed by Esarhaddon and confirmed by Assur-bani-pal to govern

Egypt

EGYPT

. Niku (Necho), father of Psammetichus, was the

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

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 labyrinth built by a king of the XIIth Dynasty is ascribed by Herodotus to the Dodecarchy, or

rule

RULE

of 12, which must
represent this combination of rulers. If the dynasties were numbered thus before

Manetho

MANETHO (Mav40cov in an inscription of Carthage; MaveBees in a papyrus)

, the numeral may be the cause of Herodotus's confusion. After his father's death Psammetichus I. (664-610 B.C.) was able to defy the Assyrians and the Ethiopians, and during a

long

LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

reign marked by intimate relations with the Greeks restored the prosperity of

Egypt

EGYPT

. The short reign of the second Psammetichus (594-589 B.C.) is noteworthy for the graffiti of his Greek, Phoenician and Carian mercenaries at Abu Simbel (q.v.). The third of the name was the unfortunate prince whose reign terminated after six months in the Persian conquest of Egypt (525 B.C.). It has been conjectured that the family of the Psammetichi was of Libyan origin; on the other hand, some would recognize negro features in a portrait of Psammetichus I., which might connect him with the Ethiopian rulers.
See above, EGYPT: History; on the name, F. Ll. Griffith, Catalogue of the

Rylands

RYLANDS, JOHN (18o1-1888)

demotic

DEMOTIC (Gr. Srlµorucos, of or belonging to the people)

papyri; the portrait, H. Schafer in Zeitschrift

fair

FAIR

aegyptische Sprache, xxxiii. 116. (F. LL. G.)

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