This new domination lasted only ten years but was notably more brutal and destructive than its predecessor, exacerbating anti-Persian sentiment in the population (Devauchelle 1995a: 68 and 79-80). Diodoros (16.51.2) attributes a series of retaliation strategies to the energetic Artaxerxes III (Devauchelle 1995b: 35 and 38-40): dismantling the defences of the principal cities, pillaging sanctuaries, and the seizure of the sacred annals, demonstrating the severity with which the Great King imposed his rule. He made Pherendates his satrap to govern the country in his name, a role which passed to Sabakes in 333. We know practically nothing of the manner in which Egypt was governed directed under his successors Artaxerxes IV (Devauchelle 1995b: 40) and Darius III (Devauchelle 1995b: 36 and 43), who respectively came to power during the Winter of 338/7 and in June 336, except that the situation did not improve for the inhabitants.
The arrival of Alexander the Great in 332 brought this sorry episode to a well-deserved conclusion.
At a point which is difficult to establish general discontent led to the resurgence of an ephemeral indigenous kingship represented by the rebel Khabbash ‘‘chosen by Ptah’’ who enjoyed a reign of two years and whose influence extended to Memphis, where he carried out the burial of an Apis bull, and also to the western Delta and the Theban area (Devauchelle 1995b: 36 and 40-2; Ladynin 2005: 100, n. 42).
FURTHER READING
For the history of the period one may consult Huss 2001: 20-54, with recent references. For more detail on the events of the Saite period consult James 1991: 708-38; for the two Persian dominations, there is abundant information in Briant 1996, with complementary bibliography in Briant 1997: 5-127; 2001. For the Twenty-eighth-Thirtieth Dynasties see Lloyd 1994: 337-45. On the special features of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty, in addition to the analyses in Spalinger 1978a, and Jansen-Winkeln 2001a, see above all those of Yoyotte forthcoming b; not only does the author revisit the origins of the Saite Dynasty along the lines of Perdu 2002: 1215-43, but he also covers the role played by Sais after the extinction of the line. The principal royal documents relating to Saite Egypt are presented in Perdu 1986, Der Manuelian 1994: 297-385, and Gozzoli 2006: 87-103. As for the essential account of
Herodotos on that period, this is discussed by Lloyd, 1975. For the Twenty-seventh Dynasty the hieroglyphic sources are brought together by Posener 1936, and recently recapitulated in Gozzoli 2006: 111-25. For the later dynasties, only the Twenty-ninth has benefited from an inventory of the royal accounts in Traunecker 1979: 395-436. To get at least an idea of the works accomplished by each of the kings in the temples, you should consult Gauthier 1916: 66-155, for the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-eighth Dynasties, and Kienitz 1953: 190-232, for the following dynasties.
World History
