Royal house of Persia. This dynasty of Persia (modern Iran) ruled Egypt as the Twenty-seventh Dynasty (525404 b. c.e.) and as the Thirty-first Dynasty (343-332 b. c.e.). The Achaemenians were descendants of Achaemenes, the ruler of a vassal kingdom in the Median Empire (858-550 b. c.e.). Cyrus the Great (c. 590-529 b. c.e.), a descendant of the dynasty’s founder, overthrew the Median line ruling Persia and expanded his control of neighboring lands. His son, cambyses, took Egypt in 525 B. C.E. The Achaemenians included: darius i, who came from a collateral branch of the royal line; xerxes i; arta-XERXES I Longimanus; Xerxes II; darius ii Nothus; arta-XERXES II Memnon; artaxerxes iii ochus; arses; and DARIUS III Codomanus, who fell before the armies of ALEXANDER III THE GREAT in 330 B. C.E.
See also Persians.
Achillas (d. c. 47 b. c.e.) Military officer of Egypt He served ptolemy xiii (r. 51-47 b. c.e.) and was possibly present when the murder of pompey the Great took place. Pompey had fled to Egypt for safety but was assassinated on September 28, 48 b. c.e. His head was reportedly preserved and presented as an offering to Julius caesar. When Caesar occupied Alexandria, Achillas was involved in a siege of that capital, an offensive that proved unsuccessful.
A veteran of many battles, esteemed by other military figures, even among his political foes, Achillas ran afoul of ARSINOE (4), the royal sister of Cleopatra vii. Arsinoe was an enemy of Cleopatra and Caesar, wanting the throne of Egypt for herself. She raised an army to depose her sister and her Roman allies, and she asked Achillas to serve as her commanding general. Not skilled in court intrigues or in the murderous ways of Arsinoe and her predecessors, Achillas managed to confront and infuriate the princess, who had him executed.
Achoris (1) A site located just south of the faiyum and north of modern Tihna el-Gebel. The famed “Fraser Tombs,” rock-cut grave enclosures, were discovered in Tihna el-Gebel. These date to the Old Kingdom (2575-2134 b. c.e.). The other ruins at Achoris contain three small temples and a Greco-Roman necropolis. Achoris was used by nomarchs of the Fifth Dynasty (2465-2323 b. c.e.).
World History
