Psamtik II was succeeded by his son Apries who ruled for nineteen years. Except for the end of the reign the internal situation remained stable, and architectural activity continued its progress (De Meulenaere 1973: 359). Following the example of his predecessors, the king took good care of the temples, as can be seen from Sais, Busiris, Hermopolis-Baqlia, Mendes, Athribis, Tanis, Daphnae-Tell Defenna,
Heliopolis, Memphis, and Abydos. It even extended into the Bahariya Oasis (Fakhry 1950: 2-5) where Saite influence prevailed from now on. In Year 4, moreover, his sister Ankhnesneferibre succeeded Nitokris at Thebes without difficulty, thereby becoming the second Saite princess dedicated as God’s Wife of Amun (Leahy 1996: 158-9).
The problems of the reign lay abroad, where, from his accession, the king was confronted with a delicate situation. To put an end to the revolt led by Zedekiah with the support of Egypt, Nebuchadrezzar II resolved to invade Judea. A Pharaoh identifiable as Apries then sent troops to the assistance of Jerusalem, under siege since 589 (Spalinger 1977: 232 and 236). The Babylonians defeated this force, obliging them to retire from Palestine, and Apries, incapable of preventing the fall of Jerusalem in 586 (Spalinger 1977: 236), could only assist its inhabitants by offering asylum to those who had not been deported to Babylon. Some time after 587 or between 574 and 571 Apries mounted attacks on Cyprus and Phoenicia (Herodotos 2.161; Diodoros 1.68.1), launching assaults against Tyre and Sidon (Spalinger 1977: 234). These initiatives were aimed as much to defend Egyptian commercial interests in the eastern Mediterranean as to weaken the hegemony of Nebuchadrezzar, who laid siege to Tyre himself between 586 and 573. Several victories by the Saite navy are reported on the Phoenician coast, the sea thus becoming the element where the Egyptians were in the best position to contest Babylonian predominance.
At the end of 572 Apries was asked by the Libyan king Adikran to help him block the expansion of the Greek colony of Cyrene, then ruled by Battos II, which threatened his own country as much as Egyptian commercial interests. Apries chose to support him (Herodotos 2.161; 4.159; Diodoros 1.68.2). However, to avoid pitting his Greek mercenaries against other Hellenes, he sent him Egyptian troops, but these defeated at Irasa. Retreating full of resentment towards the ruler who had led them to this rout, they revolted and this led the king, at the end of 571, to despatch his general Amasis after them to bring them to their senses (Herodotos 2.162; Diodoros 1.68.2-4). This move proved disastrous; for, once among the rebels, Amasis, who originated from a little town in the Saite nome, had himself proclaimed king (Leahy 1988: 187-8).
World History
