Ruler
Cambyses II
Persian king, conqueror of Egypt
525 – 522 BCE
Regnal dates after Shaw (2000); they are more precise for this period than for earlier ones.
Biography
King of the Achaemenid empire. He defeated the Egyptians at Pelusium in 525 BCE and became the first king of the Persian Twenty-seventh Dynasty, taking an Egyptian throne name.
Key facts
Certainty: Debated
Herodotus accuses Cambyses of killing the sacred Apis bull, but Egyptian records note an Apis burial in his reign with the usual rites.
Scholarly note: Many scholars think Herodotus’ picture of a "mad" Cambyses reflects later hostile propaganda.
- Herodotus “Histories, Book II (5th century BCE)”, III.27–29
- Pierre Briant (2002) “From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire” Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake