Ruler
Psamtik I
Founder of the Twenty-sixth (Saite) Dynasty
664 – 610 BCE
Regnal dates after Shaw (2000); they are more precise for this period than for earlier ones.
Biography
A prince of Sais who began as an Assyrian vassal, then unified Egypt and shook off Assyrian control. He relied on mercenaries from Greece and Caria, and secured Thebes by having his daughter Nitocris adopted as "God’s Wife of Amun".
Key facts
Certainty: Established
In his 9th year (c. 656 BCE) his daughter Nitocris was adopted by the God’s Wife of Amun at Thebes, bringing Thebes under his authority.
- Ian Shaw (ed.) (2000) “The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt” Oxford University Press