Psammetichus I

Psammetichus I[1]
Preceded by: Necho I	Pharaoh of Egypt 26th dynasty	Succeeded by: Necho II
Reign	664 – 610 BC
Praenomen	Wahibre
Nomen	Psamtik
Horus name	Aaib
Nebty name	Neba
Golden Horus	Qenu
Consort(s)	Mehtenweskhet
Issue	Necho II, Nitocris I
Died	610 BC
Burial	Sais

Wahibre Psammetichus I (Psamtik or Psamtek), was the first of three kings of the Saite, or Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt. His prenomen, Wahibre, means "Constant is the Heart of Re.^[3] The story in Herodotus of the Dodecarchy and the rise of Psamtik is fanciful. It is known from cuneiform texts that twenty local princelings were appointed by Esarhaddon and confirmed by Assurbanipal to govern Egypt. Necho I, the father of Psammetichus by his Queen Istemabet, was the chief of these kinglets, but they seem to have been quite unable to hold the Egyptians to the hated Assyrians against the more sympathetic Nubians. The labyrinth built by Amenemhat III of the Twelfth dynasty of Egypt is ascribed by Herodotus to the Dodecarchy, or rule of 12, which must represent this combination of rulers. Psamtik was the son of Necho I who died in 664 BC. After his father's death, Psamtik managed to both unite all of Egypt and free her from Assyrian control.

Psamtik I reunified Egypt in his 9th Year when he dispatched a powerful naval fleet in March 656 BC to Thebes and compelled the existing God's Wife of Amun at Thebes to adopt his daughter Nitocris I as her Heiress in the so-called Adoption Stela. Psamtik's success destroyed the last vestiges of the Nubian Dynasty's control over Upper Egypt under Tantamani since Thebes now accepted his authority. Nitocris would serve in office for 70 years from 656 BC until her death in 586 BC. Thereafter, Psamtik I campaigned vigorously against those local princes who opposed his reunfication of Egypt. One of his victories over certain Libyans marauders is mentioned in a Year 10 and Year 11 stela from the Dakhla Oasis. Psamtik I proved to be a great Pharaoh of Egypt who won Egypt's independence from the Assyrian Empire and restored Egypt's prosperity through his long 54 Year reign. Psamtik proceeded to establish intimate relations with the Greeks. He also encouraged many Greek settlers to establish colonies in Egypt and serve in the services of his army.

The Greek historian Herodotus conveyed an anecdote about Psammetichus in the second volume of his Histories. During his travel to Egypt, Herodotus heard that Psammetichus ("Psamtik") sought to discover the origin of language by conducting an experiment with two children. Allegedly he gave two newborn babies to a shepherd, with the instructions that no one should speak to them, but that the shepherd should feed and care for them while listening to determine their first words. The hypothesis was that the first word would be uttered in the root language of all people. When one of the children cried "bekos" with outstretched arms the shepherd concluded that the word was Phrygian because that was the sound of Phrygian word for "bread." Thus, they concluded that the Phrygians were an older people than the Egyptians, and that Phrygian was the original language of men. There are no other extant sources to verify this story.

His chief wife was Mehtenweskhet, the daughter of Harsiese, the Vizier of the North and High Priests of Atum at Heliopolis. Psamtik and Mehtenweshket were the parents of Necho II, Merneith, Satnisat Djestkhebed and the Divine Adoratice Nitocris I.

Psamtik's father-in-law--the aforementioned Harsiese--was married three times: to Sheta, by whom he had a daughter named Naneferheres, to Tanini and, finally, to an unknown lady, by whom he had both Djedkare, the Vizier of the South and Mehtenweskhet.^[4] Harsiese was the son of Vizier Harkhebi, and was related to two other Harsieses, both Viziers, who were a part of the family of the famous Mayor of Thebes Montuemhat.

References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

1. ^ Psamtek I Wahibre
2. ^ Psamtik I
3. ^ Peter Clayton, Chronicle of the Pharaohs, Thames and Hudson, 1994. p.195
4. ^ Nos ancêtres de l'Antiquité, 1991, Christian Settipani, p. 153, 160 and 161

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