Battle of Pelusium (343 BC)

At the end of the 400s BC Egyptian rebel Amyrtaeus used instability within the Persian Empire (Battle of Cunaxa) to gain Egypt its independence with himself as pharaoh[5].This began a new period of warfare between Persia and the newly independent Egypt. Persia invaded Egypt in 385 and 383 BC when it had finished its wars elsewhere but these invasions were fought back.[6] Another even larger invasion in 373 was defeated due to disagreements between the Persian commanders.[7] All these invasions were followed by Egyptian counterattacks into Phoenicia, which were only mildly successful.

In 351 BC, Artaxerxes III prepared to launch another invasion into Egypt. At the same time a rebellion had broken out in Asia Minor, which, being supported by Thebes, threatened to become serious.[8] Levying a vast army, Artaxerxes marched into Egypt, and engaged Nectanebo II. After a year of fighting the Egyptian Pharaoh, Nectanebo inflicted a crushing defeat on the Persians with the support of mercenaries led by the Greek generals Diophantus and Lamius.[9] Artaxerxes was compelled to retreat and postpone his plans to reconquer Egypt.

In 343 BC, Artaxerxes, in addition to his 330,000 Persians, had now a force of 14,000 Greeks furnished by the Greek cities of Asia Minor: 4,000 under Mentor, consisting of the troops which he had brought to the aid of Tennes from Egypt; 3,000 sent by Argos; and 1,000 from Thebes. He divided these troops into three bodies, and placed at the head of each a Persian and a Greek. The Greek commanders were Lacrates of Thebes, Mentor of Rhodes, and Nicostratus of Argos while the Persians were led by Rhossaces, Aristazanes, and Bagoas, the chief of the eunuchs. Nectanebo II resisted with an army of 100,000, of whom 20,000 were Greek mercenaries. Nectanebo II occupied the Nile and its various branches with his large navy. The character of the country, intersected by numerous canals, and full of strongly fortified towns, was in his favour and Nectanebo II might have been expected to offer a prolonged, if not even a successful, resistance. But he lacked good generals, and over-confident in his own powers of command, he was able to be out-manoeuvred by the Greek mercenary generals and his forces were eventually defeated by the combined Persian armies.[10]

After his defeat, Nectanebo II hastily fled to Memphis, leaving the fortified towns to be defended by their garrisons. These garrisons consisted of partly Greek and partly Egyptian troops; between whom jealousies and suspicions were easily sown by the Persian leaders. As a result, the Persians were able to rapidly reduce numerous towns across Lower Egypt and were advancing upon Memphis when Nectanebo II decided to quit the country and flee southwards to Ethiopia.[10] The Persian army completely routed the Egyptians and occupied the Lower Delta of the Nile. Following Nectanebo II fleeing to Ethiopia, all of Egypt submitted to Artaxerxes. The Jews in Egypt were sent either to Babylon or to the south coast of the Caspian Sea, the same location that the Jews of Phoenicia had earlier been sent.

After this victory over the Egyptians, Artaxerxes had the city walls destroyed, started a reign of terror, and set about looting all the temples. Persia gained a significant amount of wealth from this looting. Artaxerxes also raised high taxes and attempted to weaken Egypt enough that it could never again revolt against Persia. For the 10 years that Persia controlled Egypt, believers in the native religion were persecuted and sacred books were stolen.[11] Before he returned to Persia, he appointed Pherendares as satrap of Egypt. With the wealth gained from his reconquering Egypt, Artaxerxes was able to amply reward his mercenaries. He then returned to his capital having successfully completed his invasion of Egypt.

• First Persian occupation of Egypt
• Battle of Pelusium (525 BC)
• Artaxerxes III
• Cambyses II