History of Persian Egypt

The history of Persian Egypt is divided into three eras:

• Achaemenid Egypt (525–404 BC and 343–332 BC), referring to two periods of Achaemenid rule punctuated by an interval of independence:
  • Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt (525–404 BC), also known as the First Egyptian Satrapy.
  • Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt (343–332 BC), also known as the Second Egyptian Satrapy.
  • Sasanian Egypt (619–629 AD), referring to a period of occupation by the Sasanian Empire (Second Persian Empire), after the Sasanian conquest of Egypt and shortly before the Muslim invasions

Part of a series on the
History of Egypt
Prehistoric Egypt pre–3150 BC
Ancient Egypt Early Dynastic Period 3150–2686 BC Old Kingdom 2686–2181 BC 1st Intermediate Period 2181–2055 BC Middle Kingdom 2055–1650 BC 2nd Intermediate Period 1650–1550 BC New Kingdom 1550–1069 BC 3rd Intermediate Period 1069–664 BC Late Period 664–332 BC
Greco-Roman Egypt Argead and Ptolemaic dynasties 332–30 BC Roman and Byzantine Egypt 30 BC–641 AD Sasanian Egypt 619–629
Medieval Egypt Rashidun Egypt 641–661 Umayyad Egypt 661–750 Abbasid Egypt 750–935 Tulunid dynasty 868–905 Ikhshidid dynasty 935–969 Fatimid dynasty 969–1171 Ayyubid dynasty 1171–1250 Mamluk dynasties 1250–1517
Early modern Egypt Ottoman Egypt 1517–1867 French occupation 1798–1801 Muhammad Ali dynasty 1805–1853 Khedivate of Egypt 1867–1914
Late Modern Egypt British occupation 1882–1922 Sultanate of Egypt 1914–1922 Kingdom of Egypt 1922–1953 Republic 1953–present
Egypt portal

Egypt was a rich country, and the Persians had coveted it for more than a millennium. It had been conquered twice by the Achaemenids (525–404 and 343–332 BC, before Alexander's conquest), but the stable and powerful Ptolemaic Kingdom, and then the Roman Empire, kept away Persians from Egypt for much of the Greek, Roman, and Byzantine periods. But the expansionist designs of the Sasanian King Khosrow II (590–628), taking advantage of a troubled period on the Byzantine side, allowed Persians under the command of Shahrbaraz to conquer Egypt once again (among other parts of the Near East), for a short period (619–629).[1]