Twenty-Ninth Dynasty

The Mendean Kings

399 to 380 BC

Nepherites I becomes the first Pharaoh of the Twenty-Ninth Dynasty after overthrowing Amyrtaeus II. Nepherites I maintains Egypt’s independence from the Persians by forming an alliance with the Spartans. On his death, Nepherites I’s heir, Muthis, is usurped by Psammuthes, and their respective factions wear each other down to the point that a third party is able to secure the throne for himself.

Hakor supplants Psammuthes and seizes the throne based on a most likely spurious claim that he is Nepherites I’s grandson. During Hakor’s rule Persia and Sparta enter a period of peace, but Hakor continues to hold off the Persians with the assistance of Cyprus and Athenian mercenaries. Hakor’s heir, Nepherites II, only rules for four months before he is overthrown by Nekhtnebef I (Nectanebo I), ending the Twenty-Ninth Dynasty.