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.

Twenty-Eighth Dynasty

The Short Reign of the Liberator

404 to 399 BC

The only ruler of the Twenty-Eighth Dynasty, Amyrtaeus II was a Saite nobleman, believed to be related to the pharaohs of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, who began a revolt under the reign of the Persian King Darius II.  As Persia became embroiled with wars on other fronts, Amyrtaeus II took advantage of their weakened position to seize control of all of Egypt, returning Upper and Lower Egypt to Egyptian rule again.

Amyrtaeus II’s reign was short lived, however, as Nepherites I, a contender from the eastern Nile delta city of Mendes (Djedet to the Egyptians), raised his own army and defeated Amyrtaeus II.  Nepherites declared himself Pharaoh and, having executed the liberator Amyrtaeus at Memphis, end the Twenty-Eighth Dynasty before it could even take root.