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.

Twenty-Sixth Dynasty

The Saite Dynasty

664 to 525 BC

The Assyrians, who still held sway in the northern region, installed Necho I to serve as their vassal in the delta city of Sais.  When Tantamani, last ruler of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty, threatened to take Sais, the Assyrians counter-attacked and drove him out of Lower and Middle Egypt and into exile in Nubia.  Sais had a strong tradition of local nobility, having been the seat of power during the Fourteenth Dynasty and home to the Great Chiefs of the West during the Twenty-Fourth, and it is from this line of Great Chiefs, particularly Bakenrenef, that this dynasty hails.

Necho I is included in this list for reference purposes, but the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty doesn’t really begin until his son, Psamtik I, comes to power.  Psamtik I begins his reign as governor of Egypt on behalf of the Assyrian Empire, but as the Assyrian Empire’s power wanes during its long war of attrition with the Babylonians, Psamtik I is left pretty much to rule Egypt independently.  Around 656 BC Psamtik I sails his navy up the Nile to Thebes, which peacefully capitulates.  With the Upper and Lower Kingdoms again under the rule of a single pharaoh, Egypt begins its final period under a native Egyptian family.

The dynasty is largely defined in terms of its conflict with the Babylonian Empire, the new force to be reckoned with.  This external threat, combined with mutinous mercenaries and the threat of civil war, would prove to be too much for the Saite Dynasty, which ends with the invasion of the Persian King Cambyses II and the flight of Psamtik III to Memphis

Twenty-Fourth Dynasty

The Great Chiefs of the West

727 to 715 BC

The Twenty-Fourth Dynasty was a line of Libyan kings based in the western delta city of Sais.  This dynasty overlaps with the Twenty-Third and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties, and could be considered a part of the Libyan federation of kingships of the Twenty-Third Dynasty.  The kings of this dynasty were known as “Great Chiefs of the West.”  Their rules overlap both the Twenty-Third and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties, resulting in the contradicting dates.

Fourteenth Dynasty

The Kings of the Delta

1773 to 1650 BC

The Fourteenth Dynasty was extremely fragmented, with local rulers all over the delta region.  Adding to the confusion, many Thirteenth and Fifteenth Dynasty kings overlapped with the Fourteenth Dynasty.  As many as 76 kings may have ruled during this short period, of which the primary Saite kings are listed below.