Соңғы Египет фараоны: Нектанеб II

Last native Egyptian pharaoh

Nectanebo II (Egyptian: [[:wikt:nḫt; ) was the last native ruler of ancient Egypt, as well as the third and last pharaoh of the Thirtieth Dynasty, reigning from 358 to 340 BC. During the reign of Nectanebo II, Egyptian artists developed a specific style that left a distinctive mark on the reliefs of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. Like his indirect predecessor Nectanebo I, Nectanebo II showed enthusiasm for many of the cults of the gods within ancient Egyptian religion, and more than a hundred Egyptian sites bear evidence of his attention. For several years, Nectanebo II was successful in keeping Egypt safe from the Achaemenid Empire. However, he was betrayed by his former servant, Mentor of Rhodes, and ultimately defeated. The Persians occupied Memphis and then seized the rest of Egypt, incorporating the country into the Achaemenid Empire under Artaxerxes III. Nectanebo fled south. His subsequent fate is unknown.

Nectanebo is derived from the Greek form of his name, Nectanebos (Νεκτανεβώς, or Νεκτανεβός in later sources). His Egyptian name was Nḫt Ḥr Ḥbt, which means "victorious is Horus of Hebyt". Although convention in English assigns identical names to him and his grandfather, Nectanebo I, the latter was in fact called Nectanebis (Νεκτάνεβις). Medieval Arab authors referred to him as Naqatanibas (ناقاطانيباس).

In 525 BC, Egypt was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire. Because of internal struggles for the Persian imperial succession, Egypt managed to regain independence in 404 BC. In 389 BC, Pharaoh Hakor negotiated a treaty with Athens and for three years (from 385 to 383 BC) managed to withstand Persian aggression. However, following the conclusion of the Peace of Antalcidas in 387 BC between the Achaemenids and the Greek city states, Egypt and Cyprus became the only obstacles to Persian hegemony in the Mediterranean. At the beginning of 360 BC, Nectanebo's predecessor, Teos, started preparations for war against intruders. In the same year, the Egyptian army set off, traveling along the coast by land and sea. Nectanebo II accompanied his uncle Teos in that campaign and was in charge of the machimoi. In an attempt to quickly raise finances for the war, Teos imposed taxes on Egyptians and seized temple property. Egyptians, particularly the priests, resented these measures but supported Nectanebo II. Teos asked Spartan military leader Agesilaus and Athenian general Chabrias to support him. Agesilaus, however, said he was sent to aid Egypt and not to wage war against it. The claimant sent messengers to Agesilaus in an attempt to persuade Agesilaus to his side.

Religion played an important part in Nectanebo's domestic policy. He began his reign by officiating over the funeral of an Apis bull in Memphis. There, Nectanebo added a relief decoration to the eastern and western temples of Apis. Among notable sanctuaries erected under Nectanebo II are a temple of Khnum in Abu and a temple of Amun at Sekhtam. He also dedicated a diorite naos to Anhur Shu (a fragment of it was found in the temples of Tjebnutjer). Nectanebo II was responsible for the increasing popularity of the Buchis cult. Foreign affairs under Nectanebo II were thwarted by repeated Achaemenid attempts to reoccupy Egypt. Before the accession of Nectanebo II to the throne, the Persians attempted to reclaim Egypt in 385, 383, and 373 BC. Nectanebo used the peace to build up a new army and employed Greek mercenaries, which was a common practice at the time. In about 351 BC, the Achaemenid Empire embarked on a new attempt to reclaim Egypt. After a year of fighting, Nectanebo and his allied generals, Diofant d'Atenes and Lamius of Sparta, managed to defeat the Achaemenids. Having scored a resounding victory, Nectanebo II was acclaimed "Nectanebo the divine falcon" by his people, and cults were set up in his name. In 345/44 BC, Nectanebo supported the Phoenician rebellion against the Achaemenid Empire, led by the king of Sidon, Tennes, and dispatched military aid in the form of 4,000 Greek mercenaries, led by Mentor of Rhodes. However, having heard of the approach of the forces of Artaxerxes III, Mentor opened communication with the Persians in collusion with Tennes. Athens and Sparta treated the ambassadors with courtesy, but refrained from committing to an alliance against Egypt. In addition, Nectanebo had a number of flat bottomed boats intended to prevent an enemy from entering the Nile mouths. The vulnerable points along his Mediterranean sea border and east boundary were protected by strongholds, fortifications and entrenched camps. and installed a satrap. Nectanebo fled to Upper Egypt and finally to Nubia, where he was granted asylum. He, however, preserved a degree of power there for some time. With the help of Khabash, Nectanebo made a vain attempt to regain the throne.

Though placed in an unfortunate period of Egyptian history, and with his legacy perhaps marred by being "the last pharaoh" to rule an autonomous Egypt, Nectanebo was an extensive builder, likely on a scale that would equal many kings of the glory days of the New Kingdom. References to either Nectanebo II or his grandfather have been found almost ubiquitously at the premier religious centres, and the piety of the two kings matched those of the great kings of the past, attested to by the numerous monuments across Egypt bearing their names. Nectanebo II, specifically, built and improved temples across the country, and he donated extensively to the priesthoods of the plethora of sites which he donated to. Nectanebo's name has been found at Heliopolis, Athribis, and Bubastis in the Nile Delta, among other places, but he built most extensively at Sebennytos, including the modern site of Behbeit El Hagar. The reliefs of the temples at Sebennytos would leave a distinct mark on the art of the later Ptolemaic Kingdom. The religious focus of his building campaigns, however, may not be solely due to sheer piety; because Nectanebo was an usurper, he likely sought to legitimise his rule over Egypt religiously.

Except for the small scale greywacke statue in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which shows Nectanebo II standing before the image of Horus, no other annotated portraits of Nectanebo II are known. In the greywacke statue, Nectanebo II is shown in a nemes and uraeus. His bent arm with the sword stands for the hieroglyph nakht, the falcon represents Horus, while the hieroglyph in Nectanebo's right hand stands for heb. Other portraits attributed to Nectanebo II (all featuring the khepresh) include a quartzite head in the museum of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, a basalt head in Alexandria, a granite head acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and a damaged quartzite head. Soon after, following the Battle of Alexandria in 1801, Napoleon's forces surrendered to the British, and conditionally turned over antiquities they had gathered from the ancient city. Notably, among these was the Rosetta Stone, as well as a seven ton sarcophagus, covered in hieroglyphics. Soon after the British secured these, they were approached by locals who believed that this was the tomb of Alexander the Great. Thereafter, the sarcophagus was taken to London, where it still resides at the British Museum. For a time, the tomb was believed to have belonged to Alexander. However, after the translation of the Rosetta Stone, the writings on the sarcophagus were deciphered, and it became clear the tomb was not fashioned for him. The hieroglyphics on the tomb were sections from the Book of What is in the Underworld, and contained the cartouche of Nectanebo II. It has been argued that the sarcophagus did indeed house the remains of Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great's body was temporarily entombed in Memphis following his death, and Saqqara is a suspected location of his temporary Memphite tomb. Nectanebo had erected a temple there, where he may have intended to be laid to rest. It is possible the tomb was vacant in Memphis at the same time Alexander's body was placed there. When Alexander's remains were moved to Alexandria, it may have been along with the sarcophagus. This myth would hold strong appeal for the Egyptians, who desired continuity and harbored a strong dislike for foreign rule. In art of this event, Nectanebo is usually depicted as having dragon like features, for example in the Speculum Historiale. In the early Ptolemaic tale of Nectanebo and Petesis, preserved only in a Greek fragment from the Serapeum of Saqqara, the pharaoh has a prophetic dream of Isis in which the god Onuris is angry with him because of his unfinished temple in Sebennytos. Nectanebo calls in the best sculptor of the realm, Petesis, to finish the job, but he bungles his assignment when he gets drunk and chases a beautiful girl instead. The narrative ends abruptly here, but this is probably the preface to the fall of Egypt. Al Biruni's A History of India reproduces the story. The legend of Nectanebo (or Nectanebus, or Natanabo, as reported in some versions of the Alexander Romance) left a profound mark on European culture up to the Renaissance and beyond. It is no coincidence that this character is included in the Sola Busca tarot (with the name Natanabo) together with other important "actors" of the same legend: Alexander, Philip of Macedon, Olympias and Ammon. An alchemical interpretation of this character was provided by the Italian scholar Sofia Di Vincenzo in a study on the Sola Busca Tarot, where she explains that Natanabo represents a celestial messenger who came to earth with a gift, the helmet, which is a symbol of invulnerability and both physical and mental potency.