History of Persian Egypt

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The history of Persian Egypt is divided into two eras following the first Achaemenid conquest of Egypt punctuated by an interval of independence:
Twenty seventh Dynasty of Egypt (525–404 BCE), also known as the First Egyptian Satrapy. Thirty first Dynasty of Egypt (343–332 BCE), also known as the Second Egyptian Satrapy.

In the 5th century BCE, Persian rulers, particularly Cyrus the Great, sought to expand their imperialist agenda to include Egypt. Expansionism was a key strategy for empires of the ancient world to establish military and economic dominance, and Egypt was a priority of Cyrus the Great's, in large part due to the desirability of the Nile river and valley as economic assets. The contemporaneous Egyptian pharaoh, Amasis, attempted to ward off the occupation by forming alliances with neighbouring rulers, in particular Polycrates of Samos, as those rulers also had a vested interest in preventing more significant Persian expansion in their region. This was successful for a time, and as such Persian occupation of Egypt was not achieved under Cyrus the Great. However, it would later be achieved under his son, Cambyses II. Thus, Persian rule in Egypt, also referred to as the Achaemenid Empire, was initiated under the rule of Cambyses II, who ousted the last of the Dynasty XXVI pharaohs, Amasis’ son, Psammetichus III. Egypt became an important and prosperous resource for the Persian Empire. The Persian, or Achaemenid, Empire existed between 525 and 330 BCE, though Persian rule was not consistent for the entirety of that period, as there were periods of restoration of Egyptian independence, in particular, in between the first and second Egyptian Satrapies.