Brugsch, Heinrich: Egypt under the pharaohs: a history derived entirely from the monuments (London, 1891)

PSAMTHEK I. 443

quoted by Josephus in his ' Treatise against Apion.'
Syncellus and Eusebius have also preserved small por-
tions of it in their writings ; but it is evident that
many are incorrect transcriptions, even if they are not
absolutely spurious. The most important classic writer
Upon this subject is Herodotus, who devotes the whole
°f the second and the beginning of the third book of
his celebrated history to Egypt and the Egyptians.
Notwithstanding the many attacks which have of late
years been made upon the veracity of the ancient his-
torian, modern excavations and the deciphering of
texts prove that his statements from his own personal
knowledge are, on the whole, to be trusted. JSText to
him in rank, but greatly his inferiors, are Diodorus
Siculus, Strabo, Josephus, and Plutarch.

Psamthek I., B.C. 666-612.—After the Assyrian
defeat of Urdamen, the son-in-law and successor of
Taharaqa, which was followed by the sack of Thebes,
the country seems to have settled down for a time
Under the rule of several petty princes. At last one
°f them, named Psamthek, the son of that Neku who
■^as put to death by Shabak (p. 418), succeeded in
gaining the supremacy in Lower Egypt. The means
he adopted for attaining his object are so mixed up
"with tradition and popular fable that it is impossible
to do more than assume that it was chiefly through the
aid of the Greek mercenaries in the Delta that he
gained the throne. To further secure the sovereignty,
he married Shep-en-apet, an Ethiopian princess, the
niece of Shabak, thus rendering his line legitimate.
The ruins near Sa-el-Hagar mark the site of Sal's, his
capital. According to Herodotus, this town became
one of the most flourishing in the kingdom, and was
the centre of that great revival of art which is one of
the distinguishing features of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty.