(Khnemibre) (d. 526 B.C.E.) Sixth king of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty
Amasis usurped the throne of APRIES and ruled from 570
B.C.E. until his death. He was a general of Egypt’s armies, having served PSAMMETICHUS II (r. 595–589 B.C.E.) as commander of an expedition to NUBIA, modern Sudan. He served Apries (r. 589–570 B.C.E.) in the same capacity until Egypt was drawn into a war between Libya’s ruler, ADICRAN, and the Greek colony of CYRENE. Apries sent troops to aid Libya in freeing itself from the Greek colonists, but they were badly defeated by the superior Greek military. The Egyptian troops promptly mutinied, and Amasis was sent to their camp in the Delta to mediate a truce. He sided with the soldiers and was hailed as the new ruler of Egypt. Apries, forced into exile, returned in 567 B.C.E. with Greek mercenaries who had little enthusiasm for the civil war that ensued. Apries met Amasis at MOMEMPHIS (probably a site near Terana on the Canopic branch of the Nile) in the Delta region and was quickly routed. He was then handed over to a mob and was slain but was buried with considerable pomp. A red granite STELA was erected on the site of the battle.
