E G Y P Y. 
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from his fubjedls in the beginning of his reign. He, how¬ 
ever, thought it prudent to fubdue their temper by an 
artful mode of conduct, and to conciliate their affections 
by gentlenefs and reafon. He caufed a golden cittern, in 
which he ufed to wafh his feet, to be melted down and 
caft into a ftatue, which, by his exprefs order, was ex- 
pofed to public adoration. The people haftened in 
crowds to perform their devotions before the new god, 
when the king informed them of the vile ufes to which 
it had once been applied, though it was now become an 
objeCt of their word)ip. The application of this remark 
had the deiircd fuccefs, and the king was from that time 
treated with veneration. He attended clofely tobufinefs 
during the morning, and devoted the reft of the day to 
mirth and conviviality : but, as he fometimes carried his 
gaiety beyond due bounds, his friends affured him that 
he would render himfelf contemptible by the unfuitable- 
nefs of his conduCt : to which he anfwered, that the 
mind of man required relaxation to preferve its energy ; 
and that it was as impodible to be always ferious, as for 
a bow to continue always bent, without lofing its vigour. 
He built a magnificent portico to the temple of Minerva 
at Sais ; founded the great temple of Ifis at Memphis ; 
enriched the other celebrated temples with a profufion 
of gifts and ornaments ; and removed an edifice, confid¬ 
ing only of one done, from Elephantina to Sais : two 
thoufand men were employed during the fpace of three 
years in tranfporting this extraordinary edifice, which 
meafured twenty-one cubits in front, fourteen in depth, 
and eight in height: the interior dimenfions were eighteen 
cubits, tw'elve, and five. So great was his fame for mu¬ 
nificence and humanity, that when,the Delphians endea¬ 
voured to raife a contribution towards the rebuilding of 
their temple, which had beendeftroyed by fire, he volun¬ 
tarily gave them a thoufand talents of alum. He made 
an alliance with the Cyrenians, and married Ladice, the 
daughter of Critobolus. After the confummation of his 
nuptials, he fent a gilded ftatue of Minerva and his own 
portrait to the city of Cyrene ; to the city of Lindus lie 
prefented two (tone ftatues of the fame goddefs ; and to 
Samos he ferit two wooden images of himfelf, which were 
feen Handing feveral ages afterwards behind the gates of 
the great temple of Juno. To tliefe particulars we may 
add, that lie was the firft prince who conquered Cyprus, 
and extorted a tribute from its inhabitants. 
Hitherto we have fpcken of Amafis as a great and hap¬ 
py monarch, but we are now obliged to confefs that his 
reign, however glorious in fome particulars, was mixed 
with ignominy, and that his latter days were darkened 
by one of the mod dreadful ftorms that ever threatened 
the fafety of Egypt. Xenophon allures us that Egypt 
was fubdued by Cyrus ; which mnft have been during 
this long reign. Herodotus aliens, that Amafis and Crce- 
fus were leagued together againft Cyrus; and it is well 
known that Nebuchadnezzar almoft ruined the whole 
kingdom ; though no mention is made of this deftruftion 
by profane authors, who have either copied from the an¬ 
cient records of Egypt, or depended upon the oral tra¬ 
ditions of the Egyptian priefts, men who would naturally 
exert themfelves to hide from every fcrutinizing eye the 
foul dithonour of their nation. Amafis, having by fome 
means exafperated Cambyfes the Perfian, was threatened 
( with an invafion by that prince immediately after the 
death of Cyrus. At the fame time Phanes of Halicar- 
nalfus, commander of the Grecian auxiliaries in the pay 
of Amafis, quitted Egypt in difguft, and embarked for 
Perfia. Amafis was juftly alarmed at the gathering cloud, 
and was perfectly lcnfible how great a lofs he mull fuf- 
tain in the defedfion of a man who, as a valiant captain, 
a judicious counfcllor, and a perfon thoroughly acquaint¬ 
ed with all his affairs, might ftrengthen the hands of Cam¬ 
byfes, and facilitate the deftruftion of Egypt. He there¬ 
fore fent a fwift-failing galley to purfue the fugitive, who 
was overtaken at Lycia ; but, having intoxicate^ his 
guard, he rendered abortive all the fchemes of Amafis, 
3 
and proceeded without moleftation to the court of Cam¬ 
byfes. About the fame period Amafis, as if finally deftined 
to accumulated misfortunes, renounced the friendfhip 
and alliance which had long fubfifted between himfelf 
and Polycrates, the tyrant of Samos. In confequence of 
this prepofterous behaviour, Polycrates offered to affift 
Cambyfes with a fleet of lliips, in his purpofed invafion. 
Previous, however, to the commencement of the impend¬ 
ing ftorm, Amafis paid the debt of nature, in the forty- 
fourth year of his reign ; and left a diffracted kingdom 
to his fon. 
Pfammenitus had fcarcely affurned the enfigns of the 
regal office, when Cambyfes appeared on the frontiers 
with a powerful army, in the year before Chrift.525. A 
body of forces was levied with all pofiible expedition’, to 
elude the prefling danger ; but the Perfian laying fiege 
to Peluflum, made himfelf mailer of that important city, 
without the leaft oppofition from the Egyptian garrifon. 
Immediately after the furrender, Pfammenitus advanced 
to flop the progrefs of his foe. Previous to the engage¬ 
ment, the Greeks who ferved under Pfammenitus, anx¬ 
ious to exprefs their indignation againft their faithlefs 
countryman, Phanes, brought his children into the camp, 
killed them before their father’s face, and drank their 
blood in prefence of the two armies. This barbarity 
roufed the Perfian foldiers to vengeance, and they imme¬ 
diately commenced their revenge with fuch fury as foon 
put the Egyptian forces to flight, and covered the field 
with their dead bodies. Thole who efcaped the daugh¬ 
ter fled to Memphis, where they tore a Pt.fian herald to 
pieces, and carried his limbs in triumph through the ci¬ 
ty. They were, however, foon befieged by their invete¬ 
rate foes, and compelled to furrender atdifcretion : when 
their enormities were retaliated by the public execution 
of the prime nobility, among whom was tiie fon of Pfam- 
menitus. The Egyptian monarch himfelf was.taken cap¬ 
tive, but Cambyfes reftored him to his liberty, and would 
probably have entrufted him with the adminiftration of 
affairs ; but this forbearance made no impreflion on his 
vindictive fpirit, which thirfted for revenge on the con¬ 
queror ; he was therefore condemned to drink bull’s 
blood, and expired after a difmal reign of fix months, and 
a fhort captivity. Cambyfes having thus brought Egypt 
under his fubjedlion proceeded to-Sais, the burying-place 
of the Egyptian kings ; and having caufed the dead body 
of Amafis to be taken from the fepulchre, he expofed it 
to a thoufand indignities, and finally ordered it to be re¬ 
duced to allies. He afterwards pillaged and burnt the 
Theban temples; killed the god Apis with his own 
hand ; and ordered the priefts to be feverely whipped. 
Thefe feverities made fo ftrong an impreflion upon the 
minds of the wretched Egyptians, that tiiey ever after¬ 
wards regarded the Perfians with the moft irreconcile- 
able averfion. In the reign of Darius Hyftafpis, they 
broke out into an open revolt, and remained in a ftate of 
rebellion againft the Perfians, till the fecond year of Xerx¬ 
es, when they were reduced to greater fubjedtion than 
before, under Achaemenes, who was appointed their go¬ 
vernor. 
Their fufferings, however, feem rather to have irri¬ 
tated than broken their fpirits ; as’we find them revolt¬ 
ing again, in the fifth year of Artaxerxes Longimanus, 
before Chrift 450. As this period they perfuaded Ina- 
rus king of Lybia, to fill their vacant throne, and im¬ 
plored afliftance from the Athenians, who embraced with 
ardour this opportunity of driving the Perfians from 
Egypt. Thefe auxiliaries attacking the Perfian fleet, took 
and deftroyed fifty fail of their (hips ; and then failed up 
the Nile, haftened to join the Egyptian and Lybian forces, 
under the banner of Inaras. Having effected a jundtjon, 
they ventured to attack the Perfian general,. though his 
army confifted of three hundred thoufand effective men ; 
and their attempt was crowned with fuch fuccef , that a 
third part of the enemy were (lain, together with the ge¬ 
neral himfelf, and the reft fled to Memphis, where they 
took 
