The First Ancient Persian King Who Became Pharaoh of Egypt / The King Whose Magnanimity and Wisdom Made the World Stand on Edge

According to the History Service of Saed News, quoting Asr Iran:
When Cyrus II, or Cyrus the Great (reigned 559–530 BCE), ascended to the Achaemenid throne, he set the Achaemenid dynasty on a new path. He first conquered the wealthy Lydian Empire around 546 BCE, then Babylon in 539 BCE. Cyrus’s successor, Cambyses (reigned 530–522 BCE), was the one who continued this expansion by conquering Egypt.

Only two ancient texts describe how Cambyses conquered Egypt. The closest contemporary source to this conquest is a statue of a man named Udjahorresnet, who served as an admiral during the reign of Psamtik III. He was also a physician and high priest of the goddess Neith, the patron deity of the city of Sais. Having access to the temple archives and being well-educated, Cambyses likely appointed him as his personal physician.

Inscribed on Udjahorresnet’s statue is a text that reads in part:

“Udjahorresnet, acting as the palace administrator, priest of Harip, priest of Renep, priest of Wadjit, and priest of Neith, said: ‘Cambyses, the great ruler of all foreign lands, came to Egypt with a great international military force and conquered the entire country. After they took control, he became the King of Egypt and ruler of the world. His Majesty appointed me as his chief physician.’”

The statue records Cambyses’s conquest of Egypt.

The inscription also states that after the invasion, Cambyses restored the temple of Neith at Sais:

“I asked Cambyses to expel the foreigners from the temple of Neith and restore it to its former glory. His Majesty ordered that all foreigners residing within the temple precincts be driven out, along with their beds and any offensive items left behind… His Majesty ordered the temple of Neith to be purified and all its servants to return.”

Both Cambyses and his successor, Darius I or Darius the Great (reigned 522–486 BCE), physically sat on the throne of Egypt.

A relief shows Darius I before the sacred Apis bull.

The Iranians typically portrayed themselves as legitimate rulers of the lands they conquered. For example, after conquering Babylon, Cyrus ordered the commemoration of this conquest to be inscribed on the Cyrus Cylinder in Akkadian cuneiform.

On this cylinder, Cyrus claimed to have restored Babylonian rituals that Nabonidus (reigned 555–539 BCE), the last ruler of Babylon, had neglected. This restoration is comparable to Cambyses’s revival of the Neith cult in Sais, Egypt, and how Darius later undertook similar actions throughout Egypt.

Following Cyrus’s example, Cambyses and Darius revived Egyptian cults such as that of Neith. Darius, following Cambyses, supported the Apis cult. Ultimately, the Iranians sought acceptance by the non-Persian elites and allowed them to retain some power.

However, the tolerance shown by Cambyses and Darius in Egypt was not repeated by their successors. The kings after Darius no longer personally went to Egypt, although Iranian influence there continued.