Knowra Late Period of Egypt Late Period of Egypt The final era of ancient Egyptian rule before Alexander the Great’s conquest, conventionally dated from 664 to 332 BCE. It included native dynasties, Persian rule, and a final restoration of Egyptian kingship.
Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt : An Egyptian dynasty that ruled from 664 to 525 BCE, restoring centralized power and expanding Mediterranean contacts. Its founder, Psamtik I, reunified Egypt and marks the conventional beginning of the period.
Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt : The first period of Achaemenid rule in Egypt, lasting from 525 to 404 BCE. Persian kings governed as pharaohs while incorporating Egypt into an empire.
Pharaoh : The title commonly used for the kings who ruled ancient Egypt. Late Period rulers relied on pharaonic authority even when they served foreign empires.
Saite art : An artistic style associated with Egypt’s Twenty-sixth Dynasty, marked by selective revival of earlier Egyptian forms. Its deliberate archaism made the restoration of ancient traditions visible.
Manetho : An Egyptian priest and historian who wrote a Greek-language history of Egypt in the third century BCE. His dynastic scheme shaped how later historians organized Egypt’s kings, including this era.
Psamtik I : The founder of Egypt’s Twenty-sixth Dynasty, who reunited the country after Assyrian intervention. His accession in 664 BCE anchors the period’s starting date.
Twenty-eighth Dynasty of Egypt : A short-lived Egyptian dynasty founded by Amyrtaeus after the first Persian period. Its independence shows that Persian control was interrupted by a native revolt.
Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt : A short-lived dynasty based in Sais that ruled part of Egypt before the Kushite conquest. Its Saite setting helps explain the regional political roots of the later Twenty-sixth Dynasty.
Serapeum of Saqqara : A burial complex at Saqqara for the sacred Apis bulls, used across several Egyptian periods. Its continued use shows the strength of Egyptian cult practices during political change.
Egyptian hieroglyphs : A writing system using signs to represent words, sounds, and ideas in ancient Egypt. Late Period inscriptions preserve some of the final flourishing of traditional hieroglyphic culture.
Show all 29