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MARCUS ZIEMANN

The Ohio State University

Apries was the fourth pharaoh of the Saite (26th) Dynasty of EGYPT (Wahibre, r. 589–570 BCE, died probably in 568/7), the son and successor of PSAMMIS (Psamtik II). He was succeeded by the usurper AMASIS.

Herodotus states that Apries was one of the most fortunate of the Egyptian pharaohs (2.161), but he does not discuss the invasion of Egypt in 582 by the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II. This invasion, however, did not result in the CONQUEST of Egypt or apparently any significant or long‐lived foreign domination of the country. It was prompted by Apries’ continuation of the Saites’ political and military meddling in SYRIA and Palestine. Herodotus (2.161) and Diodorus Siculus (1.68) both discuss Apries’ successful campaigns in Palestine. Diodorus also says that he campaigned successfully against CYPRUS. Nothing else is known about Apries’ reign until its last few years.

Apries led a campaign against CYRENE (c. 571–570) but it ended disastrously (Hdt. 2.161–69). The Egyptian warrior‐caste revolted against Apries under the leadership of Amasis, a general under Apries’ father Psammis who led a successful campaign against ETHIOPIA. While the native Egyptian troops rallied to Amasis as the new pharaoh, Apries retained the loyalty of his Carian and Ionian MERCENARIES (30,000, according to Herodotus). Apries’ ARMIES were defeated and Amasis (officially) became the next pharaoh. While Herodotus narrates the decisive battles at MOMEMPHIS and Apries’ death by strangulation at the hands of the Egyptians as all part of the same revolt in 570, the modern scholarly consensus differs. It seems that Apries survived the revolt until 568/7, when he attempted to stage a counter‐REBELLION to regain his power. He died in the fighting by drowning.

Herodotus states that despite the Egyptians’ hatred of Apries, he was still buried with the other Saite pharaohs in SAIS (2.169). This assertion is our primary evidence for the ancestral tomb of the Saite rulers, since Sais is too damaged to confirm this fact archaeologically.

It is commonly believed that the Egyptian pharaoh Hophra mentioned by the Hebrew prophet Jeremiah (44:30) is to be equated with Apries (Eg. W͗˒ḥ‐ib‐r˓), given Jeremiah’s connection of Hophra with Nebuchadnezzar II and mention of his death at the hands of his enemies.

SEE ALSO: Burial Customs; Calasiries; Caria; Hermotybies; Near Eastern History; Patarbemis; Stratopeda