Cambyses II, Smerdis and the Accession of Darius Flashcards
What personality do the ancient historians give Cambyses?
Cruel tyrant
Where does Herodotus get his sources (probably)
Biased Egyptian sources
think closing time
When did Cambyses II become king?
August 530
What does Herodotus think of the three reasons he gives for the invasion of Egypt
The first is a ‘pretext’ and the others he dismisses out of hand
What is Herodotus’ first reason for the invasion of Egypt?
An Egyptian doctor advised Cambyses to marry Amasis’ daughter, as he knew it would create trouble.
Amasis sent Nitetis, daughter of a former king he had deposed, pretending she was his daughter.
Nitetis revealed the trick, and Cambyses decided to invade
Amasis
King of Egypt
Ally of Lydia
Father of Psammetheticus III
Why did Cambyses most likely invade Egypt?
Protect (Egypt was very interested in the Levant) and increase the empire. An invasion was probably thought of by Cyrus.
Amasis was also an ally of the Lydians during the war with Lydia.
Which two peoples allegedly voluntarily submitted to Persian rule, thus bringing a powerful navy to the empire
Phoenicia and Cyprus
What was the other naval power in the 530s?
Samos
King of Samos
Polycrates
Why might Samos have switched sides, joining Persia.
Amasis died, and Polycrates probably saw that Persia was going to win a war with Egypt
Who succeeded Amasis?
His son Psammetheticus III
What does this quote suggest the Persians thought of Cambyses?
“They had answered that he was better than his father, because he had kept all Cyrus’ possessions and acquired Egypt and command of the sea into the bargain”
He was seen as both conquerer of Egypt and someone who had created the Persian navy
Who acted as a guide to the Persians on the campaign in Egypt?
Phanes, a Greek mercenary and former advisor of Amasis
Where did the Persians first fight the Egyptians. Who won?
Pelusium, a port on the Nile delta. The Persians won
Which city did the Persians besiege in Egypt?
Memphis
What did Cambyses do once Egypt had been defeated?
Set up mercenaries to defend it
Outcome of the siege of Memphis
Egypt surrenders
Which three peoples to the west of Egypt surrendered to Persia after Egypt was conquered?
Libya Barca and Cyrene
Which three peoples did Cambyses try to conquer after Egypt?
Carthaginians, Ammonians, Ethiopians
What happened with the 3 invasions Cambyses made after Egypt
Carthage: Phoenicians refused to invade as Carthage was a Phoenician colony
Ammonia: 50,000 went to attack the oasis at Ammon, but were killed in a sandstorm
Ethiopia: Not enough supplies, lead by Cambyses, and in the end had to return due to resorting to canabalism
What was the first sign of Cambyses not being right in the head (Herodotus)
He disrespected the corpse of Amasis
what did (the mad) Cambyses think the celebration of the Apis Bull was really celebrating?
Celebrating his loss in Ethiopia
What did Cambyses do with the Apis Bull?
Fatally stabbed it in the thigh. He then laughed at it for having flesh and blood while being a god
What else did Cambyses do in his madness?
Organised the murder of his brother
(Smerdis/Bardiya)
Killed his sister-wife (had adopted Egyptian custom)
Jeered at sacred statues
Broke into tombs and examined the bodies
What is our main source on the demise of Cambyses?
Herodotus
What were the Magi?
Persian priests (possibly Median originally)
They interpreted dreams and omens, performed rituals, and acted as advisors. They also were responisbile for training the young Persian princes and guarding royal tombs.
Who were the two Magi brothers that Herodotus claims rebelled against Cambyses?
Patizeithes and Smerdis
What did the Magi rebels do?
Smerdis pretended to be the brother of Cambyses (Smerdis) and they sent out a proclamation to all troops declaring that they should follow Smerdis and not Cambyses.
Where was Cambyses when he heard of the rebellion. Why was it fatal?
Ectabana, an Syrian town. It was foretold he would die in Ectabana
How did Cambyses die?
The cap fell of his sheath, and his sword stabbed him in the thigh, just where he had struck the Apis Bull.
He died later of gangrene
What was Cambyses’ response to the rebellion?
He realised it was the magi, and prepared to march out. However, he wounded himself, and as he died, he told his nobles the truth of Smerdis’ murder and commanded them to remove Smerdis.
When did Cambyses die?
522
What have archaeologists found that contradicts Herodotus’ tale of the Apis Bull.
A temple in Memphis, the Serapeum (temple of Serapis), where the dead Apis Bulls were placed in tombs.
An Apis Bull has been dated to November 524, when Cambyses was king. The inscriptin says all the ceremonies were done correctly.
What does Udjahorrense’s statue say about Cambyses?
refers to him as ‘King of Upper and Lower Egypt’, like a proper Pharaoh, and when Udjahorrense complained to Cambyses about Persian soldiers in Neith’s temple, Cambyses had them removed, purified the temple, and paid respects to the goddess.
Udjahorresne
Egyptian courtier who defected to the Persians and advised Cambyses, and later Darius. He left an account of his achievements on a statue of himself
From what anger may the biased Greek sources on Cambyses orginate?
Cambyses removed the tax exemption from the temples, no doubt upsetting upsetting many educated and inluential Egyptians.
Two main sources that contradic Herodotus’ Cambyses
Udjahorresne and the Serapeum
Darius’ account of his accession source
Bisitun Inscription, set on a busy road, 100 metres above the ground
Four parts: giant carving, and three texts, each in a different language.
Languages on the Bisitun Inscription
Old Persian, Babylonian, Elamite
People on the Bisitun Inscription statues
Darius, Gobyras (lance carrier), Intaphernes (bow carrier), the nine leaders of conquered peoples who challenged his rule when he came to power (their necks are tied) he stands on Gaumata, the Magus who pretended to be Bardiya. Above them is the god Ahuramazda
The seven conspirators that killed the false Smerdis
Intaphernes, Gobyras, Megabyzus, Aspathines, Hydarnes, Darius (the last), and Otanes (the founder)
What did Otanes find suspicious about Smerdis?
Smerdis never left the palace, nor did he meet with senior advisors, and the women of the court never saw each other.
What did Phaidymie, daughter of Otanes, find out about Smerdis
That he had no ears, like the Smerdis that had been punished by Cyrus years before.
Prexaspes
Cambyses’ most trusted advisor.
Killer of the real Smerdis
Asked by false Smerdis to declare from a tower that false Smerdis was real.
Told the truth, threw himself from the tower.
How did the conspirators go about killing Smerids?
After Prexaspes had killed himself, the conspirators thought to call it off, but Darius, guided by an omen, encouraged them on. They made for the palace, killed the Magi, and showed their heads to the people
What does Darius call the false king?
Gaumata
What does Darius call the real brother of Cambyses
Bardiya
What events does Darius give for the ascension of Gautama
Cambyses had his brother killed, then headed to Egypt, the people became restless, 11th March, Gaumata, a Magus pretending to be Bardiya, led a rebellion. Established himself as king on 1st July, and Cambyses died naturally soon after.
Date Gautama became king
1st July
Date of Gaumata’s death
29th September
Who is the conspirator that Darius does not mention?
Aspathines
How did Herodotus probably get his sources for the succession of Darius?
Copies of the Bisitun Inscription were set up around the empire, and were translated into the local languages. Disagreements between the accounts might arrise from translation mixups.
What does Aesychylus call the second king after Cyrus? What does his play not mention about him in Persians?
Mardus, he is not called an imposter
What does Darius not date, despite dating everything else
Cambyses’ death
When do Babylonian tablets date reign of Bardiya from
April 522
What is more likely the truth behind the death of Smerdis/Bardiya/Mardus
Darius and his conspirators killed the real king.
How did Herodotus claim Darius became king?
5 days after killing the king, the conspirators met to decide what to do next. Decided to ride their hroses out of the city before dawn, and the rider of the first horse to neigh after the sun rose would become king. Darius achieved this through trickery. This reflects the need for good horsemanship to be a respected Persian noble.
Nitetis
Daughter of a king Amasis had deposed
Ptah
Important creator god in Egypt
Associated with Memphis
Memphis
Royal capital of Egypt
Patizeithes
one of the Magi brothers who took over Persia
Left in charge of the royal household by Cambyses
Aeschylus
Athenian playright
Wrote the play Persians
