Persia-CAMBYSES II Flashcards
When did Cambyses II rule?
530-522 BC
Who was the Pharaoh during Cambyses’ conquest of Egypt?
Psammetichus
Who was the Pharaoh before Psammetichus?
Amasis
Why did Cambyses invade Egypt according to Herodotus?
Anger because Amasis deceived him.
~Cyrus asked Amasis for his best eye doctor and he was sent one
~The same doctor persuaded Cambyses to ask for Amasis’ daughter (so Amasis would know what it’s like to be ripped away from family)
~Amasis feared Cambyses would mistreat her so he sent another girl
~Cambyses was infuriated
What do others say about Cambyses’ motive to invade Egypt?
~Egypt was a developed civilisation with natural resources
~Wanted to carry out his father’s wishes as he died before being able to conquer them
Which peoples allowed Persia to gain a strong navy?
The Phoenicians, the Cypriots, and the Samians
Who was the tyrant of Samos?
Polycrates
Why did Polycrates help the Persians?
He disliked Psammetichus as pharoh so he helped Cambyses II overthrow him
Which people helped Cambyses get into Egypt and how?
The desert arabs. They provided the Persians with water.
When was Cambyses’ conquest of Egypt?
525 BCE
Where was the first battle in Cambyses’ conquest of Egypt?
Pelusium
According to Polyaenus, how did Cambyses defeat Psammetichus using trickery?
~He knew cats were sacred to Egypt so he drove a herd of cats in front of his army.
~The Egyptians fled to Memphis
What was the capital of Egypt at the time?
Memphis
Which peoples surrendered to Persia after the conquest of Egypt?
The Libyans, The Barcans, and the Cyrenians
Which three peoples did Cambyses decide to conquer after Egypt?
The Carthaginians, The Ammonians and the Ethiopians
How did each of these planned conquests go?
The plan to conquer Carthage failed before it even started as Carthage was a Phoenician colony so they refused to fight them.
The conquest of Ammon failed as well because all 50,000 of the Persian soldiers were trapped and killed in a sandstorm.
The conquest of Ethiopia failed too because Cambyses did not plan for adequate supplies to be brought along so some people had to resort to eating pack animals and even cannibalism before returning to Memphis
How did Cambyses anger Egyptian governors and what did he do to prevent rebellion?
~He put Persian governors in charge of tax collection and pushed Egyptian governors aside.
~Most of the Egyptian nobility reamined rich and influnential so there was no rebellion
Who was Udjahoressnet?
A soldier in the Egyptian navy. Cambyses asked Egyptians such as Udjahoressnet to join his side after defeating Psammetichus.
What did Cakbyses do to Amasis’ corpse?
He desecrated it
According to Herodotus, why did Cambyses not plan properly for the attack on the Ethiopians?
he was ‘a madman’
What did Cambyses believe the Egyptians were celebrating when he returned from Ethiopia and what were they actually celebrating?
He thought that they were celebrating his failure at Ethiopia but they were actually celebrating the appearance of Ptah in the form of the Apis bull
What did Cambyses do in response to the celebrating?
He gathered some local officials to ask what was going on, but he did not believe them so he had them executed. He then demanded for the priests to be brought before him and they gave the same response.
What did Cambyses do to the Apis bull when it was brought before him?
He cut its thigh with a dagger and laughed at the fact that the god Ptah could be made from flesh and blood. The bull then later died from the injury
How else did Cambyses anger the priests?
He reduced the amount of money given to temples.
These priests may have been influential in propaganda against Cambyses.
What does archealogical evidence suggest Cambyses wasn’t entirely evil?
He allowed the Apis bull to be embalmed
What did Cambyses dream of?
His brother Smerdis sitting on the Persian throne.
He sent Prexaspes back to Susa to murder him.
Why did Cambyses murder his sister-wife?
She stripped the leaves off a lettuce to symbolise him stripping Cyrus’ greatness through hoing mad.
Cambyses was helped by the desert Arabs who provided water to the Persians on their travels through to Egypt
When was Cambyses’ conquest of Egypt?
525 BC
Where was the first battle in Cambyses’ conquest of Egypt?
Pelusium
What was the capital of Egypt at that time?
Memphis
Which peoples surrendered to Persia after the conquest of Egypt?
The Libyans
The Barcans
Which three peoples did Cambyses decide to conquer after Egypt?
The Carthaginians
The Ammonians and the Ethiopians
How did each of these planned conquests go?
The plan to conquer Carthage failed before it even started as Carthage was a Phoenician colony so they refused to fight them.
The conquest of Ammon failed as well because all 50
000 of the Persian soldiers were trapped and killed in a sandstorm.
The conquest of Ethiopia failed too because Cambyses did not plan for adequate supplies to be brought along so some people had to resort to eating pack animals and even cannibalism before returning to Memphis
What did Cambyses do to Amasis’ corpse?
He disrespected it
According to Herodotus
why did Cambyses not plan properly for the attack on the Ethiopians?
he was ‘a madman’
What did Cambyses believe the Egyptians were celebrating when he returned from Ethiopia and what were they actually celebrating?
He thought that they were celebrating his failure at Ethiopia but they were actually celebrating the appearance of Ptah in the form of the Apis bull
What did Cambyses do in response to the celebrating?
He gathered some local officials to ask what was going on
but he did not believe them so he had them executed. He then demanded for the priests to be brought before him and they gave the same response.
What did Cambyses do to the Apis bull when it was brought before him?
He cut its thigh with a dagger and laughed at the fact that the god Ptah could be made from flesh and blood. The bull then later died from the injury.
What did Cambyses do with his brother and sister?
He ordered them to be killed
What other things did Cambyses do which portrayed him as mad?
He broke open tombs and examined the bodies
and he entered the temple of Hephaestus and jeered at the god’s statue
Which two Magi tried to overthrow Cambyses?
Patizeithes and Smerdis
What did the two brothers do to try and gain power from Cambyses?
The magus Smerdis was told by Patizeithes to impersonate the dead Smerdis
Cambyses’ brother
How did Cambyses feel after realising that he had killed his brother for no reason?
Bitterly regretful
How did Cambyses die?
Cambyses died when he was stabbed by his own sword when trying to mount his horse to ride back to stop Smerdis from taking power.
How is Cambyses portrayed in others sources that are not Herodotus?
As a perfectly good Pharaoh who adhered to the religious rites of the time
Which temple’s inscription talks about how Cambyses did the funeral rites for the Apis bull properly?
The Serapeum Temple
What was the name of the Egyptian advisor to Cambyses who has a statue that presents Cambyses in a good light?
Udjahorresne
What did Cambyses do when Udjahorresne asked him to remove his soldiers from the temple of Neith?
He ordered them to leave the temple and proceeded to purify it
Who did Herodotus most likely get his account of Cambyses from and why were they so resentful?
Herodotus probably got his ‘facts’ from the priests and administrators of the temples because Cambyses removed their tax exemption status which made them angry with him
