Persia-CAMBYSES II Flashcards
(121 cards)
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.
