AHMOSE II

flourished 6th century BC king of the 26th dynasty (reigned 570526 BC), a general who seized the throne during a revolt against King Apries. The account of the 5th-century-BC Greek historian Herodotus reveals Ahmose as a shrewd and opportunistic ruler, who, while promoting Greek trade with Egypt, strictly regulated it. In 570, after Apries' unsuccessful campaign against Cyrene, in modern Libya, the Egyptian troops mutinied, and when Ahmose was sent to pacify them the mutineers proclaimed him king. In the ensuing civil war the Egyptians under his command defeated an invasion by Apries, who was supported by the Babylonian king Nebuchadrezzar II. Ahmose killed Apries in battle but later gave him a royal burial. Ahmose then turned to diplomacy, securing an alliance with Cyrene by marrying a woman of that country and also seeking alliances in Greece. Herodotus tells of his friendship with Polycrates, tyrant of Samos, and also mentions his donation toward rebuilding the temple at Delphi. Nonetheless, to regulate Greek influence in Egypt he confined merchants to the city of Naukratis in the Nile River delta, southwest of his own capital. His reign was a time of great prosperity in Egypt. Perhaps employing the fleet of his friend Polycrates, Ahmose reputedly subdued Cyprus, exacting tribute from it. Herodotus states that Ahmose allied himself with Croesus when the Lydian king was seeking assistance against Persia. Yet Persian power grew rapidly, and Ahmose died only about six months before King Cambyses' invasion of Egypt.