Phanes of Halicarnassus
Encyclopedia
Phanes of Halicarnassus was a wise council man, a tactician, and a mercenary from Halicarnassus
, serving the Egyptian
pharaoh Amasis II
. Most of what history recounts of Phanes is from the account of Herodotus
in his grand historical text, The Histories. According to Herodotus, Phanes of Halicarnassus was "a resourceful man and a brave fighter" serving Amasis II on matters of state, and was well connected within the Egyptian pharaoh's troops. Phanes of Halicarnassus was also very well respected within the military and royal community of Egypt.
According to Herodotus, a series of events (which he omits to explain, or does not know for sure) led to Phanes of Halicarnassus falling out of favor with Amasis II. Phanes, disgruntled with the pharoh deserted Egypt and travelled by the ship with the intention of speaking with the Persian emperor Cambyses II. When news reached Amasis II, it caused him great anxiety, leading to him sending his most trustworthy eunuch
after Phanes, with the intent of capture or assassination. Phanes originally escaped the assassin, but was eventually captured by him in Lycia
. Phanes being of wise mind, however managed to escape by getting the eunuch guards drunk and escaping to Persia
. Upon his arrival, he met with a resolute Cambyses II who was about to set out to conquer Egypt but was not sure of the best path possible.
Knowing of the Egyptian way, Phanes of Halicarnassus, wisely advised the Persian king to send a messenger to the Arabian Kings and ask for safe passage to Egypt. Arabs gladly complied blessing Cambyses II on his journey. Phanes would eventually play a critical role in the strategic advancement of the Persian king who eventually defeated Amasis's son Psamtik III, in the battle of Pelusium
.
After the defeat of the Lydia
n, Median, and Neo-Babylonian empire by Cyrus the Great
the Persian empire was a powerful empire streching from the Indus in the east, to the Northern Arabian deserts and Red Sea
in the west, right at the door steps of Egypt. Cyrus the Great would die in battle before he can incorporate Egypt
into the empire, but it would be his son, Cambyses II's task to conquer the pharaohs. The background against which Herodotus describes the events leading to the Battle of Pelusium, require one to understand the political tensions of the time.
Herodotus recounts of one possible motive for Cambyses II to want to take on Egypt: According to Herodotus, Amasis II came to power by bloody means by defeating, and murdering his predecessor pharaoh Apries
. While in power, Amasis, was requested by either Cyrus the Great, or Cambyses II for the best Egyptian eye doctor. Amasis II
complied, but did so at the expense of forcing the physician to leave his family and children behind and forcibly sent him to Persia. In an attempt to exact revenge for this unjust exile, the Egyptian ophtholmologist, persuaded king Cambyses II to strengthen his bonds with Egypt through marriage with the daughter of Amasis II. Cambyses II complied and asked Amasis II for his daughters's hand in marriage.
Unable to let go of his favourite daughter, and unwilling to make an enemy of the mighty Persians, Amasis concucted a trickery during which he sent the daughter of the ex-pharaoh Apries, whom his death he had facilitated by means of bloody revolt, to Persia as his own daughter. This daughter, Nitetis, who was described by Herodotus as being "tall and beautiful", was dressed in fine Egyptian clothing and sent to Persia under pretence of the princess of Egypt. Upon arrival, Cambyses II greeted the princess as daughter of Amasis, at which point she exposed Amasis's ill plan and how he had sent the only surviving daughter of the man he had helped murder to wed the king of Persia, under pretence of royal blood. This infuriated Cambyses II, who immediately set out to move toward Egypt to punish Amasis for this insult. It was at this politically tense, moment that Phanes of Halicarnassus arrived at Persia, and gave Cambyses the confidence to invade Egypt for full conquest.
Herodotus in particular describes a story that he explains is at best an "unbelievable" concuction about the reason why Cambyses II attacked Egypt. According this version, after the arrival of the Nitetis, Cassandane
wife of Cyrus the Great and mother of Cambyses II, must have felt uncomfortable about the tall Egyptian woman. At one point, one of the Persian women who visited Cassandane
comments on how beautiful and tall her children including Cambyses II looked at which point Cassandane replies in disdain of the arrival of Nitetis: "Although I have borne him children like this, Cyrus treats me with no respect and prefers the new arrival from Egypt" at which point Cambyses II, then only ten, who was an audience in the conversation, in defense of Cassandane's honor, says, "that is exactly why when I grow up I am going to turn Egypt upside down."
followed by his own capture. Phanes successfully helps lead the Persian armies as an advisor and a mercenary and sees Amasis die of natural causes, and his son chained. This was not to be without tragedy for Phanes however.
Herodotus describes that in desperation, and in a violent act to avenge the betrayal, Psamtik III would trick Phanes's sons to see him. He would then kill them all, draining their blood, mixing it with wine, drinking of it and feeding it to all the council members as a sign of what is to come for all those who betray him. Herodotus describes how Psamtik III's lack of diplomacy and violent temper would eventually cost him his life in Persian captivity as he tries to yet again arrange a revolt against Cambyses II, at which point, Cambyses orders his execution. Phanes for most part would stay loyal to Cambyses II after the invasion of Egypt assisting him to come to a diplomatic truce with Libyans
.
Amasis II
: Pharaoh of Egypt, successor and murderer of Apries
.
Psamtik III: Successor and son of Amasis II; murderer of Phanes's sons.
Nitetis: Apries's daughter presented as the false Egyptian princess.
Cassandane
: Mother of Cambyses II, and queen consort of emperor Cyrus the Great
.
Halicarnassus
Halicarnassus was an ancient Greek city at the site of modern Bodrum in Turkey. It was located in southwest Caria on a picturesque, advantageous site on the Ceramic Gulf. The city was famous for the tomb of Mausolus, the origin of the word mausoleum, built between 353 BC and 350 BC, and...
, serving the Egyptian
Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt
The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt was the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC . The Dynasty's reign The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt (also written Dynasty XXVI or Dynasty 26) was the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC...
pharaoh Amasis II
Amasis II
Amasis II or Ahmose II was a pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt, the successor of Apries at Sais. He was the last great ruler of Egypt before the Persian conquest.-Life:...
. Most of what history recounts of Phanes is from the account of Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
in his grand historical text, The Histories. According to Herodotus, Phanes of Halicarnassus was "a resourceful man and a brave fighter" serving Amasis II on matters of state, and was well connected within the Egyptian pharaoh's troops. Phanes of Halicarnassus was also very well respected within the military and royal community of Egypt.
According to Herodotus, a series of events (which he omits to explain, or does not know for sure) led to Phanes of Halicarnassus falling out of favor with Amasis II. Phanes, disgruntled with the pharoh deserted Egypt and travelled by the ship with the intention of speaking with the Persian emperor Cambyses II. When news reached Amasis II, it caused him great anxiety, leading to him sending his most trustworthy eunuch
Eunuch
A eunuch is a person born male most commonly castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences...
after Phanes, with the intent of capture or assassination. Phanes originally escaped the assassin, but was eventually captured by him in Lycia
Lycia
Lycia Lycian: Trm̃mis; ) was a region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey. It was a federation of ancient cities in the region and later a province of the Roman Empire...
. Phanes being of wise mind, however managed to escape by getting the eunuch guards drunk and escaping to Persia
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire , sometimes known as First Persian Empire and/or Persian Empire, was founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation...
. Upon his arrival, he met with a resolute Cambyses II who was about to set out to conquer Egypt but was not sure of the best path possible.
Knowing of the Egyptian way, Phanes of Halicarnassus, wisely advised the Persian king to send a messenger to the Arabian Kings and ask for safe passage to Egypt. Arabs gladly complied blessing Cambyses II on his journey. Phanes would eventually play a critical role in the strategic advancement of the Persian king who eventually defeated Amasis's son Psamtik III, in the battle of Pelusium
Battle of Pelusium (525 BC)
The Battle of Pelusium, was the first major battle between the Achaemenid Empire, and Egypt. This decisive battle transferred the throne of the Pharaohs to Cambyses II of Persia, king of the Persians. It was fought near Pelusium in 525 B.C.E...
.
Background
In order to understand the importance of Phanes of Halicarnassus, one has to understand the circumstances surrounding and leading to the battle of Pelusium, and the importance of his council in allowing Cambyses II the easiest path to Egypt.After the defeat of the Lydia
Lydia
Lydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern Turkish provinces of Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian....
n, Median, and Neo-Babylonian empire by Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great
Cyrus II of Persia , commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much...
the Persian empire was a powerful empire streching from the Indus in the east, to the Northern Arabian deserts and Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
in the west, right at the door steps of Egypt. Cyrus the Great would die in battle before he can incorporate Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
into the empire, but it would be his son, Cambyses II's task to conquer the pharaohs. The background against which Herodotus describes the events leading to the Battle of Pelusium, require one to understand the political tensions of the time.
Herodotus recounts of one possible motive for Cambyses II to want to take on Egypt: According to Herodotus, Amasis II came to power by bloody means by defeating, and murdering his predecessor pharaoh Apries
Apries
Apries is the name by which Herodotus and Diodorus designate Wahibre Haaibre, Ουαφρης , a pharaoh of Egypt , the fourth king of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt. He was equated with the Waphres of Manetho, who correctly records that he reigned for 19 years...
. While in power, Amasis, was requested by either Cyrus the Great, or Cambyses II for the best Egyptian eye doctor. Amasis II
Amasis II
Amasis II or Ahmose II was a pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt, the successor of Apries at Sais. He was the last great ruler of Egypt before the Persian conquest.-Life:...
complied, but did so at the expense of forcing the physician to leave his family and children behind and forcibly sent him to Persia. In an attempt to exact revenge for this unjust exile, the Egyptian ophtholmologist, persuaded king Cambyses II to strengthen his bonds with Egypt through marriage with the daughter of Amasis II. Cambyses II complied and asked Amasis II for his daughters's hand in marriage.
Unable to let go of his favourite daughter, and unwilling to make an enemy of the mighty Persians, Amasis concucted a trickery during which he sent the daughter of the ex-pharaoh Apries, whom his death he had facilitated by means of bloody revolt, to Persia as his own daughter. This daughter, Nitetis, who was described by Herodotus as being "tall and beautiful", was dressed in fine Egyptian clothing and sent to Persia under pretence of the princess of Egypt. Upon arrival, Cambyses II greeted the princess as daughter of Amasis, at which point she exposed Amasis's ill plan and how he had sent the only surviving daughter of the man he had helped murder to wed the king of Persia, under pretence of royal blood. This infuriated Cambyses II, who immediately set out to move toward Egypt to punish Amasis for this insult. It was at this politically tense, moment that Phanes of Halicarnassus arrived at Persia, and gave Cambyses the confidence to invade Egypt for full conquest.
Folk Story
Unrelated to Phanes, Herodotus also describes a few untrue stories that he has heard about the reasons for invasion of Egypt.Herodotus in particular describes a story that he explains is at best an "unbelievable" concuction about the reason why Cambyses II attacked Egypt. According this version, after the arrival of the Nitetis, Cassandane
Cassandane
Cassandane was an Achaemenian Persian noblewoman and the "dearly loved" wife of Cyrus the Great. She was a daughter of Pharnaspes. She bore four children for Cyrus the Great : Cambyses II who succeeded his father and conquered Egypt, Smerdis who also reigned as the king of Persia for a short...
wife of Cyrus the Great and mother of Cambyses II, must have felt uncomfortable about the tall Egyptian woman. At one point, one of the Persian women who visited Cassandane
Cassandane
Cassandane was an Achaemenian Persian noblewoman and the "dearly loved" wife of Cyrus the Great. She was a daughter of Pharnaspes. She bore four children for Cyrus the Great : Cambyses II who succeeded his father and conquered Egypt, Smerdis who also reigned as the king of Persia for a short...
comments on how beautiful and tall her children including Cambyses II looked at which point Cassandane replies in disdain of the arrival of Nitetis: "Although I have borne him children like this, Cyrus treats me with no respect and prefers the new arrival from Egypt" at which point Cambyses II, then only ten, who was an audience in the conversation, in defense of Cassandane's honor, says, "that is exactly why when I grow up I am going to turn Egypt upside down."
Family and Fate
According to Herodotus, Phanes led Cambyses II to Egypt to face Amasis. Amasis, having died six month before the arrival of the Persian army, was instead represented by his heir and son, Psamtik III (Psammenitus) who had now waged an army of Egyptians anticipating the approaching Persian army. Callous in both strategy, and diplomacy, Psamtik III would lead the Egyptian army to their demise and their eventual siege at MemphisMemphis, Egypt
Memphis was the ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch, the first nome of Lower Egypt. Its ruins are located near the town of Helwan, south of Cairo.According to legend related by Manetho, the city was founded by the pharaoh Menes around 3000 BC. Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, it remained an...
followed by his own capture. Phanes successfully helps lead the Persian armies as an advisor and a mercenary and sees Amasis die of natural causes, and his son chained. This was not to be without tragedy for Phanes however.
Herodotus describes that in desperation, and in a violent act to avenge the betrayal, Psamtik III would trick Phanes's sons to see him. He would then kill them all, draining their blood, mixing it with wine, drinking of it and feeding it to all the council members as a sign of what is to come for all those who betray him. Herodotus describes how Psamtik III's lack of diplomacy and violent temper would eventually cost him his life in Persian captivity as he tries to yet again arrange a revolt against Cambyses II, at which point, Cambyses orders his execution. Phanes for most part would stay loyal to Cambyses II after the invasion of Egypt assisting him to come to a diplomatic truce with Libyans
Ancient Libya
The Latin name Libya referred to the region west of the Nile Valley, generally corresponding to modern Northwest Africa. Climate changes affected the locations of the settlements....
.
Parties involved with Phanes
Cambyses II: King of Persia (Lydia, Babylonia, Persis, Anshan, and Media). Captor and executor of Psamtik III.Amasis II
Amasis II
Amasis II or Ahmose II was a pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt, the successor of Apries at Sais. He was the last great ruler of Egypt before the Persian conquest.-Life:...
: Pharaoh of Egypt, successor and murderer of Apries
Apries
Apries is the name by which Herodotus and Diodorus designate Wahibre Haaibre, Ουαφρης , a pharaoh of Egypt , the fourth king of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt. He was equated with the Waphres of Manetho, who correctly records that he reigned for 19 years...
.
Psamtik III: Successor and son of Amasis II; murderer of Phanes's sons.
Nitetis: Apries's daughter presented as the false Egyptian princess.
Cassandane
Cassandane
Cassandane was an Achaemenian Persian noblewoman and the "dearly loved" wife of Cyrus the Great. She was a daughter of Pharnaspes. She bore four children for Cyrus the Great : Cambyses II who succeeded his father and conquered Egypt, Smerdis who also reigned as the king of Persia for a short...
: Mother of Cambyses II, and queen consort of emperor Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great
Cyrus II of Persia , commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much...
.