Egypt in the Late Period

Abstract

Our understanding of the internal history of Egypt from 664 to 332 bc rests on a limited patchwork of hieroglyphic inscriptions and cursive texts in hieratic or demotic, Aramaic or Greek. By contrast, Egypt’s place in the wider world has to be reconstructed from foreign sources—Assyrian, Babylonian, Hebrew, and Greek—supplemented by Egyptian artefacts from the Mediterranean and Near East. At the interface sits the account of Egypt written by Herodotus in the fifth century bc. The ways in which this diversity of evidence has shaped modern interpretation of Egyptian history in this period are here explored.

Unpublished Stela from the Egyptian Museum (TR 28.10.24.5) Dr/ Ahmed salah

“…(c) AbDw: The classical spelling is most common in the Late Period 17 . In this stela, on the third column above Osiris in the second register of the stela, it is noted that the sign is inscribed as follows .…”

“…Sesostris III, the older designation drops out leaving (the spirit of) 18 . In the late periods, the name of the deceased is usually introduced by the phrase n kA n, this is replaced by n kA n imAx xr Wsir, which is current only for a short time and is no longer found in the Ptolemaic period, when n k3 n is again usual 19 .…”

“…According to the paleography and orthography mentioned above, this stela is consistent with the features of the late period. Munro 39 and Leahy 40 date this stela to 600 B.C. The type of cone, which is above the head of the stela's owner, was common during the 26 th Dynasty 41 .…”

STELA OF PADIAMUN FROM aAYN-TERGHI, (INV. NO. 1320)

“…The orthography with the sign as a determinative is a criterion for dating inscriptions to the Saite and Post-Saite Periods 17 . 13 For the epithet Wsir xnty-imntyw nTr-aA nb AbDw is rare before the second half of the twelfth dynasty, see: SPIEGEL 1973: 31;LEAHY 1977: 331. 14 BARTA 1968HTBM 11, PLS.…”