Late Period of Ancient Egypt: The End of Egyptian Rule of Egypt
The Late Period of Egypt (525-332 BCE) is the era following the Third Intermediate Period (1069-525) and preceding the brief Hellenistic period (332-323 BCE) when Egypt was ruled by the Argead officials installed by Alexander the Great prior to the rise of the Macedonian-Greek Ptolemaic Dynasty (323-30 BCE). This era is often ignored or sometimes combined with the Third Intermediate Period because, as with that period, it is interpreted as the final decline of Egyptian culture following the first Persian invasion of 525 BCE. While it is true that Persians ruled Egypt during the 27th and 31st dynasties, Egyptian culture was kept very much alive, and the 30th Dynasty of Egyptian rulers gave Egypt back a brief time of its former glory before the Persians came again.
This era comprises the 27th-31st dynasties of Egypt, but that designation is contested. Some scholars date the beginning of the Late Period to the middle of the 25th Dynasty or the beginning of the 26th for various reasons. Those who choose the mid-25th claim a distinct similarity between the social and political conditions of that time with the earlier Third Intermediate Period of Egypt, while those who cite the 26th Dynasty as beginning the Late Period point to Psammeticus I and his unification of Egypt following the Assyrian conquest. The Third Intermediate Period was a time of disunity, lacking a central government, and so these scholars claim that Psammeticus I's reign ends that period and begins the next.
These claims, however, ignore the clear demarcation of the end of the 26th Dynasty with the first Persian invasion under Cambyses II (525-522 BCE) and the significant role the Persian rulers then played in Egyptian history until their empire was conquered and Egypt taken by Alexander the Great. Dating the beginning of the Late Period earlier than 525 BCE makes little sense when one considers the uniformity of other designations of Egyptian history.
Nature of the Third Intermediate Period
The names of these eras (Predynastic Period in Egypt, Early Dynastic Period, Old Kingdom, First Intermediate Period, Middle Kingdom, etc.) were created by Egyptologists in the 19th and 20th centuries to help clarify the study of the country's long history, and they were not chosen arbitrarily. There are clear reasons why an era of a strong central government ('kingdom') is separated from a time of decentralized rule and disunity ('intermediate period').
In every case, a very clear political, social, and cultural entity prevailed, which differed from that which preceded or followed. This same paradigm should be observed when considering the Late Period, and the only reason it is not is that the Third Intermediate Period is so often considered the epilogue to Egyptian history, and the Late Period merely a sad extension of a long decline, ending with Alexander's conquest of Persia.
Egyptian resistance to Persian rule, however, is evident throughout the period, and, further, Egypt prospered under Persian rule because the Persian shahs admired the culture. Egyptian leaders like Amyrtaeus (404-398 BCE) of the 28th Dynasty, Nectanabo I (380-362 BCE), and Nectanabo II (360-343 BCE) all ruled the country, commanded their armies, and engaged in building projects in keeping with the great pharaohs of the past.
Egyptian architecture of the Late Period purposefully recalled Egypt's vast history and, as in the First Intermediate Period of Egypt, allowed for individual expression of the artist and the particular region instead of a state-mandated vision of a work. Although the Late Period cannot boast the number of monuments or buildings of Egypt's past, there are still some impressive works left behind, and the pharaohs of the 30th Dynasty could hold their own in comparison to almost any dynasty of Egypt's past except perhaps the 4th, 12th, and 18th.
Art of the Late Period took inspiration from earlier eras such as the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom of Egypt, but the artists were allowed freer expression. More realistic statuary was created, and fine work was done in metals, gold, silver, and bronze. Egyptian burial rituals continued to be observed in more or less the same way they always had been, and the religious beliefs of Egypt were maintained.
Even under Persian rule, there was no disruption in Egyptian religion – contrary to the claims made by Herodotus and other Greek writers – and the Persians, in fact, encouraged Egyptian culture and religion. Far from a dark period of oppression and decline, the Late Period was an era of great achievement and saw a renewal of Egyptian nationalism and pride in their attempts to throw off Persian rule and regain autonomy.
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⇒ Late Period of Ancient Egypt: The End of Egyptian Rule of Egypt
