Necho II.

Name of Necho II.
Horus name	Sia-ib Sj3-jb With a knowing heart / will
Sideline	Maa-cheru M3ˁ-ḫrw The Triumphant / The Victorious
Gold name	Meri-netjeru Mrj-nṯrw lover of godhood
Throne name	Wehem-ib-Re Wḥm-jb-Rˁ With renewing heart / will, a Re
Proper name	Nekau (Ne Kau) N k3w The Ka duly; forces / owned by the Ka-forces
Greek	Herodotus : Νεκῶς Nekō̂s (genitive Νεκῶ Nekō̂ ) Africanus (after Synkellos ): Νεχαώ Nechaṓ (or to differentiate from Necho I .: Νεχαὼ δεύτερος Nechaṑ deúteros )
Fragment with Necho's name

Necho II. (Also Nechao, Nekos, Neko) ruled as the second pharaoh (king) of the Saïten dynasty (26th dynasty) from 610 to 595 BC. He was the son of Psammetich I. From an inscription on a Serapeum stele it emerges that the holy Apis bull ^greg in the 16th year of Necho II's reign on February 16th ^. ( 6th Pa-en-Ipet ) 595 BC Died and on April 21st ^Greg. ( 10th Ka-her-ka ) was buried.

Domination

The Assyrian king Aššur-uballiṭ II saw himself in 610 BC. Exposed to intensified attacks by the Babylonian king Nabopolassar , who had conquered numerous Assyrian towns on his advance since June ( Simanu ). Aššur-uballiṭ II had therefore asked Psammetich I for military help. Shortly before the departure of the Egyptian army , Psammetich I died in the eastern Nile delta - Garrison Daphne . The embalming of Psammetich I is said to have also been carried out in Daphne. The approximate time of death of Psammetich I could be determined because of the first documented announcement of his son as Pharaoh, which was on August 24th ^. ( 12th Peret IV ) dated. Psammetich I. therefore died shortly before.

A month later, the solar eclipse took place on September 23 ( 12th Schemu I ). The time of the solar eclipse is unique in ancient Egyptian history in terms of its date, as it coincided with the beginning of the celebrations of the Amun Re festival . The solar eclipse began in the early morning and ended shortly before noon. The umbra ran over Spain and France , which is why the natural spectacle in ancient Egypt had the character of a partial solar eclipse .

Campaigns

First campaign

After the end of the Amun Re festival, Necho II must have set out for Assyria with a smaller unit of troops because of the help requested by Aššur-uballiṭ II. The Babylonian Chronicle shows that the Medes together with the Babylonian king Nabopolassar in his 16th year of reign in November ( Araḫsamna ) 610 BC. Attacked the city of Harran . Necho II supported the Assyrian king in the fight against the New Babylonian Empire for the next three months .

However, the city of Harran could no longer be held, which is why Necho II and Aššur-uballi übersetzen II cross the Euphrates with their army and for their part initially waited for further actions. In the meantime the Median and Babylonian combat units looted Harran. In March ( Addaru ) of the year 609 BC BC apparently the fighting calmed down, so that Nabopolassar moved back to Babylon and the Medes left Harran.

Second campaign

Necho II took advantage of the pause in the fight and for his part assembled a larger army in Egypt. In June of the year 609 BC BC the pharaoh set out again towards the Euphrates. Joschija wanted to prevent Necho II from passing through with his army near Megiddo , since the King of Judah was unwilling to act as a vassal under ancient Egyptian sovereignty. The plain near Megiddo has always been the site of various military conflicts; for example, Thutmose III. there the battle of Megiddo . It remains unclear whether there was a battle between the armies of Neko II and Joschiah.

The second book of kings reports only about the death of Joschiah. The details are not mentioned: In his day the Pharaoh Necho, the king of Egypt, undertook a campaign against the king of Aššur on the Euphrates. King Josiah opposed him. But the Pharaoh killed him at Megiddo as soon as he saw him. ( 2 Kings 23.29  EU ). After his death Joschiah was brought from the plain near Megiddo to Jerusalem and buried there ( 2 Kings 23,30  EU ).

The version of a military conflict only found its way into Book 2 of the Chronicle ( 2 Chr 35.22  EU ) with the addition of an editor . Joschija did not die in the 2nd book of the Chronicle at Megiddo, but succumbed to his injuries in Jerusalem ( 2 Chr 35.24  EU ). In July ( Du'uzu ) the Egyptian army united on the Euphrates with the remaining contingents of the Aššur-uballiṭ II. Then the Egyptian-Assyrian alliance set off for Harran. After the capture of a Babylonian garrison near Harran, several attacks followed until September ( Ululu ) without being able to take Harran.

At the same time, the Babylonian king Nabopolassar supported his troops with a campaign in the neighboring regions of Izalla and Urartu . After several villages were destroyed, Nabopolassar returned to Babylon a short time later. In the Babylonian Chronicle, Aššur-uballiṭ II. And Necho II. After Nabopolassar's campaign in September of the year 609 BC. No longer mentioned. It therefore remains unclear what happened to Aššur-uballiṭ II. Since no further fighting has been recorded, Necho II will have set out for Egypt in the fall. On his way back to Egypt he deposed Jehoahaz as Judean king and instead installed his brother Jehoiakim as vassal king. This event is also mentioned in the Bible:

The vanquished then withdrew and appointed another king, but Pharaoh Necho put him in prison in Ribla in the land of Hamat so that he should no longer rule in Jerusalem and fined the land a hundred pounds of silver and one pound of gold. And the Pharaoh Necho installed a ruler of his choice. After Necho's first campaign, the Levant again belonged to the Egyptian Empire for about four years.

Third campaign

Location of Kummuh

End of the year 607 BC Chr. Conquered the Babylonian king Nabopolassar month Kislimu (November 20 ^greg. To 19 December ^greg. ) The Syrian region Kummuh that near Carchemish was. He then stationed a garrison there and returned in February 606 BC. Back to Babylon. Necho II took this opportunity and let the Egyptian army in the spring of 606 BC. To advance to Kummuh.

In late summer, Necho II succeeded in defeating the Babylonian army after a four-month siege and recapturing Kummuh. Nabopolassar responded to this defeat in October with an advance to Quramatu . From there he had the Syrian cities of Sunadiri , Elammu and Dahammu plundered. In the month Šabatu (January 7 ^greg. To 6 February ^greg. ) Of the year 605 v. BC Nabopolassar ended his campaign and moved back to Babylon.

Fourth campaign

Bronze statuette believed to represent Necho II.

Necho II. Had 605 BC After Nabopolassar's retreat, the Egyptian army advance against the Babylonian garrison in Quaramatu. Nabopolassar then sent his son and successor Nebuchadnezzar II with an army in the direction of Quramatu to avert the impending defeat of the Babylonian troops. The information in the Babylonian Chronicle allows for a more precise dating with regard to the year 605 BC. Subsequent battle at Karkemiš , which Necho II lost.

During the pursuit of the fleeing Egyptian army in the Hama region, Nebuchadnezzar II received the news that his father Nabopolassar was ^greg. ( 8th Abu ) had passed away. Nebuchadnezzar II returned to Babylon because of the succession to the throne. The coronation was on August 31, ^Greg. ( 1. Ululu ) completed. Based on this information, the battle of Karkemiš must have been decided by the beginning of August at the latest. As a result, Egypt lost numerous areas of the eastern Mediterranean coast up to Wadi al-Arish without further fighting.

In the book of Jeremiah ( Jer 46,2  EU ) the defeat of Egypt is dated to the first year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II and the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim: Against the army of Pharaoh Necho, the king of Egypt, who stood near Karkemiš on the Euphrates and that Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, defeated. It was in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah . In the Babylonian Chronicle, however, the Babylonian success falls in the 21st year of Nabopolassar's reign, which is synonymous with the year of accession of Nebuchadnezzar II (605 to 604 BC). His first year of reign (604 to 603 BC) did not begin until March 25th, ^greg. ( 1st Nisannu ) of the year 604 BC Chr.

Fifth campaign

In the month Kislimu (November 13 ^greg. To 12 December ^greg. ) Of the year 601 v. BC Nebuchadnezzar II moved to Egypt. In the ensuing battle, Necho II succeeded in early 600 BC. To stop a further advance of the Babylonians on the eastern border of Egypt. Thereupon the war between the New Babylonian Empire and Egypt was ended, which however lost the supremacy in the eastern Mediterranean area.

Construction activity

In the following four years, under Necho's government, construction of a navigable canal through Wadi Tumilat was started to connect the Nile to the Red Sea . The renewed outbreak of war with the New Babylonian Empire and the excessively high number of workers killed (100,000 are mentioned in the sources) required an interruption of the construction work. The project was only completed under the Persian king Darius . The head of the gates of the foreigners Horwedja reports in a short biography of the creation of several obelisks.

Fleet policy

The resulting peace period was used again by Necho II for various projects aimed at expanding Egyptian seafaring. He initiated the construction of an Egyptian deep sea fleet, whose crews consisted mainly of Greeks and Phoenicians. He used the experience of the Phoenicians, who had been under his rule for four years. This fleet posed no real threat to the Babylonians.

According to Herodotus , an achievement initiated by Necho II is the traditional first sail of Africa by Phoenician seafarers between 596 and 594 BC. From the Red Sea (the Arabian Gulf) to the south and back over the Pillars of Heracles (usually located on the Strait of Gibraltar ) to Egypt. This trip went down in the early history of discovery in Africa . However, Necho II did not live to see the end of this journey, since he was 595 BC. BC died. His son Psammetich II succeeded him.

literature

• Leo Depuydt : Saite and Persian Egypt, 664 BC-332 BC (Dyns. 26-31, Psammetichus I to Alexander's Conquest of Egypt). In: Erik Hornung, Rolf Krauss, David A. Warburton (eds.): Ancient Egyptian Chronology (= Handbook of Oriental studies. Section One. The Near and Middle East. Volume 83). Brill, Leiden / Boston 2006, ISBN 978-90-04-11385-5 , pp. 265-283 ( online ).
• Alan H. Gardiner : History of Ancient Egypt . Weltbild, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-89350-723-X .
• Rainer Hannig : Large Concise Dictionary Egyptian-German: (2800-950 BC) . von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 3-8053-1771-9 .
• Friedrich Karl Kienitz : The political history of Egypt from the 7th to the 4th century before the turn of the times. Academy, Berlin 1953, license no. 202 * 100/29/52.
• Walter Krämer: Secret of the Distance - The earliest discoveries of our earth. Urania, Leipzig 1971, VLN 212-475 / 43/75.
• Rolf Krauss : Necho II. Alias ​​Nechepso (= Göttinger Miscellen . [GM] Volume 42). Göttingen 1981, pp. 49-60.
• Susanne Martinssen-von Falck: The great pharaohs. From the New Kingdom to the Late Period. Marix, Wiesbaden 2018, ISBN 978-3-7374-1057-1 , pp. 213-218.
• Eduard Meyer : History of Antiquity. Third volume: The outcome of ancient oriental history and the rise of the West up to the Persian Wars. 5th edition, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1975.
• Diana Alexandra Pressl: officials and soldiers. The administration in the 26th Dynasty of Egypt (664-525 BC). Lang, Frankfurt a. M. 1998, ISBN 3-631-32586-X .
• Thomas Schneider : Lexicon of the Pharaohs. Albatros, Düsseldorf 2002, ISBN 3-491-96053-3 , pp. 169-170.
• Michael Peter Streck : Nikku. In: Dietz-Otto Edzard u. a .: Real Lexicon of Assyriology and Near Eastern Archeology . Volume 9, De Gruyter, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-11-017296-8 , pp. 316-317.

Web links

Commons : Necho II.  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Alexander Schütze:  Necho II .. In: Michaela Bauks, Klaus Koenen, Stefan Alkier (Eds.): The scientific Bibellexikon im Internet (WiBiLex), Stuttgart 2006 ff., Accessed on May 26, 2012.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rainer Hannig: Large Concise Dictionary Egyptian-German. Mainz 2006, p. 335.
2. ↑ Herodotus Historiae or Historien, Book 2, Chapter 158f. - e.g. B. Herodoti Historiae. Recensuit Heinricus Stein. Tomus I. , Berlin, 1869, pp. 240-242.
3. ^ Corpus scriptorum historiae byzantinae. Editio emendatior et copiosior, consilio BG Niebuhrii CF instituta Georgius Syncellus et Nicephorus CP. Ex Recensione Guilielmi Dindorfii. Volume I. Bonnae, 1829, p. 141.
4. ↑ Pierer's Universal Lexikon , keywords Necho and Egypt (Gesch.) ( Zeno.org , zeno.org ); Brockhaus' Kleines Konversations-Lexikon , 5th edition, keyword Necho ( zeno.org )
5. ↑ M. Smith: Did Psammetichus I Die Abroad? In: Orientalia Lovaniensia Periodica. Volume 22, 1991, pp. 101-109.
6. ^ Rolf Krauss: Sothis and moon dates. Studies on the astronomical and technical chronology of ancient Egypt. Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 1985, p. 174.
7. ↑ ^{a b c} Herbert Donner : History of the people of Israel and its neighbors in basic features (= floor plans for the Old Testament. Supplementary series, Volume 4). 4th, unchanged edition, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2007-2008, ISBN 978-3-525-51679-9 , pp. 388-389.
8. Jump up to: Luther Bible (21st century), 2nd Book of Kings 23, 33–34.
9. ↑ ABC 4 (Late Years of Nabopolassar) . (Babylonian Chronicle of Nabopolassar) On: livius.org last revised on August 22, 2015; last accessed on July 14, 2017.
10. ↑ Ludwig Schmidt u. a: The year of the catastrophe: 587 BC Chr. In: Small writings on the Old Testament: On the 65th birthday of Ernst Kutsch. de Gruyter, Berlin 1986, ISBN 3-11-010316-8 , p. 15.
11. ↑ ABC 5 (Jerusalem Chronicle) . (Babylonian Chronicle of Nebuchadnezzar II.) On: livius.org last revised on August 22, 2015; last accessed on July 14, 2017.
12. ↑ Herodotus , Historien 4, 42. ( digitized ).

predecessor	Office	successor
Psammetich I.	Pharaoh of Egypt 610 to 595 BC Chr.	Psammetich II.