After the final siege at Memphis the Persians annexed Egypt and began the twenty-seventh dynasty. After ruling Egypt for a few years Cambyses II (r.530-522 BC) returned to Persia to deal with a revolt, leaving Egypt under the command of the satrap Aryandes (r.522-517 BC). Aryandes seems to have followed his own policies and Darius-I (64; r.522-486 BC) eventually replaced him with Pherendates. Darius completed the canal connecting the Nile to the Red Sea begun by Necho II.
Taking advantage of the distraction of the defeat of the Persians at Marathon in 490 BC, the cities of the Delta launched a revolt in 486 BC. Crushing the revolt, Xerxes-I (54; r.486-465 BC) placed his own son Achaemenes (r.484-460 BC) as satrap. Another revolt broke out after the assassination of Xerxes. Inaros (d.454 BC) together with Amyrtaeus, both from Sais, with the assistance of an Athenian squadron, succeeded in gaining control of Lower Egypt. In 460 BC Inaros finally faced the Persians at Papremis in the Delta. The Persian army was defeated and Achaemenes was killed. However, the Persians eventually regained the upper hand; the Greeks departed and Inaros was eventually executed in Persia in 454 BC.
Revolutionary feelings rose up again following the death of Artaxerxes-I (r.465-424 BC). The Greeks, particularly the Spartans, gave their support to Sais, which was still the main centre of Egyptian rebellion. In 404 BC Amyrtaeus (r.404-399 BC), grandson of the earlier Amyrtaeus, led the country in open revolt. When Darius II (r.423-404 BC) died in that year, Amyrtaeus declared himself king and founded the twenty-eighth dynasty. Artaxerxes II (c.76; r.404-358 BC) made two unsuccessful attempts to subdue Egypt.
Amyrtaeus was removed by Nepherites-I (r.399-393 BC), who founded the twenty-ninth dynasty and made his capital at Mendes in the eastern Delta. The usurper Psammuthes (r.393 BC) was replaced by Hakor (r.393-380 BC), who claimed to be the grandson of Nepherites. Hakor successfully resisted Persian attempts to reconquer Egypt, drawing support from Athens until the Peace of Antalcidas (386 BC). His son Nepherites II (r.380 BC) was usurped by Nectanebo-I (r.380-362 BC) of Sebennytos, the founder of the thirtieth dynasty.
In 373 BC a combined Greek and Persian force entered Egypt. Nectanebo had reinforced the Pelusian branch of the Nile in the Delta so the invaders selected the more lightly defended Mendesian branch. The allies won the first battle but then the two commanders, Iphicrates (c.415-c.353 BC) and Pharnabazus (c.413-c.370 BC), could not agree on a strategy. This gave Nectanebo time to gather his forces and in July the invaders had to retreat from the Nile inundation.
Nectanebo’s son Teos (r.362-360 BC) planned an attack on the Persians and to strengthen his army he extracted heavy taxes to pay for Greek mercenaries. The cost of this measure made Teos unpopular and while he was away fighting in Syria his son took advantage of this to declare his own son Nectanebo II (r.360-343 BC) as king. Teos fled to Susa.
In the winter of 351/350 BC Artaxerxes III (c.87; r.358-338 BC) personally led an invasion force against Egypt. After a year of fighting, Nectanebo inflicted a crushing defeat on the Persians. Artaxerxes’ second invasion was successful. In the autumn of 343 BC he marched to Egypt. Split into several divisions, the Persians captured Pelesium, Bubastis and other strongholds. Nectanebo, unequal to the tactical abilities of the Greek commanders of the Persian troops, fled to Nubia. He was the last independent Egyptian ruler until modern times.Artaxerxes III, in this second period of Persian domination, was thus the first ruler of the thirty-first dynasty. In 338 BC his minister Bagoas poisoned Artaxerxes and all his sons except Artaxerxes IV (r.338-336 BC), whom he raised to the throne. Two years later Artaxerxes IV met the same fate and Darius III (c.50; r.336-330 BC) became king. In 333 BC Alexander III the Great (32; r.336-323 BC) defeated Darius at Issus. In the following year Mazaces, the satrap of Egypt, handed the country over to Alexander
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