home | travelogue | itinerary | photos | history | books | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Titulary
Darius I was another Persian king who served in Egypt under Cambyses and took the throne upon his death. He was later referred to as Darius the Great, and was considered the last great "law-giver" of Egypt. He was a fair and even-handed king and supported many social and political reforms. Unlike his predecessor he respected the traditional Egyptian religions and was reasonably well accepted by the people. He had the satrap Ariendes (left behind to rule Egypt in Cambyses' stead) executed for minting money with his own image on it. One of my notes says that "Darius visited Egypt in 518 BC", which implies that he never really ruled from within Egypt at all and that regional governors and satraps retained much of the day-to-day power in the country. Darius had a number of monumental building projects during his reign. He completed the canal from the Delta to the Red Sea that was begun by Nekau II. He expanded the Serapeum and renewed the huge Temple of Ptah at Memphis as well as building in Fayoum, el-Kab, Busiris and Sais. Internally, there were constant revolts against Persian rule in Egypt after the defeat of the Persians at Marathon in 490 BCE. The Egyptians bristled under the rule of a foreign king, even if he was respectful of their traditions and seemed to be a good king. |
pharaohsCambyses monumentsWadi Tumilat Canal
|
|