In 1980, the American
Egyptologist Eugene Cruz-Uribe first proposed that the aforementioned papyrus Straßburg 2 from Diospolis Parva, traditionally attributed to
Psammetichus III, is in fact more recent and refers to a ruler with the same name who he called “Psammetichus IV”. According to Cruz-Uribe, this ruler most likely reigned over part of Egypt around the 480s BCE: within this decade it is known through
Herodotus that a revolt occurred in Egypt in conjunction with the last years of
Darius I and the rise of
Xerxes I, who, once crowned, promptly suppressed the rebels.
Anthony Spalinger believed that Cruz-Uribe's attribution was “too tentative”, and agreed that Psammetichus IV was the same person as
Inaros II's father, mentioned by Herodotus as a
Libyan. According to Greek sources, Inaros was a “king of the Libyans” who led a large, well-known revolt against the Persians in the 460s BCE. Assuming that this identification is correct, it appears that this Psammetichus did not have enough authority to claim the Egyptian throne. For this reason, Spalinger believes that the aforementioned archaeological findings may rather belong to a subsequent ruler with the same name: the
Athenian historian
Philochorus reports that a Psammetichus (V) – who probably was a great-grandson of Psammetichus IV for likely being the son of Thannyros, himself son of Inaros II – shipped grains to Athens in 445/4 BCE. Finally,
Diodorus Siculus mentions a Psammetichus (VI) as a king of Egypt in 400 BCE, saying that he was a “descendant of the famous Psammetichus”. However, the name of this Psammetichus VI is sometimes considered a mistake for
Amyrtaeus, the pharaoh of the
28th Dynasty who ruled from 404 to 399 BCE. ==See also==