An Analysis of Herodotus' account of Cambyses' Campaign in Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of Tehran

2 Ph.D. Ancient History, University of Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The expedition Cambyses campaign in Egypt is one of the major issues concerning the Achaemenids narrated by Herodotus. Further investigation of Herodotus's narratives on this subject, with the help of other sources and modern archeological discoveries, is one of the aims of this paper. Providing different analyzes on the historical causes and motivation of Cambyses campaign in Egypt in two areas of study of the history of Iran and Egypt is also one of the aims of this article. Her main question is, can Herodotus be trusted about the causes of Cambyses invasion of Egypt? Examination of some of Herodotus's traditions shows the occasional Egyptian interference in the affairs of the Greek cities of Asia Minor and the Achaemenid colonies, which further contradicts Herodotus's account of the causes of the Cambyses invasion of Egypt. In fact, Herodotus's understanding of the Cambyses invasion of Egypt, by analyzing other accounts of Herodotus about Achaemenid history, is possible before and after the Cambyses invasion of Egypt, and one cannot rely solely on Herodotus's direct accounts of the causes and motivation of this campaign.

Keywords

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Iranian Civilization Research
Volume 2, Issue 2 - Serial Number 4
December 2021
Pages 115-137

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