{{Pharaoh Infobox |
Name= Amasis II |
Image=[[Image:Farao Amasis.JPG|thumb|centre|200px|A fragmentary statue head of Amasis II, on display at the [[Egyptian Museum of Berlin]].]] |
Nomen=<hiero><-N12-ms-R24-zA-></hiero><br/>Ah-mose<br />''The Moon is Born, Son of Neith''<ref>Clayton, Peter A. <cite>Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt</cite>. Thames &amp; Hudson. p195. 2006. ISBN 0-500-28628-0</ref> |
Pronomen=<hiero><-ra-W9-m-ib-></hiero><br/>Khnem-ib-re<br />''He Who Embraces the Heart of Re Forever''<ref>Clayton, Peter A. <cite>Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The Reign-by-Reign Record of the Rulers and Dynasties of Ancient Egypt</cite>. Thames &amp; Hudson. p195. 2006. ISBN 0-500-28628-0</ref> |
Golden= |
Nebty=|
Horus= <hiero>s-mn:n-U1-mAa:t</hiero> |
HorusHiero= |
Reign=[[570 BC]]-[[526 BC]] |
Died=[[526 BC]] |
Predecessor=[[Apries]] |
Successor=[[Psametik III]] |
Alt = Ahmose II |
Dynasty=[[Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt|26th dynasty]] |
Spouse= |
Issues= |
}}

'''Amasis II''' (also '''Ahmose II''') was a [[pharaoh]] ([[570 BC]] - [[526 BC]]) of the [[Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt]], the successor of [[Apries]]. His capital was at [[Sais, Egypt|Sais]]. He was the last great ruler of [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] before the [[Persian Empire|Persian]] conquest.

Most of our information about him is derived from [[Herodotus]] (2.161ff) and can only be imperfectly verified by monumental evidence. According to the Greek historian, he was of common origins. A revolt of the native soldiers gave him his opportunity. These troops, returning home from a disastrous expedition to [[Cyrene (city)|Cyrene]], suspected that they had been betrayed in order that [[Apries]], the reigning king, might rule more absolutely by means of his [[mercenaries]], and their friends in Egypt fully sympathized with them. Amasis, sent to meet them and quell the revolt, was proclaimed king by the rebels, and Apries, who had now to rely entirely on his mercenaries, was defeated and taken prisoner in the ensuing conflict at [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]]; the [[usurper]] treated the captive prince with great leniency, but was eventually persuaded to give him up to the people, by whom he was strangled and buried in his ancestral tomb at Sais. An inscription confirms the fact of the struggle between the native and the foreign soldiery, and proves that Apries was killed and honourably buried in the 3rd year of Amasis. He ended up marrying Chedebnitjerbone II, one of the daughters of his predecessor [[Apries]], in order to better sustain his position.

Although Amasis thus appears first as champion of the disparaged native, he had the good sense to cultivate the friendship of the [[Ancient Greece|Greek world]], and brought Egypt into closer touch with it than ever before. Herodotus relates that under his prudent administration [[Egypt]] reached the highest pitch of prosperity; he adorned the temples of [[Lower Egypt]] especially with splendid [[monolith]]ic [[shrine]]s and other monuments (his activity here is proved by remains still existing). To the Greeks, Amasis assigned the commercial colony of [[Naucratis]] on the [[Canopus, Egypt|Canopic]] branch of the [[Nile]], and when the [[temple of Delphi]] was burnt he contributed 1,000 [[talent (weight)|talents]] to the rebuilding. He also married a Greek princess named [[Ladice (Cyrenaean Princess)|Ladice]] daughter of King [[Battus III of Cyrene|Battus III]] (see [[List_of_Kings_of_Cyrene|Battus]]) and he made alliances with [[Polycrates]] of Samos and [[Croesus]] of Lydia.

His kingdom consisted probably of Egypt only, as far as the [[First Cataract]], but to this he added [[Cyprus]], and his influence was great in Cyrene. At the beginning of his long reign, before the death of Apries, he appears to have sustained an attack by [[Nebuchadrezzar II]] ([[568 BC]]). [[Cyrus II of Persia|Cyrus]] left Egypt unmolested; but the last years of Amasis were disturbed by the threatened invasion of [[Cambyses]] and by the rupture of the alliance with Polycrates of Samos. The blow fell upon his son [[Psametik III]], whom the Persian deprived of his kingdom after a reign of only six months.

Amasis II died in [[526 BC]]. He was buried at the royal necropolis of Sais, and while his tomb was never discovered, Herodotus described it for us:

{{cquote|'''(It is) a great cloistered building of stone, decorated with pillars carved in the imitation of palm-trees, and other costly ornaments. Within the cloister is a chamber with double doors, and behind the doors stands the sepulchre.<ref>[http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/amasis.htm Amasis]</ref> }}

==Gallery of images==
<gallery>
Image:Louvres-antiquites-egyptiennes-img 2713.jpg|Papyrus, written in demotic script in the 35th year of Amasis II, on display at the [[Louvre]] |
Image:Louvres-antiquites-egyptiennes-img 2711.jpg|Grant of a parcel of land by an individual to a temple. Dated to the first year of Amasis II, on display at the [[Louvre]] |
Image:Louvre 122006 008.jpg|A stele dating to the 23rd regnal year of Amasis, on display at the [[Louvre]] |
</gallery>

==References==
<div class="references-small">
<references />
</div>

*[[William Flinders Petrie|W. M. Flinders Petrie]], ''History'', vol. iii.
*[[James Henry Breasted]], ''History and Historical Documents'', vol. iv. p. 509
*[[Gaston Maspero]], ''Les Empires''
* ''[[:fr:Référence:Nos ancêtres de l'Antiquité (Christian Settipani)|Nos ancêtres de l'Antiquité]]'', 1991, [[Christian Settipani]], p. 161

{{1911}}

[[Category:Pharaohs of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:526 BC deaths]]

[[de:Amasis (Pharao)]]
[[es:Amosis II]]
[[fr:Amasis]]
[[it:Henemibra]]
[[nl:Amasis]]
[[pl:Ahmose II]]
[[pt:Amásis]]
[[ru:Амасис II]]
[[zh:雅赫摩斯二世]]