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Conflict Middle East

Persian Conquest of Egypt

525 BCE – 522 BCE · 3 years

Cambyses II conquered Egypt at the Battle of Pelusium, ending the 26th Dynasty and making Egypt a Persian satrapy. According to Herodotus, the Persians used cats as shields, knowing Egyptians would not risk harming them.

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Belligerents

The main peoples, kingdoms and states involved.

  • Achaemenid Persia (Cambyses II)
  • Egypt (Psamtik III)

Key moments

Defining events in the Persian Conquest of Egypt.

  1. 525 BC Battle of Pelusium
  2. 525 BC Siege of Memphis

Elsewhere in Middle East at the time

Records whose own span overlaps this one, found by the same test the canvas draws with. The bar under each card is where it sits inside this one.

See the whole view

Landmark · Middle East

Great Pyramid of Giza

2560 BCE – still standing

Polity · Middle East

Egypt

Attested 3000 BCE – 2026 CE

Trade route · Middle East

Nile River Trade

3000 BCE – 30 BCE

Landmark · Middle East

Dead Sea

3000 BCE – still standing

Polity · Middle East

Saba

Attested 1500 BCE – 100 BCE

Trade route · Middle East

Mesopotamian Trade Network

3000 BCE – 500 BCE

Landmark · Middle East

Wadi Rum

3000 BCE – still standing

Polity · Middle East

Achaemenid Empire

549 BCE – 329 BCE

And in the rest of the world

Records running through the same years, on the other side of the map.

Grand Canyon Landmark · Americas 3000 BCE – still standing Maya chiefdoms and states Polity · Americas 2000 BCE – 1521 CE Lapita Expansion (Western Polynesia) Trade route · Oceania 1500 BCE – 500 BCE Spring and Autumn Period Wars Conflict · East Asia 771 BCE – 476 BCE Buddha Figure · Northern India / Nepal 563 BCE – 483 BCE Great Barrier Reef Landmark · Oceania 3000 BCE – still standing
Image credits5 pictures from Wikimedia Commons