Cambyses, son of Cyrus and Cassadane, had once remarked to his mother that when he became a man, he would turn all of Egypt upside down. This comment came into play after there had been some disturbances between the Egyptians and Persians. During one battle, a Persian ambassador sailed up the Nile in a Mitylenean boat, and proposed terms of surrender to the Egyptian rebels in Memphis, Egypt. When the Egyptians saw the boat coming, they attacked it and smashed it to pieces as well as killing all of the crew members. The Persian army moved up to Memphis and forced the rebels to surrender prompting several other groups to offer gifts of tribute to Cambyses. Ten days later, Cambyses protested to the royal judges for justice. It was decided that ten Egyptians would die for every Persian who had been killed on the boat. In the end two thousand Egyptians had been executed. Many years after this had occurred, Egypt, like Babylon and Assyria, became a province of the Persian Empire.
As soon as Cambyses became master of Egypt, he planned expeditions against the Carthaginians, the dwellers in the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon, and the Ethiopians. He ended up leaving the Carthaginians in peace due to lack of support, but did attempt to bring down the dwellers and the Ethiopians. His armies were unprepared for the harsh conditions and misguided in terms of directions. Cambyses, out of frustration and hopelessness, decided to abandon his plan of attack. During his reign, Cambyses had destroyed several temples at Memphis and became a tyrant in the eyes of his people and court members. Some even thought he was crazy due to the outlandish things he would do such as having twelve Persian nobles buried in the ground up to their neck for reason at all. He had many killed because of comments that upset or offended him. It is said that Cambyses reigned for seven years and five months. In an attempt to rush off on one of his horses, Cambyses was wounded in the thigh when a portion of the scabbard of his sword fell off. He soon died from the effects of the wound, which caused the limb to mortify and affect the bone.
Darius I, is said to have become king in a very unusual way. He was one of seven men who were to find and kill an imposter named Smerdis. Upon the death and beheading of Smerdis and several others who got in the way of the seven men, a massacre broke out when the people saw the heads of the traitors. The remaining men decided that after they were mounted on their horse, whichever horse neighed first at sunrise should have the kingdom. Oebares, groom of Darius, managed to get Darius’ horse to neigh when everyone was mounted at sunrise one day making Darius ruler of the New Kingdom.
When he arrived in Egypt about BC 517, he adopted the style of the old Egyptian kings and chose for himself the name Ra-SETTU king of the South and North. He placed his name Darius into hieroglyphic characters within a cartouche as "son of the Sun". Darius has founded a college for the education of the priests. His goal was to erase the negative impressions the Egyptians had of the Persians, including that of Cambyses. His greatest work was the completion of the digging of the canal to join the Nile and Red Sea, which had begun by Necho II. He became acquainted with Egyptian theology and the writings in books. At one point he gained the title of god, which no other Persian king had done. Darius repaired architectural works, but his greatest attempt was the building of the temple in Oasis Al-Kharga in honor of the god Amen. Darius had married at least 5 women and had 12 children, including Xerxes, his successor. He ruled for thirty-six years.
Xerxes the Great, succeeded Darius I about BC 486 or 485. His first important work was the suppression of the Egyptian revolt his father was preparing to crush. He had his brother Akhaemenes govern over the country, but more or less reduced it to a much worse state than it was before Darius. Xerxes didn’t do anything for the Egyptian temples. Some say that he may have even robbed them completely. There aren't many monuments attributed to Xerxes either. He was said to be a tall, handsome man yet very cruel and tyrannical. Xerxes was murdered by Artabanus and Spamitres about BC 465. He ruled for twenty years and was succeeded by his son Artaxerxes.
Artaxerxes, became king of all of Persia after many struggles. Upon Xerxes death, Artaxerxes was convinced to have his brother Darius killed for their fathers’ murder by a man named Artabanus. His chief goal was to make one of his own sons king of Persia. Artaxerses name isn’t found in Egypt. He adopted the title "Pharaoh the Great", but didn’t adopt a throne name. He didn’t build, repair or add anything to Egypt. He reigned for forty years and didn’t leave much of a trace except for a few words on the Stele of Alexander II.
The greatest of the Persians to rule was Darius I. He tried to make his rule acceptable to the people and clergy. He showed interest in the development of Egypt in trading and their institutions. He brought together an empire for the good of the people and created a lasting impression of his reign.
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