| Nimlot | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nimlot D,[1] Namilt, Nimlot (III) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 Detail of theVictory Stele of Piye: Nimlot tributes Piye (left, erased) with a horse and a sistrum. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
King ofHermopolis | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | c. 29 years, 754 - 725 BCE[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Djehutyemhat | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Consort | Nestanetmeh | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Osorkon III? | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Nimlot was anancient Egyptian ruler ("king") ofHermopolis during the25th Dynasty.
It is possible that Nimlot was a son of kingOsorkon III of the23rd Dynasty, and is likely that he was installed as a governor of Hermopolis by this king,[1] around 754 BCE. He was married to a "queen", Nestanetmeh, and proclaimed himself King around 749 BCE.[2]
At the time of Nimlot's rule, theKushite king andpharaohPiye was launching a campaign of conquest againstMiddle andLower Egypt (c. 729–728 BCE).[3]At first, Nimlot was an ally/vassal of Piye, but later he pulled back and joined the coalition led byTefnakht. Thisvolte-face caused Piye's immediate reaction: he marched northward and besieged Hermopolis until Nimlot's capitulation. After the conquest of the city, Nimlot had to give rich tributes to Piye as a compensation for his defection, including a horse and a precioussistrum; Piye, a great lover of horses, was also extremely disappointed to find Nimlot'sstables in poor state, and harshly scolded him for the neglect.[3][4]
After Nimlot's submission, the situation turned more favorable for Piye, and he managed to defeat Tefnakht's coalition. On Piye'sVictory stele, Nimlot is one of the fourDelta kings subdued by the Nubian conqueror – the others areIuput II ofLeontopolis,Osorkon IV ofTanis andPeftjauawybast ofHerakleopolis; among the quartet, Nimlot is depicted standing instead of kneeling,[5] since Piye chose him asinterlocutor, while the others were considered "impure", due to the fact that they ate fishes.[3] Nimlot's charges were reconfirmed by Piye before the latter's return in the South.
Later, around 725 BCE, Nimlot was succeeded byDjehutyemhat.[2]
Nimlot should not be confused with his later successor calledNimlot E (orLamintu inAkkadian) who was ruling the city of Hermopolis when theAssyrians led byAshurbanipal invaded Egypt in 667/666 BCE.[6]
