| Apries | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Wahibre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 head of Apries, Louvre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pharaoh | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reign | 589–570 BCE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predecessor | Psamtik II | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Successor | Amasis II | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Children | Khedebneithirbinet II | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Father | Psamtik II | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mother | Takhuit | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 567 BCE | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dynasty | 26th dynasty | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Apries (Ancient Greek:Ἁπρίης) is the name by whichHerodotus[2]: II.161 andDiodorus[3]: I.68 designateWahibre Haaibre, a pharaoh ofEgypt (589–570BCE), the fourth king (counting from Psamtik I) of theTwenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt.[4] He was equated with theOuaphris (Οὔαφρις) ofManetho, who correctly records that he reigned for 19 years. Apries is also calledHophra inJeremiah 44:30 (Hebrew:חָפְרַע,Modern: Ḥofra',Tiberian: H̱op̄ra';Ancient Greek:Ουαφρη[ς],romanized: Ouaphre[s]).[5]
Apries inherited the throne from his father, pharaohPsamtik II, inFebruary 589 BCE.[1] Apries was an active builder who constructed "additions to the temples atAthribis (Tell Atrib),Bahariya Oasis,Memphis andSais."[6] In the 4th year of his reign, Apries' sisterAnkhnesneferibre was made the newGod's Wife ofAmun atThebes.[6] However, Apries' reign was also fraught with internal problems. In588 BCE, Apries dispatched a force toJerusalem to protect it from Babylonian forces sent byNebuchadnezzar II (Book of Jeremiah 37:5; 34:21). His forces quickly withdrew, however, apparently avoiding a major confrontation with the Babylonians.[7][8] Jerusalem, following an18 month-long siege, was destroyed by the Babylonians in either587 or 586BCE. Apries's unsuccessful attempt to intervene in the politics of theKingdom of Judah was followed by a mutiny of soldiers from the strategically importantAswan garrison.[1][7]
According to classical historians, Apries campaigned in the Levant, tookSidon and so terrified the other cities of Phoenicia that he secured their submission.[2]: ii. 161 [3]: I.68 However, this supposed submission was likely short lived.[9] A recently uncovered stela fromTahpanhes records thatNebuchadnezzar II attempted to invade Egypt in582 BCE, but Apries' forces were capable to repel the invasion.[10]
InCyrenaica to the west,Battus II of Cyrene had encouraged further Greek settlement in his city, especially from thePeloponnese andCrete. This sparked conflict with the indigenous Libyans, whose kingAdicran appealed to Apries for help around570 BCE. Apries launched a military expedition against Cyrene, but was decisively defeated at the Battle of Irasa.[11][12][1]
When the defeated army returned home, a civil war broke out in the Egyptian army between the indigenous troops and the foreign mercenaries. The Egyptians threw their support toAmasis II, a general who had led Egyptian forces in a highly successful invasion ofNubia in592 BCE under PharaohPsamtik II, Apries' father.[1] Amasis quickly declared himself pharaoh in570 BCE, and Apries fled Egypt and sought refuge in a foreign country. When Apries marched back to Egypt in567 BCE with the aid of aBabylonian army to reclaim the throne of Egypt, he was likely killed in battle with Amasis' forces.[13][6][a] Alternatively, Herodotus[2]: II.169 holds that Apries survived the battle, and was captured and treated well by the victorious Amasis, until the Egyptian people demanded justice against him, whereby he was placed into their hands and strangled to death.[2]: II.169 Amasis thus secured his kingship over Egypt and was then its unchallenged ruler.
Amasis, however, reportedly treated Apries' mortal remains with respect and observed the proper funerary rituals by having Apries' body carried toSais and buried there with "full military honours."[6] Amasis, the former general who had declared himself pharaoh, also married Apries' daughter, Khedebneithirbinet II, to legitimise his accession to power. While Herodotus claimed that the wife of Apries was calledNitetis (Νιτῆτις, inGreek), "there are no contemporary references naming her" in Egyptian records.[6]
Eusebius placed theeclipse of Thales in585 BCE, in the eighth or twelfth year of Apries' reign.
Anobelisk which Apries erected at Sais was moved by the 3rd century AD Roman EmperorDiocletian and originally placed at theTemple of Isis in Rome. It is today located in front of theSanta Maria sopra Minerva basilica church in Rome.
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