Seheruibre Padibastet
Pedubast III, Pedubastis III, Petubastis III
Wooden doorjamb, originally covered with gold leaf and inlaid glass, representing Seheruibre Petubastis III making an offering,[1]Louvre Museum.
RebelPharaoh
Reign	522 BC - 520 BC
Predecessor	Cambyses II[2]
Successor	Darius I[2]
Royal titulary Horus name Sementawy smn tꜢwy He who controls theTwo Lands[3] Nebty name Sehedj Er-Peru sḥḏ r-prw He who illuminates the temples[3] Praenomen Seheruibre shrw ib rꜥ Maker of peace in the heart ofRa Nomen Padibastet pꜣ-dj-bꜣstt Given byBastet[4]
Dynasty	(?)

Seheruibre Padibastet (Ancient Egyptian:shrw-jb-rꜥpꜣ-dj-bꜣstt) better known by his Hellenised namePetubastis III (orIV, depending on the scholars) was a nativeancient Egyptian ruler (ruled c. 522 – 520 BC), who revolted againstPersian rule.^[2]

Petubastis was a localprince,dynast and probably a member of theold royal Saite line who attempted to take control of Egypt and seize power.^[5] Although he assumed the royal titles and the titulary of apharaoh, he has been a largely unknown character and a shadowy figure inEgyptian history.^[5]

Recent excavations atAmheida in theDakhla Oasis have suggested that Petubastis may have had his royal residence there, a location reasonably far from theNile valley which was under Persian control. Some blocks from the destroyed temple ofThoth at Amheida bear inscriptions attributable to him, as well as his almost completeroyal titulary.^[3] From Amheida, Petubastis may have ambushed and defeated the so-called "Lost Army of Cambyses", which was described some decades later byHerodotus as a military expedition sent byCambyses II to theOracle of Zeus-Ammon in theSiwa Oasis, only to be obliterated by asand storm.^[3]

Shortly after this, Petubastis would have reachedMemphis in order to be formally crowned as pharaoh, and adopted a royal titulary resembling those of the previous Saite Dynasty.^[3]

Petubastis probably took advantage of the disruption caused by the usurpation byBardiya of the Persian throne after the death of Cambyses to rebel.^[6] According to the 2nd century Greek military authorPolyaenus, who wrote about the revolt, it was the oppression and cruelty of the then PersiansatrapAryandes which led to the rebellion.^[7]

TheBehistun Inscription, which offers the greatest insight into the events during this period, mentions a rebellion in Egypt which occurred at the same time as other rebellions in the eastern parts of thePersian Empire.Darius I, the author of the Behistun Inscription, does not go into any detail about how he dealt with the rebellion in Egypt. Polyaenus reports that Darius moved to Egypt to suppress the revolt, and entered into Memphis during the mourning period for the death of anApis bull. Cunningly, theGreat King promised one hundredtalents ofgold for the one that would provide a new Apis, impressing the natives to the point that they moveden masse to his side.^[7] This story suggests that the rebellion was not yet quelled when Darius came to Egypt.^[3]

Petubastis was ultimately defeated by Darius, who later ensured the control of the western oases by embarking on an active campaign of works there (the most famous being theTemple of Hibis atKharga Oasis). At the same time, he most likely destroyed as much evidence as he could regarding Petubastis and his rebellion, including the temple at Amheida and the true fate of the lost army of Cambyses.^[3]

Prior to the rediscovery of several blocks referring to him in the Dakhla Oasis,^[3] the existence of this shadowy rebel ruler was confirmed by inscriptions found on twoseals and onescarab that bear his name written in a royal form inside acartouche.^[2] His figure appears on a door jamb once covered in gold leaf, now at theLouvre Museum, and on a wooden panel now inBologna (KS 289).^[1] There also exists a document that has been dated to 522 BC, which was the first year of his reign.^[5]

• Psammetichus IV – a proposed Egyptian ruler who rebelled against the Achaemenid rule in the 480s BC
• Inaros II – another Egyptian ruler who rebelled against the Achaemenid rule in the 460s BC

Wikimedia Commons has media related toPedubast Seheruibre.

• Uzume Z. Wijnsma (2018), "The Worst Revolt of the Bisitun Crisis: A Chronological Reconstruction of the Egyptian Revolt under Petubastis IV".Journal of Near Eastern Studies77 (2), pp. 157–173.

• 6th-century BC pharaohs
• Non-dynastic pharaohs
• Egyptian rebels
• Ancient Egyptian princes
• Rebellions against the Achaemenid Empire
• 520s BC deaths

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