son and successor of Psammetikhos, cleared out
the old canal which united the Red Sea with the Nile, and did all that
he could to encourage trade with the Mediterranean. An exploring fleet
was even sent under Phoenician pilots to circumnavigate Africa. Three
years were spent on the voyage, and the ships finally returned through
the Straits of Gibraltar to the mouths of the Nile. Meanwhile, the
Pharaoh had marched into Palestine. Gaza was captured, and the Jewish
king, Josiah, slain in his attempt to bar the way of his unexpected
enemy. Jerusalem surrendered, and a nominee of the Egyptians was placed
upon its throne.

The Asiatic empire of the Eighteenth dynasty was thus restored. But it
lasted barely three years. In B.C. 605 the Egyptians were defeated by
Nebuchadrezzar under the walls of Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Asia
passed into the possession of the Babylonians. Once more Palestine
became a shuttlecock between the kingdoms of the Nile and the Euphrates.
Trusting to the support of Egypt, Zedekiah of Judah revolted from his
Babylonian master. His policy at first seemed successful. The Babylonian
army which was besieging Jerusalem retired on the approach of
Psammetikhos II., who had succeeded his father Necho, and the Jewish
statesmen again breathed freely. But the respite lasted for only six
years. The Babylonian troops returned with increased strength; the
Egyptians retreated to their own country, and Jerusalem fell in B.C.
588, one year after the death of the Egyptian king.

His son Hophra or Apries had made a vain attempt to rescue Zedekiah. His
fleet had held the sea, while his army marched along the coast of
Palestine and occupied Tyre and Sidon. But the fall of Jerusalem obliged
it to retire. The dream of an Asiatic empire was over, and the Pharaoh
had more than enough to do to defend himself against his own subjects.
They saw with growing impatience that the power and wealth of the Greek
mercenaries continually increased. The native army had already deserted
to Ethiopia; now the priests complained that the revenues of the temples
were sacrilegiously confiscated for the support of the foreigner. In
B.C. 570 discontent reached a head; civil war broke out between Hophra
and his brother-in-law Ahmes or Amasis, which ended in the defeat of
Hophra and his loss of the crown.

But Amasis found the Greeks more indispensable than ever, and they were
loaded with favours even more than before. They were moved to M