Necho II

Necho II
Nekau
A small kneeling bronze statuette, likely Necho II, now residing in the Brooklyn Museum
A small kneeling bronze statuette, likely Necho II, now residing in the Brooklyn Museum
Pharaoh
Reign610–595 BC
PredecessorPsamtik I
SuccessorPsamtik II
Royal titulary
Horus name
Maaib
G5
S32
ib
Nebty name
Maakheru
Golden Horus
Merynetjeru
Prenomen  (Praenomen)
Wahemibre
M23L2
rawHmib
Nomen
Necho
G39N5
n
E1		 w
ConsortKhedebneithirbinet I
Died595 BC
Dynasty26th dynasty

Necho II[1] (sometimes Nekau,[2] Neku,[3] Nechoh,[4] or Nikuu;[5] Greek: Νεκώς Β';[6][7][8] Hebrew: נְכוֹ, Modern: Neḵō, Tiberian: Nəḵō) of Egypt was a king of the 26th Dynasty (610–595 BC), which ruled from Sais.[9] Necho undertook a number of construction projects across his kingdom.[10] In his reign, according to the Greek historian Herodotus, Necho II sent out an expedition of Phoenicians, which in three years sailed from the Red Sea around Africa to the Strait of Gibraltar and back to Egypt.[11] His son, Psammetichus II, upon succession may have removed Necho's name from monuments.[12]

Necho played a significant role in the histories of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, the Neo-Babylonian Empire and the Kingdom of Judah. Necho II is most likely the pharaoh Neco who was mentioned in 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and Jeremiah of the Bible.[13][14][15] The aim of the second of Necho's campaigns was Asiatic conquest,[16][17] to contain the westward advance of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, and cut off its trade route across the Euphrates. However, the Egyptians were defeated by the unexpected attack of the Babylonians and were eventually expelled from Syria.

The Egyptologist Donald B. Redford observed that Necho II was "a man of action from the start, and endowed with an imagination perhaps beyond that of his contemporaries, [who] had the misfortune to foster the impression of being a failure."[18]

  1. ^ Thomas Dobson. Encyclopædia: Or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature. Stone house, no. 41, South Second street, 1798. Page 785
  2. ^ A History of Egypt, from the XIXth to the XXXth Dynasties. By Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie. p336.
  3. ^ The Historians' History of the World: Prolegomena; Egypt, Mesopotamia. Edited by Henry Smith Williams. p183.
  4. ^ United States Exploring Expedition: Volume 15. By Charles Wilkes, United States. Congress. p53
  5. ^ The Bibliotheca Sacra, Volume 45. Dallas Theological Seminary., 1888.
  6. ^ Essay on the Hieroglyphic System of M. Champollion, Jun., and on the Advantages which it Offers to Sacred Criticism. By J. G. Honoré Greppo. p128
  7. ^ Herodotus 2,152. 2
  8. ^ W. Pape, "Wörterbuch der griechischen Eigennamen", 1911
  9. ^ Cory, Isaac Preston, ed. (1828), The Ancient Fragments, London: William Pickering, OCLC 1000992106, citing Manetho, the high priest and scribe of Egypt, being by birth a Sebennyte, who wrote his history for Ptolemy Philadelphus (266 BCE – 228 BCE).
  10. ^ The history of Egypt By Samuel Sharpe. E. Moxon, 1852. Part 640. p138.
  11. ^ Herodotus (4.42)
  12. ^ The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible. Edited by Norman L. Geisler, Joseph M. Holden. p287.
  13. ^ Encyclopædia britannica. Edited by Colin MacFarquhar, George Gleig. p785
  14. ^ The Holy Bible, According to the Authorized Version (A.D. 1611). Edited by Frederic Charles Cook. p131
  15. ^ see Hebrew Bible / Old Testament
  16. ^ The temple of Mut in Asher. By Margaret Benson, Janet A. Gourlay, Percy Edward Newberry. p276. (cf. Nekau's chief ambition lay in Asiatic conquest)
  17. ^ Egypt Under the Pharaohs: A History Derived Entireley from the Monuments. By Heinrich Brugsch, Brodrick. p444 (cf. Neku then attempted to assert the Egyptian supremacy in Asia.)
  18. ^ Donald B. Redford, Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times, (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992), p. 447-48.