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Inaros (II), also known as Inarus, (fl. 460 BC) was an Ancient Egypt rebel ruler who was the son of an Egyptian prince named Psammetichus IV, presumably of the old Saite line, and grandson of Psamtik III. In 460 BC, he revolted against the Persians with the help of his Delian League allies under Admiral Charitimides, and defeated the Persian army commanded by satrap Achaemenes. The Persians retreated to Memphis, but the Athenians were finally defeated in 454 BC by the Persian army led by Megabyzus, satrap of Syria, and Artabazus, satrap of Phrygia, after a two-year siege. Inaros was captured and carried away to Susa where he was reportedly crucifixion in 454 BC.
According to Thucydides, at first Artaxerxes sent Megabazus to try and bribe the Spartans into invading Attica, to draw off the Athenian forces from Egypt. When this failed, he instead assembled a large army under (confusingly) Megabyzus, and dispatched it to Egypt. Diodorus has more or less the same story, with more detail; after the attempt at bribery failed, Artaxerxes put Megabyzus and Artabazus in charge of 300,000 men, with instructions to quell the revolt. They went first from Persia to Cilicia and gathered a fleet of 300 triremes from the Cilicians, and Cypriots, and spent a year training their men. Then they finally headed to Egypt.Diodorus XI, 74–75 Modern estimates, however, place the number of Persian troops at the considerably lower figure of 25,000 men given that it would have been highly impractical to deprive the already strained satrapies of any more man power than that. Thucydides does not mention Artabazus, who is reported by Herodotus to have taken part in the second Persian invasion; Diodorus may be mistaken about his presence in this campaign.Herodotus VIII, 126 It is clearly possible that the Persian forces did spend some prolonged time in training, since it took four years for them to respond to the Egyptian victory at Papremis. Although neither author gives many details, it is clear that when Megabyzus finally arrived in Egypt, he was able to quickly lift the Siege of Memphis, defeating the Egyptians in battle, and driving the Athenians from Memphis.Diodorus XI, 77
There are two versions of his death. According to the first he was crucified, and according to the other, Impalement. A fragment of Ctesias preserved by Photios I of Constantinople reports that "Inaros was executed on three stakes, fifty of the Greeks, all that she could lay hands on, were decapitated."Photius' excerpt of Ctesias'
Thucydides reports a slightly different story. He records no truces and Professor J M Bigwood argues that Thucydides should be interpreted as saying that Inaros was both captured and executed in the same year, 454 BC.
Siege of Prosopitis (455 BCE)
The Athenians now fell back to the island of Prosopitis in the Nile delta, where their ships were moored. There, Megabyzus laid siege to them for 18 months, until finally he was able to drain the river from around the island by digging canals, thus "joining the island to the mainland". In Thucydides's account the Persians then crossed over to the former island, and captured it. Only a few of the Athenian force, marching through Libya to Cyrene survived to return to Athens. In Diodorus's version, however, the draining of the river prompted the Egyptians (whom Thucydides does not mention) to defect and surrender to the Persians. The Persians, not wanting to sustain heavy casualties in attacking the Athenians, instead allowed them to depart freely to Cyrene, whence they returned to Athens. Since the defeat of the Egyptian expedition caused a genuine panic in Athens, including the relocation of the Delian treasury to Athens, Thucydides' version is probably more likely to be correct.Holland, p. 363.
Battle of Mendesium
As a final disastrous coda to the expedition, Thucydides mentions the fate of a squadron of fifty triremes sent to relieve the Siege of Prosopitis. Unaware that the Athenians had finally succumbed, the fleet put in at the Mendesian mouth of the Nile, where it was promptly attacked from the land, and from the sea by the Phoenician navy. Most of the ships were destroyed, with only a handful managing to escape and return to Athens. Total Athenian casualties of the expedition totaled some 50,000 men and 250 ships.
Retreat to Byblos and capture
Charitimides was killed in battle and Inarus was wounded in the thigh by the Persian force and retreated to Byblos, his stronghold and the only Egyptian city that did not submit to Megabyzus. After fighting for a year and a half in the marshes, Inaros was defeated by Megabyzus. Together with the remaining Greeks, he was taken captive away to Susa.
Execution
Megabyzus promised Inaros and his rebel Greeks that they would not be executed once they arrived at Susa, the Persian capital. The Queen Mother Amestris wanted them punished and killed because they were responsible for the death of her son, the satrap Achaemenes, and asked for his death. Artaxerxes I initially kept the promise made by Megabyzus, allowing them to live in Susa as prisoners of war. But after five years of pleading, with Amestris maintaining her stance, the Greeks attacking Persia at the Battle of Cyprus and Artaxerxes needing support and not wanting to lose the Persian throne at any chance, he reluctantly handed Inaros and fifty Greeks to the Queen Mother.
The Greek word anestaurothe, used to describe and name the method of his execution in the texts could either mean impalement or crucifixion on a single stake, or crucifixion on a true cross, but there is not enough evidence and information in the historical records to give a definitive answer.
Legacy
Inaros’s revolt, although unsuccessful in the end, left a significant mark in Egyptian history. Herodotus also reports that Inaros did more damage to the Persians than any man before him.
Inaros I and II
Inaros II is often confused in both ancient and modern literature with his namesake, the Libyan prince Inaros I of Athribis, who rebelled against the about two centuries earlier.Kim Ryholt. 'The Assyrian Invasion of Egypt in Egyptian Literary Tradition', Assyria and Beyond: Studies Presented to Mogens Trolle Larsen, edited by J.G. Dercksen, Leiden, Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, 2004, pp. 384–511.
See also
Further reading
Categories: 5th-century Bc Egyptian People, People Executed By Crucifixion, Egyptian Rebels, Executed Ancient Egyptian People, Nile Delta, 5th-century Bc Executions, Year Of Birth Unknown, Rebellions Against The Achaemenid Empire, People Executed By The Achaemenid Empire, Twenty-seventh Dynasty Of Egypt, Egyptian Prisoners Of War, People Executed By Impalement, Executed Monarchs, 5th-century Bc Rebels
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