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Nectanebo II (Egyptian: Nḫt]]-Ḥr-Ḥbt; ) was the last native ruler of ancient Egypt, as well as the third and last pharaoh of the Thirtieth Dynasty, reigning from 358 to c.340 BC.
During the reign of Nectanebo II, Egyptian artists developed a specific style that left a distinctive mark on the of the Ptolemaic Kingdom. Like his indirect predecessor Nectanebo I, Nectanebo II showed enthusiasm for many of the cults of the gods within ancient Egyptian religion, and more than a hundred Egyptian sites bear evidence of his attention.
For several years, Nectanebo II was successful in keeping Egypt safe from the Achaemenid Empire. However, he was betrayed by his former servant, Mentor of Rhodes, and ultimately defeated. The Achaemenids occupied Memphis and then seized the rest of Egypt, incorporating the country into the Achaemenid Empire under Artaxerxes III. Nectanebo fled south. His subsequent fate is unknown. He was the last native Egyptian to rule over Ancient Egypt.
Medieval Arab authors referred to him as Nāqāṭānībās ().
At the beginning of 360 BC, Nectanebo's predecessor, Teos, started preparations for war against intruders. In the same year, the Egyptian army set off, traveling along the coast by land and sea. Nectanebo II accompanied his uncle Teos in that campaign and was in charge of the machimoi.Grimal, p. 377
In an attempt to quickly raise finances for the war, Teos imposed taxes on Egyptians and seized temple property.Educational Britannica Educational (2025). 9781615302109, The Rosen Publishing Group. ISBN 9781615302109 Egyptians, particularly the priests, resented these measures but supported Nectanebo II. Teos asked military leader Agesilaus and Athenian general Chabrias to support him. Agesilaus, however, said he was sent to aid Egypt and not to wage war against it. Chabrias returned home with his mercenaries. Teos decided to flee to the Achaemenid court, where he ultimately died of natural causes.
Nectanebo contended with an unnamed pretender to the throne from the town of Mendes, who proclaimed himself pharaoh. The revolt was probably led by one of the descendants of Nepherites I, whose family had ruled the town before. The claimant sent messengers to Agesilaus in an attempt to persuade Agesilaus to his side. Agesilaus remained loyal to Nectanebo, fearing to become a turncoat. At one of the towns in the Nile Delta, the troops of Nectanebo and Agesilaus were besieged by the usurper, who had gained many sympathisers. Despite the enemy's numerical superiority, Nectanebo and Agesilaus were victorious and the revolt was put down in the fall of 360 BC.
Foreign affairs under Nectanebo II were thwarted by repeated Achaemenid attempts to reconquer Egypt. Before the accession of Nectanebo II to the throne, the Persians attempted to reclaim Egypt in 385, 383, and 373 BC. Nectanebo used the peace to build up a new army and employed Greek mercenaries, which was a common practice at the time. In about 351 BC, the Achaemenid Empire embarked on a new attempt to reclaim Egypt. After a year of fighting, Nectanebo and his allied generals, and Lamius of Sparta, managed to defeat the Achaemenids. Having scored a resounding victory, Nectanebo II was acclaimed "Nectanebo the divine falcon" by his people, and cults were set up in his name.Elizabeth Blyth (2025). 041540486X, Taylor & Francis. 041540486X of Nectanebo II, Egyptian faience. Museo Egizio, Turin]]In 345/44 BC, Nectanebo supported the rebellion against the Achaemenid Empire, led by the king of Sidon, Tennes, and dispatched military aid in the form of 4,000 Greek mercenaries, led by Mentor of Rhodes. However, having heard of the approach of the forces of Artaxerxes III, Mentor opened communication with the Persians in collusion with Tennes.
At the end of 344 BC, ambassadors of Artaxerxes III arrived in Greece, asking for the Greeks' participation in a campaign against Egypt.Dandamaev, p. 309. Athens and Sparta treated the ambassadors with courtesy, but refrained from committing to an alliance against Egypt. Other cities, however, decided to support the Persians: Thebes sent 1,000 and Ancient Argos 3,000.
In the winter of 343 BC, Artaxerxes set off for Egypt. The Egyptian army, headed by Nectanebo, consisted of 60,000 Egyptians, 20,000 Libu, and as many Greek mercenaries.Dandamaev, p. 310. In addition, Nectanebo had a number of flat-bottomed boats intended to prevent an enemy from entering the Nile mouths. The vulnerable points along his Mediterranean sea border and east boundary were protected by strongholds, fortifications and entrenched camps. Persian forces were strengthened by Mentor and his men, well acquainted with the eastern border of Egypt, and by 6,000 Ionians.
Nectanebo II was ultimately defeated and, in the summer of 342 BC, Artaxerxes entered MemphisBrosius, p. 30. and installed a satrap. Nectanebo fled to Upper Egypt and finally to Nubia, where he was granted asylum. He, however, preserved a degree of power there for some time. With the help of Khabash, Nectanebo made a vain attempt to regain the throne.
For a time, the sarcophagus was believed to have belonged to Alexander. However, after the translation of the Rosetta Stone, the writings on the sarcophagus were deciphered, and it became clear the tomb was not fashioned for him. The hieroglyphics on the tomb were sections from the Amduat, and contained the cartouche of Nectanebo II. The tomb was likely created for Nectanebo, before going unused as he was overthrown and fled to Nubia.
It has been argued that the sarcophagus did indeed house the remains of Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great's body was temporarily entombed in Memphis following his death in 323 BC, and Saqqara is a suspected location of his temporary Memphite tomb. Nectanebo had erected a temple there, where he may have intended to be laid to rest. It is possible the tomb was vacant in Memphis at the same time Alexander's body was placed there. When Alexander's remains were moved to Alexandria in 280 BC, it may have been moved along with the sarcophagus. In an article in the Egyptology journal Kmt (fall 2020), Andrew Chugg showed that a 3rd century BC fragment of a high status Macedonian tomb found embedded in the foundations of St Mark's Basilica in Venice in 1960 (which was believed to have been brought over from Alexandria along with the relics of St. Mark in 828 AD) is an exact fit as part of a tomb-casing for the sarcophagus, sparking renewed claims that the sarcophagus once held Alexander's remains.A. M. Chugg, "Was Alexander the Great Originally Interred in the Usurped Sarcophagus of Nectanebo II?" Kmt: A Modern Journal of Egyptology, Volume 31, Number 3, Fall 2020, pp. 66–74
At the Attarine Mosque, where it was found by Napoleon's men, holes had been drilled in the sarcophagus. It had been used as a ritual bath when Alexandria was under Islamic rule.
This myth would hold strong appeal for the Egyptians, who desired continuity and harbored a strong dislike for foreign rule. In art of this event, Nectanebo is usually depicted as having dragon-like features, for example in the Speculum Historiale.
In the early Ptolemaic tale of Nectanebo and Petesis, preserved only in a Greek fragment from the Serapeum of Saqqara, the pharaoh has a prophetic dream of Isis in which the god Anhur is angry with him because of his unfinished temple in Sebennytos. Nectanebo calls in the best sculptor of the realm, Petesis, to finish the job, but he bungles his assignment when he gets drunk and chases a beautiful girl instead. The narrative ends abruptly here, but this is probably the preface to the fall of Egypt. Al-Biruni's A History of India reproduces the story.
The legend of Nectanebo (or Nectanebus, or Natanabo, as reported in some versions of the Alexander Romance) left a profound mark on European culture up to the Renaissance and beyond. It is no coincidence that this character is included in the Sola Busca tarot (with the name Natanabo) together with other important "actors" of the same legend: Alexander, Philip of Macedon, Olympias and Ammon. An alchemical interpretation of this character was provided by the Italian scholar Sofia Di Vincenzo in a study on the Sola Busca Tarot, where she explains that Natanabo represents a celestial messenger who came to earth with a gift, the helmet, which is a symbol of invulnerability and both physical and mental potency.
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