page_title: Sack of Thebes
section_title: The year 663 BC
hierarchical_section_title: Sack of Thebes / The year 663 BC
caption_attribution_description: English: Statue of Tantamani in the National Museum of Sudan. Tantamani was the last king of the 25th Dynasty.
context_page_description: The Sack of Thebes took place in 663 BC in the city of Thebes at the hands of the Neo-Assyrian Empire under king Ashurbanipal, then at war with the Kushite Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt under Tantamani. After a long struggle for the control of the Levant which had started in 705 BC, the Kushites had gradually lost control of Lower Egypt and, by 665 BC, their territory was reduced to Upper Egypt and Nubia. Helped by the unreliable vassals of the Assyrians in the Nile Delta region, Tantamani briefly regained Memphis in 663 BC, killing Necho I of Sais in the process.
  On learning of these events, Ashurbanipal aided by Necho's son, Psamtik I and his Carian mercenaries, returned to Egypt with a large army and comprehensively defeated the Kushites near Memphis. The army then proceeded south to Thebes, which quickly fell as Tantamani had already fled to Lower Nubia. The city was thoroughly sacked, its inhabitants were deported and much booty taken back to Assyria, including two large obelisks.
  The sack of Thebes was a major event in the history of the city and of ancient Egypt in general.
caption: Tantamani failed to hold Memphis after the arrival of the Assyrians.
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