796
edits
Changes
no edit summary
===Sais under the Saites===
[[File: PsamtekStela.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|Grantie Stela of Psamtek I (ruled 664-610 BC)]]
[[File: Apries.jpg|300px|thumbnail|leftright|King Apries II (589-570 BC)]]
Beyond the limited observations done at Sais in the early nineteenth century, most of what is known about the city comes from a combination of statues and stelae recovered in other cities, a few Egyptian inscriptions, and some classical Greek accounts. The accounts mention that among the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty kings – often referred to as the “Saite Dynasty” – who built in the city, Psamtek I, Apries, and Ahmose/Amasis II (reigned 570-526 BC) were the most active. A general description by Herodotus states that the city was the home of the royal necropolis of the Saite kings, which was part of the goddess Neith’s temple complex, whom the Greeks referred to as “Athena.”