**Apries** ([[Ancient Greek language|Ancient Greek]]: Ἁπρίης) is the name by which [[Herodotus]][^1] and [[Diodorus Siculus|Diodorus]][^2] designate **Wahibre Haaibre**, a pharaoh of [[Egypt]] (589–570 BCE), the fourth king (counting from Psamtik I) of the [[Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt]].[^3] He was equated with the **Ouaphris** (Οὔαφρις) of [[Manetho]], who correctly records that he reigned for 19 years. Apries is also called **Hophra** in Jeremiah 44:30 ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: חָפְרַע, [[Modern Hebrew|Modern]]: *Ḥofra'*, [[Tiberian vocalization|Tiberian]]: *H̱op̄ra'*; [[Ancient Greek language|Ancient Greek]]: Ουαφρη\[ς\], [[Romanization of Ancient Greek|romanized]]: *Ouaphre\[s\]*).[^4]

## Biography

Apries inherited the throne from his father, pharaoh [[Psamtik II]], in February 589 BCE.[^5] Apries was an active builder who constructed "additions to the temples at [[Athribis]] (Tell Atrib), [[Bahariya Oasis]], [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]] and [[Sais, Egypt|Sais]]."[^6] In the 4th year of his reign, Apries' sister [[Ankhnesneferibre]] was made the new *God's Wife of [[Amun]]* at [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]].[^6] However, Apries' reign was also fraught with internal problems. In 588 BCE, Apries dispatched a force to [[Jerusalem]] to protect it from Babylonian forces sent by [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] ([[Book of Jeremiah]] 37:5; 34:21). His forces quickly withdrew, however, apparently avoiding a major confrontation with the Babylonians.[^7][^8] Jerusalem, following an [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|18 month-long siege, was destroyed]] by the Babylonians in either 587 or 586 BCE. Apries's unsuccessful attempt to intervene in the politics of the [[Kingdom of Judah]] was followed by a mutiny of soldiers from the strategically important [[Aswan]] garrison.[^5][^7]

According to classical historians, Apries campaigned in the Levant, took [[Sidon]] and so terrified the other cities of Phoenicia that he secured their submission.[^1][^2] However, this supposed submission was likely short lived.[^9] A recently uncovered stela from [[Tahpanhes]] records that [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] attempted to invade Egypt in 582 BCE, but Apries' forces were capable to repel the invasion.[^10]

In [[Cyrenaica]] to the west, [[Battus II of Cyrene]] had encouraged further Greek settlement in his city, especially from the [[Peloponnese]] and [[Crete]]. This sparked conflict with the indigenous Libyans, whose king [[Adicran]] appealed to Apries for help around 570 BCE. Apries launched a military expedition against Cyrene, but was decisively defeated at the Battle of Irasa.[^11][^12][^5]

When the defeated army returned home, a civil war broke out in the Egyptian army between the indigenous troops and the foreign mercenaries. The Egyptians threw their support to [[Amasis II]], a general who had led Egyptian forces in a highly successful invasion of [[Nubia]] in 592 BCE under Pharaoh [[Psamtik II]], Apries' father.[^5] Amasis quickly declared himself pharaoh in 570 BCE, and Apries fled Egypt and sought refuge in a foreign country. When Apries marched back to Egypt in 567 BCE with the aid of a [[Babylonia|Babylonian]] army to reclaim the throne of Egypt, he was likely killed in battle with Amasis' forces.[^13][^6][^14] Alternatively, Herodotus[^1] holds that Apries survived the battle, and was captured and treated well by the victorious Amasis, until the Egyptian people demanded justice against him, whereby he was placed into their hands and strangled to death.[^1] Amasis thus secured his kingship over Egypt and was then its unchallenged ruler.

Amasis, however, reportedly treated Apries' mortal remains with respect and observed the proper funerary rituals by having Apries' body carried to [[Sais, Egypt|Sais]] and buried there with "full military honours."[^6] Amasis, the former general who had declared himself pharaoh, also married Apries' daughter, Khedebneithirbinet II, to legitimise his accession to power. While Herodotus claimed that the wife of Apries was called **Nitetis** (Νιτῆτις, in [[Greek language|Greek]]), "there are no contemporary references naming her" in Egyptian records.[^6]

[[Eusebius]] placed the [[Eclipse of Thales|eclipse of Thales]] in 585 BCE, in the eighth or twelfth year of Apries' reign.

## Monuments

An [[Obelisk|obelisk]] which Apries erected at Sais was moved by the 3rd century AD Roman Emperor [[Diocletian]] and originally placed at the [[Temple of Isis and Serapis|Temple of Isis]] in Rome. It is today located in front of the [[Santa Maria sopra Minerva]] basilica church in Rome.

## Notes

[^1]: [[Herodotus|Ἡρόδοτος (Herodotus)]]. [[Histories (Herodotus)|*Ἱστορίαι*]] \[*Histories*\]. book II. c. 430 BCE.
[^2]: [[Diodorus Siculus|Διόδωρος (Diodorus Siculus)]]. [[Bibliotheca historica|*Βιβλιοθήκη Ἱστορική*]] \[*Historical Library*\]. book I. c. 33 BCE.
[^3]: [[Hugh Chisholm|Chisholm, Hugh]], ed. (1911). ["Apries"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica/Apries) . *[[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|Encyclopædia Britannica]]*. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 230.
[^4]: Theis, Christoffer (2011). "Sollte Re sich schämen? Eine subliminale Bedeutung von עפרח in Jeremia 44,30" \[Should Re be ashamed? A subliminal meaning of H̱op̄ra' \[*Chick*\] in Jeremiah\]. *Ugarit-Forschungen* (in German). **42**: 677–691\. [[ISSN (identifier)|ISSN]] [0342-2356](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0342-2356)— gives the written form of this particular name.
[^5]: Clayton, Peter A. (2006). *Chronicle of the Pharaohs: The reign-by-reign record of the rulers and dynasties of ancient Egypt* (Paperback ed.). Thames & Hudson. pp. 195–197\. [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]] 0-500-28628-0.
[^6]: [[Ian Shaw (Egyptologist)|Shaw, Ian]]; Nicholson, Paul (1995). *The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt*. Harry N. Abrams Pub. pp. 36–37\. [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]] 0-8109-3225-3.
[^7]: [[J. Maxwell Miller (biblical scholar)|Miller, J. Maxwell]]; Hayes, John H. (1986). *A History of Ancient Israel and Judah* (hardback ed.). Westminster Press. p. 414\. [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]] 0-664-21262-X.
[^8]: Nour, Mostafa Hassan; Iskander, John M.; Hashem, Sameh (2023). "The stela of King Apries from el-Qantara Gharb: A royal journey to the eastern borders". *Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur*. **52**: 221–239, esp. [p. 238](https://books.google.com/books?id=-hz3EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA238). [[ISSN (identifier)|ISSN]] [0340-2215](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0340-2215).
[^9]: Elayi, Josette (2018). *History of Phoenicia*. Lockwood Press. pp. 195–196.
[^10]: Abd El-Maksoud, Mohamed; Valbelle, Dominique (2013). "Une stèle de l'an 7 d'Apriès découverte sur le site de Tell Défenneh" \[A stele from the 7th year of Apries, discovered at the site of Tell Defenneh\]. *[[Revue d'Égyptologie]]* (in French). **64**: 1–13\. [[Doi (identifier)|doi]]:[10.2143/RE.64.0.3011326](https://doi.org/10.2143%2FRE.64.0.3011326).
[^11]: Kenrick, Philip (2013). [*Cyrenaica*](https://books.google.com/books?id=rC_qngEACAAJ). Libya Archaeological Guides. Vol. 2\. Silphium Press. p. 2\. [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]] 978-1-900971-14-0 – via Google.
[^12]: Rosamilia, Emilio (2023). *La città del Silfio: Istituzioni, culti ed economia di Cirene classica ed ellenistica attraverso le fonti epigrafiche* \[*The city of Silphium: Institutions, cults, and economy of classical and Hellenistic Cyrene through epigraphic sources.*\] (in Italian). Pisa, IT: Scuola Normale Superiore. p. 19\. [[ISBN (identifier)|ISBN]] 978-88-7642-736-7.
[^13]: ["Wahibre"](http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/chronology/wahibre.html). *Digital Egypt (digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk)*. Chronology. London, UK: [[University College London]].
[^14]: Shaw & Nicholson write that Apries *"probably died in battle in 567 BC"*.[[Apries|7]]