Français – عربي – ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ – English
Inaros of Arthribis was an Egyptian Prince of Libyan origin. In the 7th Century BCE, he revolted against the Assyrian occupation of Egypt. His fight against the Assyrians inspired a cycle of highly popular stories: the Inaros Cycle.
Inaros was the son of Prince Bakennefy of Arthribis (Tell Atrib), in Lower Egypt. He was of Libyan origin: his father was a Prince of the Ma. His grandfather Padiaset is mentioned on the Stele of Piye, that tells the story of the conquest of Egypt by King Piye of Cush: after Piye’s victory against Pharaoh Tefnakht, Padiaset made allegiance to Piye and acknowledged him as Pharaoh. His submission might have encouraged most of the other chiefs in the Nile Delta to acknowledge the sovereignty of the new Nubian Pharaohs.
Around 674 BCE, King Esarhaddon of Assyria (modern-day Iraq) invaded Egypt. The Nubian Pharaoh Taharqa, son of Piye, fought the Assyrians in his Kingdom. Around 667, the new Assyriian King Ashurbanipal deported several Egyptian chiefs to Ninive, his capital. Bakennefy, Inaros’ father, was one of them; he would be executed in Ninive. This was probably when Inaros became lord of Arthribis and started fighting the Assyrians.
Nothing else is known about Inaros and his fight against the Assyrians. His name is known only from the legendary stories about him that appeared after his death, but the fact that his fight against the Assyrians inspired those stories shows that he was already known as a hero during his lifetime. While the stories of the Inaros Cycle are mostly fictitious, certain details, like his origins, his family background, and that his father was abducted by the Assyrians, are likely to be historical.
The book L’Egypte et la Vallée du Nil – Les époques tardives (Egypt and the Nile Valley – Later eras), by the French Egyptologist Frédéric Pauraudeau, identifies a number of stories from the Inarus Cycle – The Fight of Inaros Against the Griffin, The Epic of Inaros against the Assyrians, The Tale of Bes, and other occurring after the hero’s death: War for the Breastplate, War for the Prebend of Amon, King Ounamon and the Kingdom of Lihyan, and The Competition for the Diadem and the Spear of Inaros.
The Roman geographer Strabo tells that Psamtik, the King of the city of Sais, who was related to the former Pharaonic dynasty that had been overthrown by the Nubians, defeated an Inaros with the help of Greek mercenaries from the city of Miletus. His opponent was probably Inaros of Arthribis, after the end of his fight against the Assyrians. Psamtik’s father Necho had previously supported the Assyrians during their invasion of Egypt. In the following years, Psamtik defeated the Nubian Pharaohs and united all Egypt under his authority. He became Pharaoh and founded a new dynasty.
Inaros of Arthribis is often confused with another Inaros, who lived two centuries after him: Inaros of Sais, an Egyptian Prince, also of Libyan origin, who revolted against the Persians during the Persian occupation of Egypt. The legendary stories about them mix both their lives. To distinguish them, historians call them Inaros I and Inaros II.
