Pherendates

Pherendates (from the Old Persian Farnadāta[1]) was an Achaemenid satrap of ancient Egypt during the 5th century BCE, at the time of the Achaemenid 27th Dynasty of Egypt.

Pherendates Satrap of Egypt
Pherendates was satrap of the Achaemenid Province of Egypt.
Predecessor	Aryandes
Successor	Achaemenes
Dynasty	27th Dynasty
Pharaoh	Darius I
Father	Megabazus

Career

A son of Megabazus, a commander under king Darius I,[2] Pherendates is mainly attested from three letters written in Egyptian Demotic. He replaced the satrap Aryandes who was deposed by Darius around 496 BCE;[1] although the exact accession date of Pherendates is unknown. Pherendates was definitely the satrap in 492 BCE.[3]

In the aforementioned letters, certain priests of the local temple of Khnum at Elephantine asked Pherendates to take care of some of their business in their place, a rather standard request to the pharaoh (or his representative, such as in this case) in any period of ancient Egyptian history.[1]

In 486–485 BCE a revolt occurred in Egypt, only for being quelled in 484 BCE by a new satrap, Achaemenes. It is possible that Pherendates lost his life during the turmoil.[1]

References

1. Ray, John D. (2006). "Egypt, 525–404 B.C.". In Boardman, John; Hammond, N.D.L.; Lewis, D.M.; Ostwald, M. (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History (2nd ed.), vol. IV – Persia, Greece and the Western Mediterranean c. 525 to 479 B.C. Cambridge University Press. p. 266. ISBN 0 521 22804 2.
2. http://asiaminor.ehw.gr/Forms/fLemmaBody.aspx?lemmaId=7970#noteendNote_10
3. ARYANDES at the Encyclopædia Iranica.

Further reading

• Hughes, G.R. (1984). Grammata Demotika. Wiesbaden. pp. 75–86.
• Spiegelberg, Wilhelm (1928). "Drei demotische Schreiben aus der Korrespondenz des Pherendates". Sitzungsberichte der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, phil-hist. Klasse (Berlin): 604ff.