Petubastis III

Seheruibre Padibastet, better known as Petubastis III, is a proposed Egyptian ruler, c. 522 – 520 BCE, who revolted against Persian rule and satrap Aryandes. His name Padibastet means Given by Bastet.

Petubastis was a native, local prince, dynast and probably a member of the old royal Saitic line who attempted to take control of Egypt and seize power. Although he assumed royal titles and titulary of a pharaoh, he has been a largely unknown character and a shadowy figure in Egyptian history.

Petubastis revolted in late 522 BCE or early 521 BCE. What caused him to rebel is not certain, but according to the words and writings of the Ancient Greek military author Polyaenus, who wrote about the revolt, it was oppressive taxation imposed by Aryandes. The Behistun Inscription, which offers great insight for the events during this period, mentions a rebellion in Egypt which occurred at the same time as other rebellions in the eastern quarters of the Persian Empire. Darius I, the author of the Behistun Inscription, does not go into any detail about how he dealt with the rebellion in Egypt; Polyaenus reports that Darius himself moved to Egypt to suppress the revolt, and entered in Memphis during the mourning for the death of an Apis bull. Cunningly, the Great King promised a hundred talents of silver for the one that would provide a new Apis, impressing the natives to the point that they passed en masse to his side. It is most likely that the satrap Aryandes quelled the rebellion, though we cannot know for certain. Certainly Egypt was pacified by 518 BCE when Darius arrived and authorised the codification of local Egyptian laws.

The existence of this shadowy rebel ruler was confirmed by inscriptions found on two seals and one scarab that bear his name written in a royal form inside a cartouche. His figure appears on a doorjamb once covered in gold leaf, now at the Louvre Museum, and on a wooden panel now in Bologna (KS 289). There also exists a document that has been dated to 522 BCE, which was the first year of his reign.

In 2014, Olaf Kaper of the Leiden University announced that he found an inscription by Petubastis III claiming that he ambushed and defeated the famous Lost Army of Cambyses.