← Geography
Economy →
In the paragraph following Herodotus’ account of one’s possible travel route from Elephantine to Meroe (II 29), he describes another destination which is home to the “Deserters” or in local language “Asmach” (in Greek “Those who stand on the left hand of the king”) as Herodotus calls them.1 He reports, although without giving a specific source of information, that these Asmach were once formed out of 240 thousand Egyptian soldiers who revolted and defected to the Ethiopians under the reign of King Psammetichos.2 They are said to have been formerly stationed at a garrison in Elephantine established under afore said king. To corroborate his account’s credibility, Herodotus deploys again the stylistic device of autopsy mentioning that even in his own time there is still a Persian garrison located in Elephantine (II 30).
Elephantine was considered as the Egyptian southern frontier during the time of the Old Kingdom and was therefore fortified.3 In the Middle and New Kingdom with the extension of the Egyptian territory which expanded under the kings of the early 18th Dynasty as far south as the Fourth Cataract, Elephantine lost its original military importance as a border town of the Egyptian Kingdom.4 However during the 26th Dynasty, which is the period described by Herodotus, the First Cataract confined Egyptian territory. Arising hostilities with the hostile Kushite Kingdom laying south of this border enhanced Elephantine’s significance as a military outpost again.5
Biography • Geography • Military • Economy • Culture