An Analysis of Herodotus' account of Cambyses' Campaign in Egypt

Cambyses' campaign in Egypt is one of the major issues concerning the Achaemenids, narrated by Herodotus. Further investigation of Herodotus' narratives on this subject, with the help of other sources and modern archeological discoveries, is one of the aims of this paper. Providing different analyses on the historical causes and motivation of Cambyses campaign in Egypt in the two areas of studies about the history of Iran and Egypt is another aim of this article. Here the main question is, can Herodotus be trusted about the causes of Cambyses' invasion of Egypt? The examination of some of Herodotus' narratives shows the occasional Egyptian interference in the affairs of the Greek cities of Asia Minor and the Achaemenid colonies, which further contradicts Herodotus' account of the causes of Cambyses' invasion of Egypt. In fact, the understanding of Herodotus' narratives on the Cambyses' invasion of Egypt is possible by analyzing other accounts of Herodotus about the Achaemenid history, before and after the Cambyses' invasion of Egypt; and, one cannot rely solely on Herodotus' direct accounts of the causes and motivation of this campaign.