other · Egypt, North Africa and Sudan

Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt

343 BCE – 332 BCE · capital Memphis

Egypt's brief second period of Persian rule, from Artaxerxes III's reconquest to the arrival of Alexander the Great.

Origins

After failed attempts in 351 BCE, the Persian king Artaxerxes III invaded Egypt in 343 BCE, defeating Nectanebo II of the Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt at Pelusium and capturing Memphis. Egypt again became a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, and Manetho counts the Persian kings as the Thirty-first Dynasty.

Rule and society

Greek writers describe a harsh reconquest, with temple treasures looted and city walls destroyed, though some stories, such as the killing of the Apis bull, may be propaganda. A local rebel, Khababash, briefly held power in the Delta in the late 330s BCE. The satrapy, ruled from Memphis, had to face unrest while Persia itself suffered the murders of Artaxerxes III and Arses.

Decline and legacy

After the battle of Issus, the satrap Mazaces surrendered Egypt to Alexander the Great without a fight in 332 BCE, and it passed to the Macedonian Empire and later the Ptolemaic Empire.

Lineage

Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt 380 BCE – 343 BCEThirty-first Dynasty of Egypt

Connections (2)

Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt was a province of Achaemenid Empire343 BCE – 332 BCE
Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt was conquered by Macedonian Empire332 BCE

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Cite this page

APA: The Epoch Institute. (2026). Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/thirty-first-dynasty-of-egypt
MLA: “Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/thirty-first-dynasty-of-egypt. Accessed .
Chicago: The Epoch Institute. “Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/thirty-first-dynasty-of-egypt.
Harvard: The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/thirty-first-dynasty-of-egypt (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻