Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

The Late Dynastic Period is the last period of Egyptian independence under Dynasties 28 to 30 (404 - 343 BCE). As for Egypt’s position in the world, this was the time their military and diplomatic efforts focused on preventing reconquest by the Persian Empire. At home, Dynasties 28 - 29 were marked by a frequent shift of rulers, whose reigns often started and ended violently; in comparison, Dynasty 30 was a strong house, the rule of which was interrupted only from the outside. Culturally this period saw the continuation of certain Late Egyptian trends (archaistic tendency, popularity of animal cults, cult of Osiris and divine couples), which became the platform for the evolution of the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods.