The reign of Psammetichus lasted till nearly the end of the century, and was marked by peace both at home and abroad.  No doubt skirmishes of some kind took place in Lydia and Nubia, but we know nothing of them, nor have we any account of engagements with the Asiatics which from time to time must have taken place during this reign.  Psammetichus followed with a vigilant eye the revolutionary changes beyond the isthmus, actuated at first by the fear of an offensive movement on the part of Syria, and when that ceased to be a danger, by the hope of one day recovering, in Southern Syria, at all events, that leading position which his predecessors had held so long.  Tradition asserts that he wisely confined his ambition to the conquest of the Philistine Pentapolis; it is even reported that he besieged Ashdod for twenty-nine years before gaining possession of it.  If we disregard the cipher, which is evidently borrowed from some popular romance, the fact in itself is in no way improbable.  Ashdod was a particularly active community, and had played a far more important part in earlier campaigns than any other member of the Pentapolis.  It possessed outside the town proper, which was situated some little distance from the coast, a seaport similar to that of Gaza, and of sufficient size to shelter a whole fleet.

[Illustration:  361.jpg THE RUINS OF SAIS]

     Drawn by Boudior, from a photograph by Golenischeff.

Whoever held this harbour could exercise effective control over the main routes leading from Syria into Egypt.  Psammetichus probably undertook this expedition towards the end of his life, when the victories gained by the Medes had demonstrated the incapacity of Assyria to maintain the defence of her distant provinces.*

* At one time I was inclined to explain this period of twenty-nine years by assuming that the fall of Ashdod took place in the twenty-ninth year of the king’s reign, and that Herodotus had mistaken the date of its surrender for the duration of the siege:  such an hypothesis is, however, unnecessary, since it is very probable that we have here one of those exaggerated estimates of time so dear to the hearts of popular historians.  If we are to believe the account given by Diodorus, it was in Syria that Psammetichus granted the honour of a place in the right wing of his army to the Greek mercenaries:  the capture of Ashdod must, in this case, have occurred before the emigration of the native troops.  In Jer. xxv. 20, reference is made to “the remnant of Ashdod,” in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, i.e. about 603 B.C., and the decadence of the city is generally attributed to the war with Egypt; it might with equal probability be ascribed to the Scythian invasion.

The attack of the Scythians, which might have proved dangerous to Egypt, had it been pushed far enough, had left her unharmed, and was in the end even advantageous to her.  It was subsequent to the retreat of the