He was born in Cyrene but was welcomed by the
Ptolemaic court, where he wrote the Aelia,“Causes,” a
narrative in four books. Callimachus was also famous for
his lambi,a compilation of 13 short poems, for his Hecole,
a narrative poem, and for Hymnsand epigrams.
Cambyses(d. 522 B.C.E.)Persian king who ruled Egypt
from 525 to 522 B.C.E.
He was the son of Cyrus the Great and probably Queen
AMYTIS. In 538 B.C.E., Cambyses who reportedly mur-
dered his brother to gain the throne, was named the ruler
ofBabylon but was dethroned a year later because of his
behavior. He was returned to the throne in 530 B.C.E.
Cambyses accompanied Cyrus to the Persian campaigns
in the east and then returned to the capital. He was also
given the task of conquering Egypt and defeated PSAM-
METICHUS III(r. 526–525 B.C.E.) at the battle of PELUSIUM,
starting the Twenty-seventh Dynasty in 526 B.C.E. Cam-
byses’ consort was Queen Atossa.
Cambyses also planned a campaign against Carthage,
Ethiopia, and the Oasis of SIWAin the Libyan Desert. The
Persian expedition to the Oasis of Siwa, a shrine area for
the Egyptian god AMUN, was a disaster and a mystery.
Cambyses sent out a large unit of Persians, hoping to
plunder the temples in the oasis, but all of his troops van-
ished. Not one staggered out of the desert to describe the
calamity that must have overtaken the forces. The Per-
sians were never seen or heard of again. A modern expe-
dition into the desert, however, uncovered human
skeletons and armor. An investigation is being carried out
to see if these are the remains of Cambyses’ army units.
The Carthage expedition was delayed as a result of this
disaster.
Egyptian records call Cambyses a “criminal lunatic,”
but not all of the charges leveled against him are substan-
tiated. When Cambyses conquered Egypt, he officiated
over the burial of a sacred APISbull in 526 B.C.E. and then
honored the goddess NEITH(1) at SAIS. Cambyses also
forged links with NOMARCHSor clan chiefs of the Egyp-
tian provinces and adopted ceremonial titles and rituals.
The Egyptians claimed that he struck at an Apis bull,
wounding the sacred animal in the thigh and then slaying
the animal in an act of sacrilege. He also reportedly
whipped the Apis cult priests. Cambyses did have the
mummy of AMASIS(r. 570–526 B.C.E.) dug up and muti-
lated. Amasis had aided the enemies of the Persians dur-
ing his reign. The Egyptians would have been outraged
by such sacrilege.
The Magi, a remarkable clan suppressed by Camby-
ses in a region of modern Syria, revolted against Persian
rule, and he returned to that area to put down the rebel
forces. He died there in the summer of 522 B.C.E., either
by accident or by his own hand, and was buried in Takt-i-
Rustan, near Persepolis (modern Iran). When Cambyses
departed from Egypt, an aide, ARYANDES, was left in con-
trol of the Nile Valley as governor. Within a year, how-
ever, Aryandes was executed on charges of treason by
Cambyses’ successor, DARIUS I.Canaan The name applied by the Egyptians to the
entire western region of Syria and Palestine, it was actu-
ally “the Land of the Purple,” a name resulting from the
popularity of a rich purple dye used in the territory in the
manufacture of materials. Canaan extended from Acre
northward on the coast. Egypt had control of Canaanite
cities from c. 1550 to 1200 B.C.E.Canal of Necho II A connective waterway leading
from the NILEto the Red Sea, through the WADI TIMULAT
to the BITTER LAKESand then into the sea and called “the
Sweet Water Canal” by the Egyptians, this canal was
opened by NECHO II(r. 610–595 B.C.E.) and maintained
by later dynasties. The Persians of the Twenty-seventh
(525–404 B.C.E.) and the Thirty-first (343–332 B.C.E.)
Dynasties repaired and deepened the canal. During the
Ptolemaic Period (304–30 B.C.E.), the canal was main-
tained yearly.Canal of Sehel This was a passage on the NILERiver
that dates to the Sixth Dynasty (2323–2150 B.C.E.), dug
alongside the first cataract of the Nile at the island of
SEHELin order to allow Egyptians easy access to the terri-
tories below. In the Twelfth Dynasty (1991–1783 B.C.E.),
SENWOSRET II(r. 1897–1878 B.C.E.) cleared the canal and
mounted an inscription on the rocks of the island to
commemorate the event. He claimed that he was in the
process of making a new entranceway into NUBIAand
returned several years later to repair it. The goddess
ANUKISwas the patroness of Sehel, serving as well as part
of KHNUM’s triad at ASWAN. Later pharaohs maintained the
canal throughout many eras.Cannibal Hymn Atext used as part of the PYRAMID
TEXTSin the pyramid of UNIS (2356–2323 B.C.E.) in
SAQQARA, in this funerary utterance, Unis is described as
rising from the grave in a divine form to feast upon his
ancestors and the gods themselves. He was aided by other
divine beings, including KHONS(1), in catching his vic-
tims and slaying them. SHESHMU, an ancient deity of the
olive and grape presses, then proceeded to cook them and
to resurrect Unis. As with most forms of archaic cannibal-
ism, Unis performed these terrible acts to gain the HEKA,
the magical powers innate to the gods.canon of the human figure See ART AND ARCHITEC-
TURE.canopic jars Containers used in funerary rituals to
preserve the viscera of the deceased Egyptians aftercanopic jars 7 9