The Black Land: A 30th dynasty timeline

Part 1: Necatanebo and Mentor
So this idea has been bouncing in my head for some time and I finally decided to go through with it. It involves Necatanebo II defeating Artaxerxes III and holding the Achaemenids long enough for Alexander to arrive. So without further ado, let's start the timeline!

Mentor of Rhodes was in an unenviable position. He was sent by the Egyptian pharaoh to assist Sidon. But the rebellion was doomed to fail eventually, for how could a few renegade satraps and cities stand up to the might of the Great King, who, according to some sources, had around 330,000 men. Tennes had surrendered and Achaemenid control of Phonecia was restored. Nevertheless, Mentor escaped with his life[1] and avoided capture, for it was not certain that the Great King would pardon him, although his skills were great. Then he returned to the court of Necatanebo II, who needed Mentor more than ever...

[1]- This is the POD. IOTL Mentor was captured and pardoned by Artaxerxes III, who sent Mentor to assist in the invasion of his former refuge, Egypt.
 
Egypt might snatch a few Phonecian cities away when Alexander arrives. Real efforts at expansion will begin when Alexander dies.
 
Part 2: Persian Invasion
After bringing that wretched rebel, Tennes, to heel, Artaxerxes III prepared for a massive invasion of Egypt. It had rebelled around 60 years ago and had eluded Persian attempts at recapture ever since. Now it was time, to do what others before him had failed to do, reconquer Egypt. He gathered a massive army, consisting of 300,000 infantry, 30,000 cavalry, and 14,000 Greek mercenaries. With his preparations complete, Artaxerxes launched his invasion. Necatanebo II resisted with 100,000 Egyptians and 20,000 Greek mercenaries. Battle was joined soon after, the battle that would decide the fate of Egypt.

Egypt could very well have fallen, were it not for the efforts of Mentor, who stopped the attempts of the Persians to outflank the Egyptians, and the Persians fell back. Then Mentor launched an assault on the flanks and the rear, which caused the Persian infantry to break and run. Artaxerxes sounded the retreat, but over half his army was dead or missing, while the Egyptian casualties were relatively light. Necatanebo II had successfully fought off another invasion attempt. But the Persian threat remained, and loomed over Egypt like a shadow...

Greek Mercenaries fighting for Egyptians against Persians:

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Egypt might snatch a few Phonecian cities away when Alexander arrives. Real efforts at expansion will begin when Alexander dies.
Certainly not Tyre based on Alexander's experience.

Speaking of that, what does Egypt do to avoid invasion by Alexander himself? Because if it happens, they're toast.
 
Also what happens to Cyprus in this timeline? Will it be a part of Egypt, Macedon, or will it be independent? Alternatively, one of the Diadochi (Maybe Ptolemy, to give him something to do ITTL) could carve out a personal kingdom in Cyprus.
 
Definitely not Tyre, but maybe cities like Gaza and Sidon.

Alexander could invade and conquer Egypt if he wanted to, but he's going to face heavier resistance, and he can't afford to spend too much time there as there is the risk that the Persians will assemble their forces and decide to take the offensive and cut off Alexander's supply line. There's
the Nile which means that Egyptian forces will be well supplied and the Egyptian navy might try to harass Alexander's forces. And let's not forget the inundation. If Alexander has his army flooded, it would be a disaster. Mother Nature has destroyed armies and decided the fate of wars before...
 
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I'm actually not sure about Cyprus at this stage. I was planning to have it under Macedonian control as OTL. I'll need to look into it more.
 
Wasn't one of the main reasons why Egypt never really expanded was because they believed that if you died outside of Egypt you would not go on to the afterlife in the Egyptian religion?
 
Egypt has never ruled Cyprus and for this reason, as well as the expense and difficulty of taking the island, Nectanebo would probably not have any designs on it until he had at minimum, recovered Levantine territories, which would itself stretch his young kingdom to its limits. Besides, the Southern Levant would already supply many of the rather valuable goods Egypt lacked and wanted more directly, including olive oil and timber.

Cyprus was conquered by Egypt in 570 BC, and Egypt ruled the island until 525 BC, when it was conquered by the Achaemenids.
 
Cyprus was conquered by Egypt in 570 BC, and Egypt ruled the island until 525 BC, when it was conquered by the Achaemenids.
Oh, shoot. Sorry. I guess my knowledge of Cypriot history is kind of weak. I had always thought it had been ruled by independent local states between the Assyrian and Persian periods. This seems like on of those "things that seem like alternate history but aren't" things. Still the mainland Levant has traditionally been Egypt's priority and the biggest obstacle to taking Cyprus is still that Macedonia as strong as it is and that the area is already pretty Hellenized.
 
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OH, shoot. Wow. I didn't know they took it after Assyria fell but before Persia rose, but my Pont is still that it was less associated with the glorious days of Egypt past than were the mainland territories so those are a probably priority. And ultimately, the main reason it's difficult is that if Syria isn't taken first and with Macedonia as strong as it is, the whole operation is pretty risky.

All good points, though Cyprus was ruled by Egypt more recently compared to the Levant. But yeah, it wasn't really associated with the glory days, though it was its last significant conquest.

I don't necessarily think grabbing Syria will be too important to get an Egyptian ruled Cyprus. And if Macedon is allied with Egypt, I doubt they'd be a big obstacle in the way.

If Egypt has a great navy and grabs a few ports in the Levant, holding Cyprus will be relatively easy. Hell, even the Ptolemies managed to do it. But these developments would take some effort, and it wouldn't be Egypt's top priority.
 
All good points, though Cyprus was ruled by Egypt more recently compared to the Levant. But yeah, it wasn't really associated with the glory days, though it was its last significant conquest.

I don't necessarily think grabbing Syria will be too important to get an Egyptian ruled Cyprus. And if Macedon is allied with Egypt, I doubt they'd be a big obstacle in the way.

If Egypt has a great navy and grabs a few ports in the Levant, holding Cyprus will be relatively easy. Hell, even the Ptolemies managed to do it. But these developments would take some effort, and it wouldn't be Egypt's top priority.
Yeah, I said Syria but in reality the area of modern day Israel/Palestine and Lebanon are what's more important to Egypt. The timber and perhaps the local shipwrights in Phoenocia would be quite helpful.

BTW, while Egypt usually left the Libyans alone, with Persia withdrawing from Libya, it could also have the chance to take advantage of the power vacuum and seize the fertile and useful Cyrenaica without butting up against Macedon.
 
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A good question is what gonna happen to Egypt once Alexander shows up.

OF course... things might actually go worse for him somehow.

Seems like its going to be either vassalage or war. Could we have a royal marriage instead? Pharaohs didn't do normal royal marriages, but maybe they open an exception to Alexander because Alexander is "a god", too.
 
A good question is what gonna happen to Egypt once Alexander shows up.

OF course... things might actually go worse for him somehow.

Seems like its going to be either vassalage or war. Could we have a royal marriage instead? Pharaohs didn't do normal royal marriages, but maybe they open an exception to Alexander because Alexander is "a god", too.
And any outbreeding is can only be good for Egypt.
 
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Part 3: Final Days
The year was 342 BCE was a bad one for Artaxerxes III, who found himself with an empty treasury, several rebelling satraps, much of the manpower reserve badly mauled, and instability in the Royal Court.

First order of business for Artaxerxes was to gather the battered remnants of his army and march against Amarsin, a Babylonian rebel who had caused significant trouble for the Persian satrap there[1]. Amarsin dared not fight and was quickly captured and executed. Next he moved against Mithrobuzanes and Arsites, the rebel satraps of Cappadocia and Hellespontine Phrygia respectively. Artaxerxes III went and defeated many renegade satraps who caused great trouble for the empire and tried to establish a modicum of stability. In this he largely succeeded, and was ready to march against Egypt again in 338 BCE, hopefully to fill his treasury more. But he was poisoned by a eunuch named Bagoas, who raised Artaxerxes IV on the throne. Artaxerxes IV was poisoned 2 years after, for he had shown himself to have a will of his own and not to be a mere puppet.All the while, a new threat was slowly looming on the horizon, one which would spell the empire's doom.

Macedonia.

[1]- This character is fictional. I went by the line of thought that faliure in Egypt might cause more revolts. Mithrobuzanes and Arsites are real, however, and might have fought at Granicus in OTL.
 
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Part 4: Conqueror Rising
Macedonia. For centuries an irrelevant backwater, Macedonia was catapulted to prominence under Philip II, who made Macedon into a great power. He created a new kind of military formation, the Macedonian phalanx, and managed to bring all of Greece to heel. Truly, the reign of Philip II also started proper relations between Macedonia and Egypt. For Philip II found a natural ally against Persia in the form of Egypt, and in 339 BCE, he proposed an alliance, which Necatanebo II accepted. But Philip was assasinated in 336 BCE by a disgruntled bodyguard named Pausanias, and his young son Alexander seemed a weakling, a bumbling teenager. But this was far, far, from the truth. For Alexander did not merely preserve his father's gains, but would go on to be remembered as one of the greatest people who ever lived, by undertaking the impossible, conquest of the Persian Empire.

Finally in May 334 BCE Alexander had secured his father's kingdom and marched out into Asia, where some say he accepted Asia as a "gift from the gods", and defeated the Persians at the battle of Granicus. But he was not done yet, for Alexander defeated the Persians in two more big battles. After Issus, Alexander came into contact with Necatanebo II, who married off his daughter Tashereniset[1]. A key general in Alexander's campaign against the Persians was Memnon[2], who would become very important in later years...

Tashereniset:
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[1]- Another fictional character. The children of Necatanebo II are so obscure that we don't know their names or if they existed. This is what I decided to go with. A real Tashereniset was the mother of Amasis II.

[2]- With Mentor still in Egypt, Memnon, Barsine, and Artabazus stay in exile and Memnon ends up fighting for instead of against Alexander, making the invasion even easier.
 
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Wasn't one of the main reasons why Egypt never really expanded was because they believed that if you died outside of Egypt you would not go on to the afterlife in the Egyptian religion?

If so that must have been a late development since it didn't stop Thutmose III or later on Ramesses II from campaigning far outside of Egypt proper.
 
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