This was the last period of a flowering of native Egyptian rulers after the Third Intermediate Period. It existed from 664 BC to 332 BC, following a period of foreign ruling by the Nubian 25th dynasty and beginning with a short period of Neo-Assyrian suzerainty, with Psamtik as their vassal. The Late Period of Ancient Egypt came after Egypt became weak and Kush became more and more self-governing, it formed its own dynasties and Kashta, from Kush, took control of Lower Nubia. Piye succeeded him and decided to advance in the north in an attempt to defeat his opponent ruling in the Nile Delta. Piye managed to get to Memphis. Tefnakht eventually surrendered, but was able to retain his power in Lower Egypt. The empire was completely conquered under Shabaka. He settled in Thebes and made sure that the high priests of Amun only had religious power. The period ended with the conquests of the Persian Empire by Alexander the Great. His general Ptolemy I Soter, one of the Hellenistic diadochi from Macedonia in northern Greece, established the Ptolematic dynasty. The age of Hellenistic Egypt began.

This era of Egypt is often forgotten or ignored or combined with the Third Intermediate Period, because it is interpreted as the final decline of Egyptian culture, following the Persian invasion of 525 BC. The Persians ruled Egypt from then, but Egyptian culture was kept very much alive. 30th dynasty of Egyptian rulers even gave Egypt back a brief time of its former glory before the Persians came again.

However, Memphis and the Delta region became the target of many Assyrian attacks. Ashurbanipal conquered Egypt and the Pharaoh of the 25th dynasty fled to Ethiopia. The power of the Assyrians was not strong enough at that time, and Psamtik managed to reunite Middle Egypt and Lower Egypt under his reign, creating the 26th dynasty. This was the beginning of the Late Period. Canal construction from the Nile to the Red Sea began. He expanded his control all over Egypt in 656 BC. When he was feeling strong enough, he cut all ties with Assyria, and the Assyrian influence disappeared. Brookyn Papyrus, a medical papyrus with a collection of medical and magical remedies for victims of snakebites, based on snake types or symptoms, dates from this time. Artwork during this time was representative of animal cults and animal mummies.

This was a century of Egypt’s revival. During the reign of Apries, an army was sent to help the Libyans eliminate the Greek colony of Cyrene. Their disastrous defeat sparked a civil war that resulted in the replacement of Apries with Amasis. This ruler died in 526 BC. Egypt fell the following year under Persian control by King Cambyses II, first king of Egypt’s 27th dynasty, but purely Persian. The reason why Persia invaded Egypt is not sure. But the Persian Empire would eventually have invaded Egypt. The Assyrians had already conquered the country in the late 7th century. Egypt was no match. The Persians, also expanding their empire, would have known of the earlier conquest, known of Egyptian culture, and little hesitated in launching their army of conquest. Cambyses used his knowledge of Egypt to conquer the land. He had the image of the cat, the image of the Egyptian goddess Bastet, paint on their shields. He threatened to injure stray cats if Egypt didn’t surrender. It worked. Egypt became a satrapy. Under the rulers were also Xerxes I and Darius the Great, who ruled Egypt as pharaohs. The unsuccessful revolt of Inaros II, aided by the Athenians, as part of the Wars of the Delian League, rebelled in defiance of the Persian authorities. He almost succeeded, but was afterwards executed.

The Egyptians revolted continuously. The 28th dynasty was again an Egyptian dynasty until the Persians recaptured the Egyptian Empire with the 31st dynasty. The 28th dynasty had one single king, Amyrtaeus. Inspired by the revolts, he revolted against Darius II and drove the Persians back out of the Delta region of Lower Egypt. He left no monuments with his name. He reigned six years. The following dynasty was the shortest. It struggled to redeem the past and make Egypt great again. It had never the resources to do so. Nectanebo II was the last and final native Egyptian ruler of Egypt. His father moved the capital from Mendes to Sebenytos. Nectanebo II outdid his father by building projects and shows of piety to the gods, commissioning work at over 100 sites during his reigns. He maintained good relations with Sparta and even had Greek mercenaries in his army. But in 344 BC, the Persian Artaxerxes III began assembling allies and gathering forces to reclaim Egypt. Nectanebo II was defeated.

In 332 BC, Alexander the Great invaded Egypt. The Egyptians welcomed Alexander as their deliverer from the Persians. After being proclaimed a god at the Siwa Oasis, Alexander left to complete his conquest to the east. He left Egypt in the hands of the Macedonians who began constructing Alexandria and improvements to the Delta.