king of Egypt, ascended the throne B. C. 569, and commenced his reign with the death of his former master Apries. King Apries having sent an army to the assistance of the Libyans, which was totally routed, and great multitudes put to death, the common people conceived the idea, that the tyrannical prince had sent them to the field of battle, for no other purpose but to destroy great numbers of them, that so he might reign over the remainder with uncontrolled oppression. The consequence was, that a general insurrection arose, and all the multitude were in an uproar. Informed of this tumult, Apries sent Amasis, whom he deemed one of his most faithful adherents; but instead of endeavouring to reconcile the disaffected people to their prince, he secured them to his own interest; and while he was pretending to reproach their disloyalty, and endeavouring to recall them to duty, a soldier stepped in behind him, and placing a helmet upon his head, saluted him king of Egypt. Amasis instantly took the field against his royal master, and prepared to drive him from his throne. Apprised of the treachery of Amasis, he sent another in whom he confided, to bring Amasis before him, to give an account of his conduct. This messenger met him on horseback, and having delivered his message, Amasis, after some insolent behaviour, replied, that he was preparing to visit the king, but thought it proper to bring a suitable equipage to attend him. When the messenger hastened back to inform his master, that he might consult for himself, his only reward was to have his ears and nose cut off, by the order of the tyrant, because he brought not Amasis along with him. In this, as in numerous other instances, tyranny procured its own destruction; for the rest of the nobles who still remained obedient to the king, seeing the barbarous manner in which he had treated the messenger, they all went over to the standard of the usurper. Now all the nation was in commotion. The usurper on the one hand, with the whole body of the natives marshalled under his banner, and the tyrant on the other hand, with a body of foreigners and mercenaries, which he had engaged in his service. The two armies met in a field in the vicinity of Memphis, and the tyrant was made captive and his forces defeated. The usurper treated the captive tyrant with great lenity and respect, and assigned him the palace of Saïs for his confinement. But the hatred of the people was too violent towards their old king, to permit him to live; Amasis was therefore forced to deliver him into their hands, and they instantly put him to death by strangling him.

The plebeian extraction of Amasis deprived him for some time of that respect, to which he was entitled as a prince; but observing this, he contrived a stratagem to induce them to pay him suitable honour. He ordered a golden cistern, in which his visitants were accustomed to wash their feet, to be melted and cast in the form of a god, and set it up in the most frequented part of the city, and all the inhabitants did it homage. He then called an assemblage of the people, and reminded them, that the gold they now venerated in the form of a god, was once a cistern, and consequently that although he was formerly a person of low rank, yet now that he was their king, they ought to give him the respect and homage due to his station.

Having by this means provided for the gratification of his vanity, he began to exert himself to act for the general good of his people. It was his constant practice to attend to business in the mornings, and in the evenings he indulged in amusement and pleasure; but in these he sometimes tarnished the dignity of a king. Indeed Amasis loved his wine and his companion so much, previous to his elevation, that it is reported that he lived by theft, and when denying upon detection, he was carried to the oracle of the place, who sometimes condemned and sometimes acquitted him. Recollecting the conduct of the oracles after he ascended the throne, he conceived a disrespect for them, because they were not able at all times to detect his robberies.

To prevent the evil consequences of an indolent populace, he enacted a law, that every person, under the penalty of a capital punishment, should appear before the governor of his respective province, and declare by what occupation he acquired his subsistence. Thus, under the prudent government of Amasis, Egypt enjoyed, for many years, great fertility and extensive population. He also employed his industry in the erection of several public works; among which were a portico to the temple of Minerva at Saïs, and the removal of a house, all of one stone, to the temple. He also built the great temple of Isis at Memphis. He likewise erected a colossus before the temple of Vulcan, 75 feet in length, resting on its back, and on the basis he erected two statues, each 20 feet high, cut out of the same stone. Besides these he raised several monuments in Greece.

The liberality and respect for science which Amasis displayed, and the encouragement he gave to learned strangers, particularly to the Greeks, to visit his country, manifested an enlightened mind. And to encourage Grecian strangers to remain in Egypt, he marked out settlements for them on the sea coast, permitted them to build temples, and to observe all the rites of their religion unmolested. Solon, the celebrated law-giver, condescended to visit Amasis. In a short time, the fame of Amasis for his generosity and humanity was so extensive, that when the Delphians were going about from city to city, collecting sums to enable them to rebuild their consumed temple, they applied to Amasis, who gave them 1000 talents. Either to gratify the vanity, or secure the alliance of the Greeks, he married a Grecian lady, named Laodice, the daughter of Battus. But in the evening of his reign, his prosperity was greatly clouded, by the report of the vast preparations that Cambyses was making to invade Egypt. Phanes, who was captain of the Greek auxiliaries in the service of Amasis, being offended at his master, deserted his cause, and went over to Cambyses. A strong affection had long subsisted betwixt Polycrates, the tyrant of Samos, and Amasis; yet he, deserting his cause, became his enemy. Whether the forebodings of the impending storm tended to impair his health or not is not related; but about this time he died, in 525 B. C. after a reign of 44 years. It is reported that after interment, his body was dug up by his enemies, and consumed by fire, which, according to the superstition of the Egyptians, constituted a singular calamity. (Anc. Univ. Hist.)