Herodotus on Asychis

According to Herodotus, Menkaure was succeeded by Asychis. However, it is not clear that Shepsekaf (son of Menkaure) and Asychis were indeed one and the same. For a start, Asychis supposedly built a brick pyramid, but this building technique was not used until the Middle Kingdom. Diodorus Siculus mentions a King named Sasychis, who ruled in the second dynasty and was a great lawgiver. It is possible that he is the source for Asychis placed him in the wrong time-period. Others suggest that Asychis was Sheshonq I (based on the Greek rendering of the pharaoh´s name as Asa-ix.t), but he was a twenty-second dynasty pharaoh!

Herodotus claims that Asychis established a system whereby loans could be granted using the family tomb as security. He also built a gateway for the temple of Hephaistos (Ptah).


Herodotus: Pharaohs

Min
Cheops
Chephren
Mykerinos
Asychis
Nitocris
Moiris
Sesostris
Pheros
Proteus
Rhampsinitos
Anysis
Sethon
Psammis
Apries
Amasis
Cambyses
Darius
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Ancient Egypt Online

Predynastic period Early Dynastic Old Kingdom First Intermediate Middle Kingdom Second Intermediate New Kingdom Third Intermediate Graeco-Roman period Late period
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