Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt
The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt was the last native dynasty of ancient Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC. The dynasty's reign is also called the Saite Period after the city of Sais, where its pharaohs had their capital, and marks the beginning of the Late Period of ancient Egypt.
Portrait of a Pharaoh of the Saite Dynasty
Pottery vessel showing the face of god Bes from the 26th Dynasty. Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, London
Female figure, Louvre Museum. The name of Psamtik I is inscribed under the feet.
Sphinx of Apries, from the collection of Anne Claude de Caylus
Sais was an ancient Egyptian city in the Western Nile Delta on the Canopic branch of the Nile, known by the ancient Egyptians as Sꜣw. It was the provincial capital of Sap-Meh, the fifth nome of Lower Egypt and became the seat of power during the Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Egypt and the Saite Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt during the Late Period. On its ruins today stands the town of Sa el-Hagar or Sa El Hajar.
Ruins of Sais