The Assyrians found a willing Egyptian collaborator in the form of a prince from the Delta. Psammetichus I governed on behalf of the Assyrians until they were forced to withdraw their forces to wage war against the Persian Empire. On the departure of the Assyrians, Psammetichus I declared himself pharaoh and established the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, ruling over a re-united Egypt from his capital at Sa�s in the Delta. This was to be the last great Pharaonic age which witnessed the revival of majestic art and architecture and the introduction of new technologies.

Gradually, though, the power of the kingdom was eroded through invasion, ending ignominiously when Amasis, "the Drunkard", was forced to depend on Greek forces to defend his Kingdom against the onslaught of Persian imperial armies.

The Persians first invaded Egypt in 525BC, initiating a period of foreign domination of the country which lasted until 1952, when an Egyptian republic replaced the monarchy of King Farouk. The conquering Persians established the Twenty-Seventh Dynasty (525-404BC) which ruled Egypt with an iron hand.

The Persians, under the emperors Cambyses and Darius, completed a canal connecting the Nile with the Red Sea which had been started by the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty king Necho II. They also constructed temples and a new city on the site of what is now called Old Cairo. This was called Babylon in Egypt.

The harshness of Persian rule resulted in revolts against the Persian satraps Xerxes and Artaxerxes which led to the Twenty-Eighth dynasty of the Egyptian ruler Amyrtaeus and his successors. The Egyptian kings of succeeding dynasties were under continual attack by Persians until the Thirtieth and final Pharaonic dynasty was overthrown by Artaxerxes III, remaining under Persian domination until the arrival of Alexander the Great in 332BC.