Editing Necho II (section)

{{Short description|Egyptian pharaoh}}
{{Infobox pharaoh
| Name=Necho II
| Image=Necho-KnellingStatue_BrooklynMuseum.png
| ImageSize=150px
| Caption=A small kneeling bronze statuette, likely Necho&nbsp;II, now residing in the [[Brooklyn Museum]]
| NomenHiero=<hiero>n:E1-w</hiero>
| Nomen=''Necho''
| PrenomenHiero=<hiero>ra-wHm-ib</hiero>
| Prenomen=''Wahemibre''
| Golden=''Merynetjeru''
| Nebty=''Maakheru''
| Horus=''Maaib''
| HorusHiero=<hiero>S32:ib</hiero>
| Reign=610&ndash;595 BC
| Died=595 BC
| Predecessor=[[Psamtik I]]
| Successor=[[Psamtik II]]
| Alt=Nekau
| Dynasty=[[Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt|26th&nbsp;dynasty]]
| Spouse=[[Khedebneithirbinet I]]
|Father=[[Psamtik I]]|Mother=Mehtenweskhet}}
'''Necho II'''<ref>Thomas Dobson. Encyclopædia: Or, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature. Stone house, no. 41, South Second street, 1798. Page [https://books.google.com/books?id=8Pzg8T5RkGQC&pg=PA785 785]</ref> (sometimes '''Nekau''',<ref>A History of Egypt, from the XIXth to the XXXth Dynasties. By Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ycsSAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA336 p336].</ref> '''Neku''',<ref>The Historians' History of the World: Prolegomena; Egypt, Mesopotamia. Edited by Henry Smith Williams. p183.</ref> '''Nechoh''',<ref>United States Exploring Expedition: Volume 15. By [[Charles Wilkes]], United States. Congress. [https://books.google.com/books?id=fPhKAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA53 p53]</ref> or '''Nikuu''';<ref>The Bibliotheca Sacra, Volume 45. Dallas Theological Seminary., 1888.</ref> Greek: Νεκώς Β';<ref>Essay on the Hieroglyphic System of M. Champollion, Jun., and on the Advantages which it Offers to Sacred Criticism. By J. G. Honoré Greppo. [https://books.google.com/books?id=LYkBAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA128 p128]</ref><ref>Herodotus 2,152. 2</ref><ref>W. Pape, "Wörterbuch der griechischen Eigennamen", 1911</ref> {{hebrew Name|נְכוֹ|Neḵō|Nəḵō}}) of [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] was a king of the [[26th Dynasty]] (610–595 BC), which ruled from [[Sais, Egypt|Sais]].<ref>{{Citation |title=The Ancient Fragments |editor-last1=Cory|editor-first1=Isaac Preston |publisher=William Pickering |place=London|year=1828|oclc=1000992106 }}, citing [[Manetho]], the high priest and scribe of Egypt, being by birth a Sebennyte, who wrote his history for [[Ptolemy Philadelphus]] (266 BCE – 228 BCE).</ref>  Necho undertook a number of construction projects across his kingdom.<ref>The history of Egypt By Samuel Sharpe. E. Moxon, 1852. Part 640. [https://books.google.com/books?id=5IBUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA138 p138].</ref> In his reign, according to the [[Greece|Greek]] historian [[Herodotus]], Necho II sent out an expedition of Phoenicians, which in three years sailed from the [[Red Sea]] around [[Africa]] to the Strait of Gibraltar and back to Egypt.<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Herodotus/4B*.html#42 Herodotus (4.42)]</ref> His son, [[Psammetichus II]], upon succession may have removed Necho's name from monuments.<ref>The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible. Edited by Norman L. Geisler, Joseph M. Holden. p287.</ref>

Necho played a significant role in the histories of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]], the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] and the [[Kingdom of Judah]]. Necho II is most likely the pharaoh Neco who was mentioned in 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, and Jeremiah of the [[Bible]].<ref>Encyclopædia britannica. Edited by [[Colin MacFarquhar]], [[George Gleig]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=cthTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA785 p785]</ref><ref>The Holy Bible, According to the Authorized Version (A.D. 1611). Edited by [[Frederic Charles Cook]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=n4UXAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA131 p131]</ref><ref>see [[Hebrew Bible]] / [[Old Testament]]</ref> The aim of the second of Necho's campaigns was Asiatic conquest,<ref>The temple of Mut in Asher. By [[Margaret Benson]], [[Janet Gourlay|Janet A. Gourlay]], [[Percy Edward Newberry]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=N4RJAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA276 p276]. (''cf''. Nekau's chief ambition lay in Asiatic conquest)</ref><ref>Egypt Under the Pharaohs: A History Derived Entireley from the Monuments. By [[Heinrich Brugsch]], [[George Charles Brodrick|Brodrick]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=tJI5AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA444 p444] (''cf''. Neku then attempted to assert the Egyptian supremacy in Asia.)</ref> to contain the westward advance of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, and cut off its trade route across the Euphrates. However, the [[Egyptians]] were defeated by the unexpected attack of the Babylonians and were eventually expelled from Syria.

The [[Egyptologist]] [[Donald B. Redford]] observed that Necho II was "a man of action from the start, and endowed with an imagination perhaps beyond that of his contemporaries, [who] had the misfortune to foster the impression of being a failure."<ref>Donald B. Redford, ''Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times'', (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992), p. 447-48.</ref>