Editing Nectanebo II (section)

===Nectanebo and the Alexander Romance===
{{main|Alexander Romance}}
[[File:Droom van Nectanebo - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|left|Papyrus of the Dream of Nectanebo, c. 160–150 BC]]
[[File:Sola Busca tarot card 33.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Natanabo, from Sola Busca Tarot (Northern Italy, c. 1491, Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan)]]
There is an apocryphal tale appearing in the pseudo-historical ''[[Alexander Romance]]'' that details another end for the last native pharaoh. Soon after [[Alexander the Great]]'s godhood was confirmed by the [[Libyan Sibyl]] of [[Amun#Greece|Zeus Ammon]] at the [[Siwa Oasis]], a rumor was begun that Nectanebo II, following defeat in his last battle, did not travel to Nubia but instead to the court of [[Philip II of Macedon]] in the guise of an Egyptian [[Magician (paranormal)|magician]]. There, while Philip was away on campaign, Nectanebo convinced Philip's wife [[Olympias]] that Amun was to come to her and that they would father a son. Nectanebo, disguising himself as Amun, slept with Olympias and from this event came Alexander.<ref>{{cite book |last=Ogden |first=Daniel |title=Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds: A Sourcebook |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2002 |isbn=0-19-513575-X |page=59 }}</ref>

This myth would hold strong appeal for the Egyptians, who desired continuity and harbored a strong dislike for foreign rule. In art of this event, Nectanebo is usually depicted as having dragon-like features, for example in the [[Vincent of Beauvais#Speculum Historiale|''Speculum Historiale'']].<ref>{{cite web|title=Héros, d'Achille à Zidane|url=http://classes.bnf.fr/heros/grand/fr_50_120v.htm|work=[[Bibliothèque nationale de France|BnF]]|language=fr|quote=Vincent de Beauvais, qui reprend cette tradition légendaire initiée par le Pseudo-Callisthène à la fin du III e siècle et suivie par un certain nombre d'auteurs médiévaux, raconte comment Olympias, abusée par les tours de magie de Nectanebo, a conçu Alexandre avec lui, sous la forme d'un dragon.}}</ref>

In the early [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Ptolemaic]] tale of Nectanebo and Petesis,<ref>{{cite book |last=Maspero |first=Gaston |title=Popular Stories of Ancient Egypt |location=New York |publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons |year=1915 |pages=239–242 |oclc=5696112 }}</ref> preserved only in a Greek fragment from the [[Serapeum of Saqqara]], the pharaoh has a prophetic dream of [[Isis]] in which the god [[Anhur|Onuris]] is angry with him because of his unfinished temple in [[Sebennytos]]. Nectanebo calls in the best sculptor of the realm, Petesis, to finish the job, but he bungles his assignment when he gets drunk and chases a beautiful girl instead. The [[narrative]] ends abruptly here, but this is probably the preface to the fall of Egypt.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Koenen |first=Ludwig |title=The Dream of Nektanebos |journal=The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists |volume=22 |year=1985 |issue=1/4 |pages=171–194 |jstor=43785964 }}</ref> [[Al-Biruni]]'s ''A History of India'' reproduces the story.<ref>{{cite book |author=Al Beruni |author-link=Abū Rayḥān al-Bīrūnī |translator-first=Edward |translator-last=Sachau |title=Alberuni's India |location=London |publisher=K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co. |year=1910 |oclc=4384506 }}</ref>

[[File:Alexander unhorsing Porrus - British Library Royal MS 20 B xx f53r (detail).jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|right|Alexander unhorsing Porrus, the King of India (BL Royal MS B xx, c. 1420)]]
The legend of Nectanebo (or Nectanebus, or Natanabo, as reported in some versions of the ''Alexander Romance'') left a profound mark on European culture up to the Renaissance and beyond. It is no coincidence that this character is included in the [[Sola Busca tarot]] (with the name Natanabo) together with other important "actors" of the same legend: Alexander, Philip of Macedon, Olympias and Ammon.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gnaccolini|first=Laura Paola|title=I Tarocchi Sola Busca e la cultura ermetico-alchemica tra Marche e Veneto alla fine del Qattrocento |publisher=Skira =location=Milan |year=2012 |isbn=978-88-572-1764-2 |page=22 }}</ref> An alchemical interpretation of this character was provided by the Italian scholar Sofia Di Vincenzo in a study on the Sola Busca Tarot, where she explains that Natanabo represents a celestial messenger who came to earth with a gift, the helmet, which is a symbol of invulnerability and both physical and mental potency.<ref>{{cite book |last=Di Vincenzo|first=Sofia |title=Sola Busca Tarot |publisher=U.S. Games Systems |location=Stamford, Connecticut|year=1998|isbn=1-57281-130-7 |page=58}}</ref>