Cambyses I ( peo, 𐎣𐎲𐎢𐎪𐎡𐎹 ''Kabūjiya'') was king of

Anshan Anshan () is an inland prefecture-level city in central-southeast Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, about south of the provincial capital Shenyang. As of the 2020 census, it was Liaoning's third most populous city with a population ...

from c. 580 to 559 BC and the father of

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia (; peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire, the first Persian empire. Schmitt Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Under his rule, the empire embraced ...

(Cyrus II), younger son of

Cyrus I Cyrus I (Old Persian: ''Kuruš'') or Cyrus I of Anshan or Cyrus I of Persia, was King of Anshan in Persia from to 580 BC or, according to others, from to 600 BC. Cyrus I of Anshan is the grandfather of Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus II ...

, and brother of

Arukku Arukku (Old Persian: or , or ; akk, ; elx, 𒄯𒊑𒌋𒊌𒋡, translit=Har(r)iuwukka; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡉𐡅𐡊, translit=Aryuk; * before 656 BC) was the eldest son of King Kuras ( Cyrus I) from Parsumaš. Mention in Assyrian records In c ...

. He should not be confused with his better-known grandson

Cambyses II Cambyses II ( peo, 𐎣𐎲𐎢𐎪𐎡𐎹 ''Kabūjiya'') was the second King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 530 to 522 BC. He was the son and successor of Cyrus the Great () and his mother was Cassandane. Before his accession, Cambyse ...

Etymology

The origins of the name of "Cambyses" ( peo, 𐎣𐎲𐎢𐎪𐎡𐎹 ''Kabūjiya'') is disputed in scholarship; according to some scholars, the name is of Elamite origin, whilst others associate it with

Kambojas Kamboja ( sa, कम्बोज) was a kingdom of Iron Age India that spanned parts of South and Central Asia, frequently mentioned in Sanskrit and Pali literature. Eponymous with the kingdom name, the Kambojas were an Indo-Iranian people o ...

, an

Iranian people Iranians or Iranian people may refer to: * Iranian peoples, Indo-European ethno-linguistic group living predominantly in Iran and other parts of the Middle East and the Caucasus, as well as parts of Central Asia and South Asia ** Persians, Irania ...

who inhabited northwestern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. The name of Cambyses is known in other languages as; Elamite ''Kanbuziya'';

Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to: * Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire * Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language * Akkadian literature, literature in this language * Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic ...

''Kambuziya'';

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...

''Kanbūzī''.

Background

No records composed during Cambyses' lifetime have survived. Cambyses was an early member of the

Achaemenid dynasty The Achaemenid dynasty (Old Persian: ; Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ; Latin: ) was an ancient Persian royal dynasty that ruled the Achaemenid Empire, an Iranian empire that stretched from Egypt and Southeastern Europe in the west to the Ind ...

. He was apparently a great-grandson of its founder Achaemenes, grandson of Teispes and son of Cyrus I. His paternal uncle was

Ariaramnes Ariaramnes (Old Persian: 𐎠𐎼𐎡𐎹𐎠𐎼𐎶𐎴 ''Ariyāramna''; "peace of the Arya") was a great-uncle of Cyrus the Great and the great-grandfather of Darius I, and perhaps the king of Parsa, the ancient core kingdom of Persia. __NOT ...

and his first cousin was Arsames.

Personal life

According to

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...

, Cambyses was "a man of good family and quiet habits". He reigned under the overlordship of

Astyages Astyages ( Median: ; Akkadian: ; Ancient Greek: grc, Αστυαγης, Astuagēs, , romanized: , , romanized: ; la, Astyages, , ; reigned 585–550 BC) was the last king of the Median Empire. The son of Cyaxares; he was dethroned in 550 BC by ...

, King of

Media Media may refer to: Communication * Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...

. He was reportedly married to

Princess Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin '' princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subs ...

Mandane of Media : Mandana of Media (Old Iranian: ''Mandanā'') was a Shahbanu of Media and, later, the Queen consort of Cambyses I of Anshan and mother of Cyrus the Great, ruler of Persia's Achaemenid Empire. Etymology The name ''Mandane'' is a Latinized for ...

, a daughter of Astyages and Princess Aryenis of Lydia. His wife was reportedly a granddaughter of both

Cyaxares Cyaxares (Median language, Median: ; Old Persian: ; Akkadian language, Akkadian: ; Phrygian language, Old Phrygian: ; grc, wikt:Κυαξάρης, Κυαξαρης, Kuaxarēs; Latin: ; reigned 625–585 BCE) was the third king of the Medes. C ...

and

Alyattes of Lydia Alyattes (Lydian language: ; grc, Ἀλυάττης ; reigned c. 635-585 BC), sometimes described as Alyattes I, was the fourth king of the Mermnad dynasty in Lydia, the son of Sadyattes, grandson of Ardys, and great-grandson of Gyges. He ...

. The result of their marriage was the birth of his successor

. According to

Nicolas of Damascus Nicolaus of Damascus (Greek: , ''Nikolāos Damaskēnos''; Latin: ''Nicolaus Damascenus'') was a Greek historian and philosopher who lived during the Augustan age of the Roman Empire. His name is derived from that of his birthplace, Damascus. He w ...

his original name was Atradates, and he was wounded and later died in the Battle of the Persian Border which he, with his son, fought against Astyages. It occurred in about 551 BC, and he is reported to have received an honorable burial. Also according to

, Astyages chose Cambyses as a son-in-law because he considered him to pose no threat to the Median throne, having dreamt his daughter would give birth to one who would rule Asia. This was not quite the case with Cyrus the Great who would go on to depose his grandfather, and to begin the

Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest emp ...

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cambyses 01 600s BC births 559 BC deaths 6th-century BC Iranian people 6th-century BC monarchs Kings of Anshan (Persia) Teispids