| Khabash | |
| Alt Name: | Khababash, Khabbash |
| Reign: | c.338 – c.335 BC |
| Dynasty: | 31st Dynasty[1] |
| Predecessor: | Artaxerxes III |
| Successor: | Artaxerxes IV or Darius III |
| Prenomen: | Senen-setepu-ni-ptah Snn-stpw-nj-Ptḥ Image [of [[Tatenen]]], chosen of Ptah[2] |
| Prenomen Hiero: | |
| Nomen: | Khabbash Ḫbbš |
| Nomen Hiero: | |
Khabash, also Khababash or Khabbash, resided at Sais in the fifth nome of Lower Egypt in the fourth century BC. During the second Persian occupation of Egypt (343–332 BC) he led a revolt against the Persian rule in concert with his eldest son, from ca. 338 to 335 BC, a few years before the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great.[3] It is said that Nectanebo II, the exiled last native ruler of Egypt, may have helped in these events, but he was possibly sidelined for good as a result of the failure of the revolt.
Little is known about Khabash. He is referred to as "Lord of both lands",[4] i.e. King of Upper and Lower Egypt, and as "Son of Ra", another pharaonic title, and given the throne name of Senen-setep-en-Ptah in a decree by Ptolemy Lagides,[5] who became King Ptolemy I Soter in 305 BC.
Sometime in the 330s BC, an Egyptian ruler called Kambasuten – who is widely recognized as Khabash – led an invasion into the kingdom of Kush which was defeated by king Nastasen as recorded in a stela now in the Berlin museum. An Apis bull sarcophagus bearing his name was found in the Serapeum of Saqqara,[6] dating to his second regnal year.[7]