Potasimto Explained

Potasimto (Ancient Egyptian: ;^[1] Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Ποτασιμτο ;^[1] fl. 592 BCE) was an ancient Egyptian general during the 26th Dynasty.^[2]

Biography

Born in Pharbaetus, he was the commander of the Greek and Carian troops which were sent by pharaoh Psamtik II, along with Egyptian troops, in the military expedition against Nubia in 592 BCE. The name Potasimto was given to him by those foreign soldiers and is indeed a Hellenization of the Egyptian name (or Padisematawy).^[1] The hellenized form of the name came from a well-known Greek graffito which was scratched by his troops on the left leg of the colossal seated statue of Ramesses II in Abu Simbel:

Potasimto died some time after the successful campaign, and was probably buried in Kom Abu Yassin (the necropolis of Pharbaetus) as evidenced by his monuments. These include a stone sarcophagus^[3] and a stone vessel now both at the Cairo Museum, three ushabti (Limoges, Annecy^{[4] [1]} and Bologna), a statue of his father Raemmaakheru and a stela of his brother.^[5]

Further reading

• Pernigotti . Sergio . 1968 . Il generale Potasimto e la sua famiglia . 24176115 . Studi Classici e Orientali. 17 . 251–264. Italian.
• Schmitz . Philip . 2010 . The Phoenician Contingent in the Campaign of Psammetichus II against Kush . Journal of Egyptian History. 3. 2. 321–337. 10.1163/187416610X541745 .

Notes and References

1. Ratié . Suzanne . 1962 . Un « Chaouabti » du général Potasimto au musée d'Annecy . French . Bulletin de l'Institut français d'archéologie orientale . 61 . 43–53 . 15 June 2022.
2. Michael Rice, Who is who in Ancient Egypt, 1999 (2004), Routledge, London,, p. 155.
3. JE 31566.
4. Inv. 1089.1.
5. "The Greeks in Africa" on the Treccani Encyclopedia