According to Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson, Ankhwennefer "daringly" marched his remaining forces into the north, where he plundered and devastated as much as possible to disrupt the Ptolemaic supply lines.
[3] The rebel pharaoh was probably aided by the outbreak of new anti-Ptolemaic rebellions in the Nile Delta and the Fifth Syrian War between the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Seleucid Empire.
[1] In 200 BC, much of the Ptolemaic army was destroyed by the Seleucids in the Battle of Panium; this allowed Ankhwennefer to re-strengthen his regime.
[1] In 197 or 196 BC, the Ptolemies launched a counter-offensive and retook Lycopolis in the Delta;[3][6] this city may or may not have been held by rebels loyal to Ankhwennefer.
[9] Historian Alan B. Lloyd argued that these Nubians were possibly interested in protecting the Amun temples at Thebes.