The period ended with the conquests of the Persian Empire by Alexander the Great and establishment of the Ptolemaic dynasty by his general Ptolemy I Soter, one of the Hellenistic diadochi from Macedon in northern Greece.

These include various Egyptian objects from several sites, ostraca and documents showing a tribute/tax system, and evidence from the fortress of Mezad Hashavyahu.

[4] To the south, Psamtik II led a great military expedition that reached deep into upper Nubia and inflicted a heavy defeat on them.

[5] A demotic papyrus from the reign of Ahmose II describes a small expedition into Nubia, the character of which is unclear.

This image shows the god Pataikos wearing a scarab beetle on his head, supporting two human-headed birds on his shoulders, holding a snake in each hand, and standing atop crocodiles.

The Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt consists of the Persian emperors - including Cambyses, Xerxes I, and Darius the Great - who ruled Egypt as Pharaohs and governed through their satraps, as well as the Egyptian Petubastis III (522–520 BC) (and possibly the disputed Psammetichus IV), who rebelled in defiance of the Persian authorities.

The unsuccessful revolt of Inaros II (460–454), aided by the Athenians as part of the Wars of the Delian League, aspired to the same object.

The Twenty-Eighth Dynasty consisted of a single king, Amyrtaeus, prince of Sais, who successfully rebelled against the Persians, inaugurating Egypt's last significant phase of independence under native sovereigns.