Necho II[1] (sometimes Nekau,[2] Neku,[3] Nechoh,[4] or Nikuu;[5] Greek: Νεκώς Β';[6][7][8] Hebrew: נְכוֹ, Modern: Neḵō, Tiberian: Nəḵō) of Egypt was a king of the 26th Dynasty (610–595 BC), which ruled from Sais.

[10] In his reign, according to the Greek historian Herodotus, Necho II sent out an expedition of Phoenicians, which in three years sailed from the Red Sea around Africa to the Strait of Gibraltar and back to Egypt.

The Egyptologist Donald B. Redford observed that Necho II was "a man of action from the start, and endowed with an imagination perhaps beyond that of his contemporaries, [who] had the misfortune to foster the impression of being a failure.

"[19] Upon his ascension, Necho was faced with the chaos created by the raids of the Cimmerians and the Scythians, who had not only ravaged Asia west of the Euphrates, but had also helped the Babylonians shatter the Assyrian Empire.

At the head of a large army, consisting mainly of his mercenaries, Necho took the coast route Via Maris into Syria, supported by his Mediterranean fleet along the shore, and proceeded through the low tracts of Philistia and Sharon.

He sent the clothes he had worn in these battles to the Branchidae of Miletus and dedicated them to Apollo.Necho soon captured Kadesh on the Orontes and moved forward, joining forces with Ashur-uballit and together they crossed the Euphrates and laid siege to Harran.

[citation needed] At this point, the aged Nabopolassar passed command of the army to his son Nebuchadnezzar II, who led them to a decisive victory over the Egyptians at Carchemish in 605 BC, and pursued the fleeing survivors to Hamath.

Although Nebuchadnezzar spent many years in his new conquests on continuous pacification campaigns, Necho was unable to recover any significant part of his lost territories.

[citation needed] At some point during his Syrian campaign, Necho II initiated but never completed the ambitious project of cutting a navigable canal from the Pelusiac branch of the Nile to the Red Sea.

[27] At some point between 610 and before 594 BC, Necho reputedly commissioned an expedition of Phoenicians,[28] who it is said in three years sailed from the Red Sea around Africa back to the mouth of the Nile; and would thereby be the first completion of the Cape Route.

[29][30] Herodotus' account was handed down to him by oral tradition,[31] but is seen as potentially credible because he stated with disbelief that the Phoenicians "as they sailed on a westerly course round the southern end of Libya (Africa), they had the sun on their right"—to northward of them (The Histories 4.42).