Cyrus the Great's son Cambyses II would become the king of Persia, and his daughter Atossa would marry Darius the Great and bear him Xerxes I.

In an attempt to exact revenge for his forced exile, the physician would grow very close with Cambyses and would suggest that Cambyses should ask Amasis for a daughter in marriage in order to solidify his bonds with the Egyptians.

Cambyses complied and requested a daughter of Amasis for marriage.

Here Cambyses is made the legitimate son of Cyrus and a daughter of Apries named Nitetis ( Herod.

From this marriage, Cyrus had four children: Cambyses II, Bardiya ( Smerdis ), Atossa, and another daughter whose name is not attested in the ancient sources.

According to Herodotus, Amasis, was asked by Cambyses II or Cyrus the Great for an Egyptian ophthalmologist on good terms.

Amasis would die before Cambyses reached him, but his heir and son Psamtik III would be defeated by the Persians.

Amasis would send one of his eunuchs to capture Phanes, but the eunuch is bested by the wise council man and Phanes flees to Persia, meeting up with Cambyses providing advice in his invasion of Egypt.

Herodotus also relates the desecration of Ahmose II / Amasis ' mummy when the Persian king Cambyses conquered Egypt and thus ended the 26th Saite dynasty:

Cyrus was succeeded as king by Cambyses, who added Egypt to the empire, incidentally transforming Yehud and the Philistine plain into an important frontier zone.

Cambyses had prepared for the march through the desert by an alliance with Arabian chieftains, who brought a large supply of water to the stations.

Though numerous scholars link Cambyses to the Sanskrit tribal name Kamboja there are also few scholars who suggest Elamite origin of the name.

As against this, Arnold J. Toynbee discusses the issue of two Persian names Kambujiya ( Cambyses ) as well as Kurush ( Cyrus ) elaborately and regards them both as derived from the two Eurasian nomads, the Kambojas and the Kurus mentioned in the Sanskrit texts and who, according him, had entered India and Iran in the Volkerwanderung of 8th and 7th century BCE.

Darius, who had served Cambyses as his lance-bearer until the deposed ruler's death, prayed for aid and in September 522 BCE, along with Otanes, Intraphrenes, Gobryas, Hydarnes, Megabyxus and Aspathines, killed Gaumata in the fortress of Sikayauvati.

Modern commentators associate him either with Cambyses or with the pseudo-Smerdis who reigned for seven months between Cambyses and Darius I.

Seven years later, Cyrus the Great, who allowed the Jews to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple, died, and was succeeded by his son Cambyses.

Cyrus, convinced by this that Croesus was a good man, made Croesus an advisor who served Cyrus ' well ' and later Cyrus's son by Cassandane, Cambyses.

Thus, a monument dedicated by Cambyses II seems to refute the testimony of Herodotus, who lends the conquerors a criminal attitude of disrespect against the sacred traditions.

However according to Herodotus who gives two detailed stories, Bardiya went to Egypt with Cambyses and was there for some time but later Cambyses sent him back to Susa out of envy, because " Bardiya alone could draw the bow brought from the Ethiopian king.

) but given to his brother Cambyses ( called Patizeithes by Herodotus ) who is said to have been the real promoter of the intrigue.

The story is as follows: After the death of Cambyses, the Magian usurper Gaumâta, who did not belong to the Achaemenian dynasty, usurped the throne.

Meanwhile, Nabonidus, who had concealed himself, was captured, but treated honourably ; and when his wife died, Cambyses II, the son of Cyrus, conducted the funeral.

Though numerous scholars link Cambyses to the Sanskrit tribal name Kamboja there are also few scholars who suggest Elamite origin of the name.

As against this, Arnold J. Toynbee discusses the issue of two Persian names Kambujiya ( Cambyses ) as well as Kurush ( Cyrus ) elaborately and regards them both as derived from the two Eurasian nomads, the Kambojas and the Kurus mentioned in the Sanskrit texts and who, according him, had entered India and Iran in the Volkerwanderung of 8th and 7th century BCE.

He was succeeded by his son, Cambyses II, who managed to add to the empire by conquering Egypt, Nubia, and Cyrenaica during his short rule.

In 600 BC, Cyrus I was succeeded by his son Cambyses I who reigned until 559 BC.

Cyrus the Great was a son of Cambyses I, who named his son after his father, Cyrus I.

It is also noted that Strabo has said that Cyrus was originally named Agradates by his stepparents ; therefore, it is probable that, when reuniting with his original family, following the naming customs, Cyrus's father, Cambyses I, names him Cyrus after his grandfather, who was Cyrus I.

' pray daily before Bêl and Nabû for long life for me, and may they speak a gracious word for me and say to Marduk, my lord, " May Cyrus, the king who worships you, and Cambyses, his son ,' ( Cylinder, English Translation line: 35 )

With the help of Greek mercenaries, Apries was able to hold back Babylonian attempts to conquer Egypt, but it was the Persians who conquered Egypt, and their king Cambyses II carried Psamtik III to Susa in chains.

Whoever this new monarch may have been, Cambyses attempted to march against him, but died shortly after under disputed circumstances.

A year before Cyrus ' death, in 529 BC, he elevated his son Cambyses II in the government, making him king of Babylon, while he reserved for himself the fuller title of " king of the ( other ) provinces " of the empire.

Recently, Stephanie West has argued that the historical Croesus did in fact die on the pyre, and that the stories of him as a ' wise adviser ' to the courts of Cyrus and Cambyses are purely legendary, showing similarities to the sayings of Ahiqar.

Cambyses began to march against him, but died in the spring of 522 BCE in disputed circumstances.

According to Herodotus, Astyages chose Cambyses as a son-in-law because he considered him to pose no threat to the Median throne.

Astyages was more lenient with Cyrus and allowed him to return to his biological parents, Cambyses and Mandane.

It is when Cyrus concocts a story that his father, Cambyses I, is ill and returns to visit him that Astyages comes after him and the battle is joined.

The Persian Emperor Cambyses II upon conquering Ancient Egypt sent ambassadors to Macrobia bringing luxury gifts for the Macrobian king to entice his submission, but instead the Macrobian ruler replied with a challenge for the Persian ruler in the form of an unstrung bow, that if the Persians could manage to string, they would have the right to invade his country, but until then they should thank the gods that the Macrobians never decided to invade their empire.

Darius's account, written at the Behistun Inscription states that Cambyses II killed his own brother Bardiya, but that this murder was not known among the Iranian people.

The inscription states in detail that the rebellions, which had resulted from the deaths of Cyrus the Great and his son Cambyses II, were orchestrated by several impostors and their co-conspirators in various cities throughout the empire, each of whom falsely proclaimed kinghood during the upheaval following Cyrus's death.

* 559 BC — King Cambyses I of Anshan dies and is succeeded by his son Cyrus II the Great.

Following Cyrus the Great's conquest of the Near East and Central Asia, Cambyses II further expanded the empire into Egypt during the Late Period by defeating the Egyptian pharaoh Psamtik III during the battle of Pelusium in 525 BCE.

The traditions about Cambyses, preserved by the Greek authors, come from two different sources.

Some modern historians suspect that Cambyses may have been assassinated, either by Darius as the first step to usurping the empire for himself, or by supporters of Bardiya.

From September 1983 to February 1984, Gary S. Chafetz, an American journalist and author, led an expedition — sponsored by Harvard University, The National Geographic Society, the Egyptian Geological Survey and Mining Authority, and the Ligabue Research Institute — that searched for the Lost Army of Cambyses.

A tragedy by Elkanah Settle, Cambyses, King of Persia, was produced in 1667.

Cambyses's lost army also appears in Biggles Flies South ( 1938 ), and a 2002 novel by Paul Sussman, The Lost Army of Cambyses ( ISBN 0-593-04876-8 ), recounts the story of rival archaeological expeditions searching for the remains of his army.

Toynbee concludes that the conquest of the world by elder branch of the House of Achaemenes had been achieved by the valor of the Kuru and Kamboja Nomad reinforcements, hence as a commemoration, the elder branch of the House had named all their great princes from Cyrus-I onwards, alternately, as Cyrus ( Kurosh / Kuru ) and Cambyses ( Kambujiya / Kamboja ).

* ~ 524 BC The 50, 000 strong army of Cambyses II supposedly buried by a sandstorm en route to the Siwa Oasis.

* Ptolemy III returns from his conquests of Seleucid territory with a large amount of treasure and works of art, including many statues of Egyptian gods carried off to Persia by Cambyses.