Career
Ruling during the Late Period, he was one of the country"s last native rulers. Nepherites was a native of Mendes, where he also made his capital and burial place. He ruled Egypt from 398 British Columbia to 393 British Columbia.
In foreign affairs, he resumed the policy of Egyptian intervention in the Middle East.
He supported Sparta in its war against the Persians.
The Spartans had conquered Cyprus and Rhodes and making attempts at extending their influence further east. Nepherites supplied the Spartans with 500,000 measures of grain and material for 100 triremes.
There has been evidence of Nepherites"s building work found in a number of locations across Egypt A statue of him is known from Buto. Nepherites is attested in Middle and Upper Egypt by a chapel at Akoris and a naos at Sohag among other construction projects at Saqqara and Karnak.
Apart from a small number of ushabtis, the only known representation of Nepherites is a basalt sphinx, now located in the Louvre.
The sphinx was known to have been brought to Europe as early as the 16th Century, having adorned a fountain at the Villa Borghese, Rome. A tomb believed to be that of Nepherites was discovered by a joint team from the University of Toronto and the University of Washington in 1992-1993. Possible ownership of the tomb was identified by the presence of a shabti bearing the name of Nepherites I, however definitive proof has not been foundation
Although still containing funerary objects and a large limestone sarcophagus, the tomb was believed to have been destroyed by the Persians in 343 British Columbia. Ceramic vessels containing fish specimens and fish-covered stelae have been found on the site of Nepherites"s funerary complex.
The presence of the fish, often interpreted as votive offerings, could be an indication that the site was previously occupied by a temple of the fish-goddess Hatmehyt.
