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[[File: Psamtik_III.jpg|300px|thumbnail|right|Statue of King Psamtek III (ruled 526-525 BC)]]

The relative political stability that Egypt enjoyed for its first 2,000 plus years of history was replaced by a period of turmoil and dynastic conflict that began when the Nubians conquered Egypt in 728 BC. Just before the initial Nubian invasion, a Libyan descended dynasty came to power in the Delta city of Sais, who were not too keen to hold over their somewhat circumscribed power base to the Nubians. For their part, the Nubians were not fine with letting the rulers of Sais maintain any degree of autonomy, so the second king of the Nubian Twenty-Fifth Dynasty, Shabaqa (ruled 712-702 BC), invaded the Delta shortly after coming to power and killed the sole king of the Sais based Twenty-Fourth Dynasty, Bakenrenef (reigned 717-712 BC). According to Manetho, Shabaqa burned Bakenrenef alive, which would seem counter to Egyptian tradition because the body was needed to be intact to effectively transition into the afterlife. <ref> Manetho, Fragments 66-67</ref> But as modern scholars have pointed out, Shabaqa was a Nubian, and although Bakenrenef was from Egypt, his ancestry was Libyan, so the probability is that the rulers viewed each other as foreign and non-Egyptian. Also, fire would have been a perfectly acceptable means to kill a transgressor for treason in ancient Egypt. <ref> Leahy, Anthony. “Death by Fire in Ancient Egypt.” <i>Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient.</i> 22 (1984) p. 200</ref>

After killing Bakenrenef, the Nubians held power over all Egypt, but their rule was tenuous at best. The people of Sais, who have come to be known as “Saites,” continued to pose problems and even worse was the specter of the Assyrians to the east. Nekau I, the ruler of Sais and progenitor of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, took advantage of the situation by pledging fealty to Assyrian King Ashurbanipal (ruled 668-627 BC). The situation came to a head when the Nubian King Tantamani marched north to challenge the Saite king, apparently killing him in battle.