She had also to submit to the loss of Cyprus under Amasis,[14240] probably about B.C.540, or a little earlier, when the power of Babylon was rapidly declining.

She had been, from first to last, an unwilling tributary of the Great Empire on the Lower Euphrates, and was perhaps not sorry to see that empire go down before the rising power of Persia.

Under the circumstances she would view any chance as likely to advance her interests, and times of disturbance and unsettlement gave her the best chance of obtaining a temporary independence.

From B.C.538 to B.C.528 or 527 she seems to have enjoyed one of these rare intervals of autonomy.

Egypt, content with having annexed Cyprus, did not trouble her; Persia, engaged in wars in the far East,[14241] made as yet no claim to her allegiance.