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Who was Necho I, and why did Ashurbanipal support him in the Nile Delta?

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Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal — Ashurbanipal Ashurbanipal depicted in a lion hunt in an Assyrian relief from his northern palace in Nineveh; now in the British Museum.

Necho I (flourished c. 672–664 BCE) was a governor of Sais in the Egyptian Nile Delta and an ancestor of the 26th dynasty. Of likely Libyan descent, he was initially installed as a vassal ruler by the Assyrian king Esarhaddon after the Assyrians conquered Lower Egypt in 671 BCE.1

Ashurbanipal supported Necho I as a strategic move to maintain Assyrian control over Egypt against the rival Cushite rulers of the 25th dynasty, such as Taharqa and Tanutamon. Although Necho was briefly deported to Nineveh around 667 BCE for participating in an uprising against Assyrian authority, Ashurbanipal restored him to power in Sais around 666–665 BCE. By reinstating Necho and later installing his son, Psamtik I, as a ruler in the delta, Ashurbanipal sought to secure a loyal local administration that would act as a buffer against Kushite influence and ensure the stability of Assyrian interests in the region.12