NECO
Son of Psammetichus I; second ruler of the XXVI dynasty; He reigned between 609 and 593 BC. He tried to build a canal connecting the Red Sea with the Nile and sent a fleet that managed to circumnavigate Africa (Herodotus 2:158; 4:42).
Necho killed King Josiah in Megiddo (608 BC), because he opposed his expedition against Assyria. The people of Judah made Jehoahaz, son of Josiah, king, but Pharaoh dethroned him, deported him to Egypt, putting his firstborn son Jehoiakim in his place (2 Kings 23: 29-34; 2 Chron. 35 : 20-36: 4).
Necho appears to have left his army at Carchemish upon his return to Egypt. In 605 he joined his army in order to protect Egyptian interests east of the Euphrates. He confronted Nebuchadnezzar, and suffered a crushing defeat, losing all Egyptian possessions in Asia (2 Kings 24:7). (See also EGYPT BC.)