Archaic Naukratis was a busy trading place in the Western Delta of the Nile, renowned for its sanctuaries and courtesans, granting the Greeks access to Egyptian grain and luxury items. Now, more than one hundred years after the discovery and excavation of Naukratis, the author offers the first full-length analysis of the archaeology and archaic history of this important site.
Although Naukratis always features in modern accounts of ancient Greek colonization, it was not a place where the Greeks could freely establish their own political and social organization--it was under the strict...