previous next


ἔδωκε Ναύκρατιν. This passage raises two distinct questions: (1) Did the Greeks settle at Naucratis before the time of Amasis? (2) When did H. think they settled there?

To take (2) first. This passage by itself might mean that the colony at Naucratis dated from Amasis; many, e. g. Hogarth (B. S. A. v. 46), think this the ‘natural interpretation’. But H. (135. 1, 5) implies the earlier presence of a Greek community at Naucratis, and his whole story of the Saites implies that the Greeks had free access to Egypt before the limitations of Amasis. H.'s authority then is at least doubtful as to the date of Naucratis.

As to (1) Strabo (801) says πλεύσαντες ἐπὶ ψαμμητίχου τριάκοντα ναυσὶ Μιλήσιοι (κατὰ Κυαξάρην δ᾽ οὗτος ἦν τὸν Μῆδον) κατέσχον ἐς τὸ στόμα τὸ Βολβίτινον εἶτ᾽ ἐκβάντες ἐτείχισαν τὸ λεχθὲν κτίσμα (i. e. τὸ Μιλησίων τεῖχος just mentioned) χρόνῳ δ᾽ ἀναπλεύσαντες ἐς τὸν Σαϊτικὸν νομὸν καταναυμαχήσαντες Ἰνάρων πόλιν ἔκτισαν Ναύκρατιν. This may well be a piece of genuine tradition, that Miletus took a prominent part in assisting Psammetichus; Inarus would be one of his rivals, possibly one of ‘the dodecarchy’. For further evidence that Miletus founded Naucratis cf. Athen. vii. 283; for the Greeks in Egypt before Amasis cf. c. 154 nn. and Steph. Byz. s. v. Ἑλληνικόν.

The archaeological evidence is variously interpreted. Petrie and E. A. Gardner, who explored the site in 1884-6, held that the early date was proved, E. E. F. 1886-8, Naucratis; cf. P. Gardner, N. C. G. H. pp. 187 seq.; on the other hand, Hogarth, who resumed the digging in 1899, maintains that nothing had been found inconsistent with the later date, of about 570 B. C., which Hirschfeld and others had always maintained on epigraphical evidence (for this cf. Roberts, Greek Epigraphy, pp. 159 seq., 323 seq.).

The site of Naucratis was conclusively identified by Petrie at Nebîreh on a canal from the Canopic Nile, outside the Delta.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: