Naukratis

The quintessential Greek emporion was the city of Naukratis in Egypt, founded late in the seventh century b. c.e. According to Herodotus (2, 178), "Pharaoh Amasis, coming to like the Greeks, granted them various privileges, and especially to those who had come to Egypt he gave the city of Naukratis for habitation. But for those of the sea-traders who did not wish to inhabit the place he gave land for the establishment of altars and sanctuaries to the gods."

Rather than as a gift, it is better to understand Naukratis as a restricted area in which the Greeks were allowed to trade with the Egyptians. Up to the seventh century b. c.e., Egypt had been somewhat xenophobic in its foreign relations and trading preferences. However, the conquests of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the eighth and seventh centuries b. c.e. cut Egypt off from its traditional middlemen—the Phoenicians. As a result, new avenues of commerce were created, including the Greek emporion at Naukratis. Greeks could live here (as residents if not actual citizens), trade here, and worship according to their own traditions within the confines of the city. The participating Greek poleis—listed by Herodotus as Chios, Teos, Phokaia, Klazdomenai, Rhodes, Knidos, Halicarnassus, Phaselis, and Mytilene—ran a small, local government at Naukratis and traded Greek wine, oil, and silver for Egyptian grain, possibly gold, and luxury items such as faience (Graham 1970, 134). One must also remember that Egypt was a nexus of African trade, and that exotic items from the south, such as ebony and ivory, passed through Egypt to Aegean markets. The service sector also played a considerable role in Naukratian economics; the emporion was famous, among other things, for the number and beauty of its prostitutes (Herodotus 2, 134): "They love how the courtesans in Naukratis are quite lovely, for at that time, as the story goes, one there became so famous that all the Greeks learned the name of Rhodopis. Later it was the name Archidike, which became well-sung throughout Greece, although she was less spoken of in common talk than the other."

Unfortunately, the oldest parts of Naukratis are now under water due to a rise in the delta's water table and the presence of several canals in the immediate area, so excavation of the earliest remains of the emporion are no longer possible (Coulson and Leonard 1982, 363).