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Naucratis
EntityQ137721· pop 33· linked from 248 articles

Naucratis or Naukratis (; , "Naval Command"; Egyptian: , , ; ) was a city and trading-post in ancient Egypt, located on the Canopic (western-most) branch of the Nile river, south-east of the Mediterranean Sea and the city of Alexandria. Naucratis was the first and, for much of its early history, the only permanent Greek settlement in Egypt, serving as a symbiotic nexus for the interchange of Greek and Egyptian art and culture.

Key facts

Ancient site.name
Naucratis
Ancient site.native_name
Ναύκρατις
Ancient site.image
Plate sphinx BM GR1965.9-30.705.jpg
Ancient site.caption
Seated sphinx plate, Eastern Greek Orientalizing, 6th century BC, from Naukratis
Ancient site.map_type
Egypt
Ancient site.relief
yes
Ancient site.location
Beheira Governorate, Egypt
Ancient site.region
Lower Egypt
Ancient site.type
Settlement
Ancient site.occupants
Athenaeus

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Elevation
-9
Image
Plate sphinx BM GR1965.9-30.705.jpg
Show 3 more facts
Commons category
Naucratis
native label
Ναύκρατις
start time
0700-00-00
Sources (3)

via Wikidata · CC0

~13 min read

Article

12 sections
Contents
  • Background
  • History
  • Ancient sources
  • Archaeology
  • Impact
  • See also
  • References
  • Notes
  • Citations
  • Sources
  • Further reading
  • External links

Naucratis or Naukratis (; , "Naval Command"; Egyptian: , , ; ) was a city and trading-post in ancient Egypt, located on the Canopic (western-most) branch of the Nile river, south-east of the Mediterranean Sea and the city of Alexandria. Naucratis was the first and, for much of its early history, the only permanent Greek settlement in Egypt, serving as a symbiotic nexus for the interchange of Greek and Egyptian art and culture.

The modern villages of Kom Gi'eif, el-Nibeira and el-Niqrash cover the archaeological site, which is of great importance. It is the source of numerous art objects in many of the world's museums, as well as pottery inscribed with some of the earliest known examples of Greek writing.

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