Road station

Naucrati

Kom Gaief (Barrington)

Naucrati is Naukratis, on the Canopic branch of the Nile at Kom Gaief, a port of trade between Egypt and the Greek world. Herodotus says King Amasis handed it over to the Greeks, but excavations show Greeks here from about 625 BC. They also confirm the sanctuaries he names: of Apollo of Miletus, of Hera of Samos, and the Hellenion, founded jointly by Greek cities such as Chios, Rhodes and Halicarnassus. The tradition that Miletus founded the town finds no support. Under Ptolemy the Second an Amun temple was added, and even as Alexandria rose, the town kept its standing and its own coinage.

Find Naucrati on the interactive Roman map →

Auf Deutsch anhören · All place stories · More places in Egypt