Ancient Egypt was one of the prominent civilizations in the Mediterranean world from its unification in 3100 B.C. and onward. Late Stone Age, otherwise known as neolithic communities, traded hunting for agriculture which led the way to further developments in Egyptian arts, technology, politics, and even religion.
During the Archaic period, 3100-2686 B.C., the capital of ancient Egypt was founded in the north near the apex of the Nile River delta, which became known as Memphis. This capital grew into a metropolis, dominating Egyptian development in society and ideology of kingship during the Old Kingdom Period. The Old Kingdom time period went further to include the world’s first major stone building, a funerary monument of a Step-Pyramid.
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Archaeological traces in Egypt that come mostly from Greek contact and are found throughout the Nile Delta, where the earliest and only Greek settlement was founded. Greek colonization included trading stations in Levant and the Nile Delta, which allowed them be in contact with eastern craftsman. Naukratis, the only Greek trading port located in the Western Nile Delta, was the gateway for trade between Greece and Egypt and helped the Greeks sell their silver, wine, and oil in exchange for Egyptian linen, papyrus, and grain. This same port, “at this time was one of the main intersection points between the Greek and Egyptian worlds” (Villing et al, 2). In 1884, Sir William Flinders Petrie found remains that refer to Greek presence, the sanctuaries of Apollo and Hera, at the discovery of ancient Naukratis, located on the Canopic branch of the Nile River. Beginning from the 7th century BC Egypt opened up and increased their Mediterranean contact, which is when the close and direct relationship between the Minoan Crete and Egypt developed. Since this was a time period of “renewed commerce, many cultural goods were exchanged along with colonists, mercenaries, and artisans” (Livingston) this relationship left a presence in several aspects of Greek Culture, like art but also technology, religious and burial rituals and customs. “Military pacts, gift-giving and guest-friendships, immigration and migrant work, translocal elites, traders, aristocratic travelers, mercenaries, sailors, craftsmen, wives and courtesans, translators and administrators – all played their part in (Eastern) Mediterranean networks of contact and exchange,” (Villing et al, 8) and had their hand in trading personal practices and cultures to others’ lands. Though Naukratis was