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Ancient Naukratis. Excavations at a Greek Emporium In Egypt, Part 1: The Excavations at Kom Ge'if, by Albert Leonard, Jr. Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Vol. 54. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1997. xxii + 374 pp., 136 figures, 28 tables, 83 plates. Cloth. $124.95.
Excavations at Naukratis began in 1884, with campaigns led by Sir Flinders Petrie and then E. A. Gardner in 1884-1886, and two subsequent seasons of excavation by D. G. Hogarth in 1899 and 1903. The rich collection of early Greek material they unearthed has kept archaeologists arguing throughout the century, with debate ranging over the date of foundation, the ethnic composition of the town and its neighborhoods, and the identities of its buildings. In hopes of resolving some of these issues, a new project was initiated in 1977 by the author of this volume, together with W. D. E. Coulson as codirector. Their program was an ambitious one, involving excavation, intensive survey in the immediate area of the site, and extensive survey and test excavation in the surrounding region.
Events have proved that it was all but too late. The rising water table has flooded the old excavations, which now lie under five meters of water at the bottom of a lake; continued digging for mudbrick and fertilizer has nibbled away at what remains above water; and the survey documented time and time again the complete disappearance of monuments described by earlier visitors. Leonard and his colleagues chose two sites for excavation, a mound south of the lake and a smaller site at Kom Hadid to the east. Ancient Naukratis. Excavations at a Greek Emporium in Egypt, Part 1 presents the results of work on the south mound, carried out in three field seasons (1980-1982). The results of work at Kom Hadid will appear in Part 2.
Leonard introduces the volume with a precis of the history of the excavation and interpretation of the site, from Petrie's first season to Boardman's comments in the 1980 edition of The Greeks Overseas, ending with a summary of the work of the current project. Quite aside from setting the scene for what follows, this is a useful account of how archaeological "facts" are established and disestablished, both in the field and...