Note 604 — Chapter IV · Egypt

Its absence from Daphnae, the military station from which the Greeks were removed by Amasis soon after 570 B.C., was formerly thought to indicate that at that date it had not yet been invented or at least not yet become popular. But the chief wares found at Daphnae, including the typical (Clazomenian?) Daphnae ware, and excepting only a peculiar local type of situla, are not uncommon at Naukratis (B.S.A. V. pp. 60–61). This could hardly be the case, at least not to the same extent, if Naukratis started only when Daphnae ceased. We must seek some other explanation of the lack of Naukratite at Daphnae. May it not have been simply that such delicate ware was ill-suited for a camp? The Naukratite cups show a fabric as fragile as the modern teacup.