was marked by continued prosperity, which had began a nearly a century before. With this, an interest in commerce intensified as ri-valries between the city-states did. Commercial enterprise and competition brought these Greek states in contact with other foreign lands in the Mediterranean, like the Etruscans and Carthagin-ians in the West, the Persians in the East, and Egypt in the South. Of these, Egypt, in particular, provided the most cultural influence on Archaic Greek sculpture. .
We have much evidence about the Greek presence in Egypt during the Archaic period. Tradition maintains that "the pharaoh Psammetichos I (664-610 B.C.) invited east Greek merce-naries to serve him against his enemies, which, in turn, resulted in concessions to Greeks to settle and trade in Egypt (Boardman, 18)". This led to the growth and prosperity of the city of Naukratis during the 26th Dynasty (664-525 B.C.) in the northwestern Nile River Delta. In the present day, excavations have revealed a Milesian temple to Apollo, a Samian temple to Hera, a temple to the Dioskouroi, a temple to Aphrodite. Numerous fragments of Archaic Greek statuettes found scattered about the site of the Temple of Aphrodite, were also discovered. .
"Besides Greek traders of wheat, silver, and slaves, and Greek potters, trinket makers, soldiers, and courtesans who were drawn to Naukratis" for its obvious trade purposes, "there were occasional learned visitors like the Athenian statesman, Solon, Hecataeus the geographer, and Herodotus himself (Holloway, 34)". It was due to this Greek presence that evidence of script on Egyptian monuments written by Greek travelers appeared and the later texts of Herodotus, the first Greek historian, told of the wonder of Egyptian monuments, their massive scale, and the impact they had on the Greeks who observed them or heard of them. Thus, it seems very likely that Greek craftsmen, with their typically Greek characteristic of curiosity and ability to learn, were able to carve monumental works at this time and also incorporate the Egyptian concepts regarding statuary into their own.
