Southward Ho! A journey from Ionia to Egypt

The presence of Ionians in areas to the south and south-east of the homeland as attested by inscriptions and pottery is reviewed. From the Dodecanese to the Nile Delta pottery from Ionia is found at many sites, mostly after ca. 640 BC, but evidence of Ionians themselves through inscribed texts is thin. The situation is different in Egypt, where a strong Ionian presence is attested by epigraphy, not least at Naukratis, where the restudy of old finds (pottery and other material) and new fieldwork increasingly points to a mixed Greek-Egyptian community. Analyses of the site’s rich pottery finds are contributing to the pinpointing of provenances, adding to the picture already built up from ethnic affiliation found in the graffiti on the pots.