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The period of Archaic Greece from c. 600-480 B.C. was marked by continued prosperity, which had began a nearly a century before. With this, an interest in commerce intensified as rivalries 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 Carthaginians 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 mercenaries 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