Herodotus: Naucratis was in the past the only trading port in Egypt. Whoever came to any other mouth of the Nile had to swear that he had not come intentionally, and had then to take his ship and sail to the Canobic mouth; or if he could not sail against contrary winds, he had to carry his cargo in barges around the Delta until he came to Naucratis. In such esteem was Naucratis held.
See:
- Astrid Möller, Naukratis as port-of-trade revisited, Topoi. Orient-Occident Année 2005 12-13-1 pp. 183-192 [https://www.persee.fr/doc/topoi_1161-9473_2005_num_12_1_1998]
- The Harbour of Naukratis, https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/projects/harbour-naukratis
- Herodotus, The Histories, A. D. Godley, Ed., II.179 [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0126:book=2:chapter=97&highlight=naucratis]