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This month I've been working on a novel set in an alternate timeline wherein the ancient Egyptians colonized the coast of Greece circa 1900 BC, during their Middle Kingdom. The inspiration for this premise comes from certain legends the Greeks had about Egyptians settling on their shores (e.g. the "black doves" of Dodona and the daughters of Danaus). However, the actual story takes place three centuries after the initial colonization, with the Egyptian colony being cut off from its mother country by the Hyksos takeover of northern Egypt and then facing destruction at the hands of a Mycenaean Greek insurgency.
Anyway, at the moment I am trying to get a better sense of how this Egyptian colony in Greece came to be. What, for example, would have motivated its founding. The scenario I originally envisioned was that the colony was meant as a trading port, as a means of extracting native Greek resources, and as a bulwark against piracy in the Aegean region. However, my mom suggested that I make the Egyptian colonists refugees of the Hyksos invasion in 1650 BC, although personally I would think any northern Egyptians fleeing the Hyksos would head south (towards Upper Egypt) rather than across the Mediterranean to the north.
Any thoughts or suggestions about this scenario?
This month I've been working on a novel set in an alternate timeline wherein the ancient Egyptians colonized the coast of Greece circa 1900 BC, during their Middle Kingdom. The inspiration for this premise comes from certain legends the Greeks had about Egyptians settling on their shores (e.g. the "black doves" of Dodona and the daughters of Danaus). However, the actual story takes place three centuries after the initial colonization, with the Egyptian colony being cut off from its mother country by the Hyksos takeover of northern Egypt and then facing destruction at the hands of a Mycenaean Greek insurgency.
Anyway, at the moment I am trying to get a better sense of how this Egyptian colony in Greece came to be. What, for example, would have motivated its founding. The scenario I originally envisioned was that the colony was meant as a trading port, as a means of extracting native Greek resources, and as a bulwark against piracy in the Aegean region. However, my mom suggested that I make the Egyptian colonists refugees of the Hyksos invasion in 1650 BC, although personally I would think any northern Egyptians fleeing the Hyksos would head south (towards Upper Egypt) rather than across the Mediterranean to the north.
Any thoughts or suggestions about this scenario?
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