 Egyptian records mention a T ( D ) -n @-@ j or Danaya ( Tanaju ) land for the first time in circa 1437 BC , during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmoses III ( r . 1479 – 1425 BC ) . This land is geographically defined in an inscription from the reign of Amenhotep III ( r. circa 1391 / 1388 – 1353 / 1351 BC ) , where a number of Danaya cities are mentioned , which cover the largest part of southern mainland Greece . Among them , cities such as Mycenae , Nauplion and Thebes , have been identified with certainty . Danaya has been equated with the ethnonym Danaoi ( Greek : Δαναοί ) , the name of the mythical dynasty that ruled in the region of Argos , also used as an ethnonym for the Greek people by Homer . 
