The Problem of Hellenistic Syria been in close contact with the Greek world before Alexander, and where,
after the conquest, a continued process of Hellenisation took place gradu-
ally against a background of cultural continuity.^69 But we should not think
of the non-Greek elements as being static features of a world in which cul-
tural change came only from the Greek side. For instance, some nine kilo-
metres from Acco/Ptolemais a Greek inscription of probably the second cen-
tury..shows a man with a Greek name dedicating an altar to Hadad and
Atargatis, ‘‘the listening gods.’’^70 Rather than being an example of the conti-
nuity of local non-Greek cults, this inscription is the earliest attestation of
these deities on the Phoenician coast.
A much greater problem is presented by those inland cities or commu-
nities which are not known to have received any formal Greek colony or
settlement. With Jerusalem and Judaea the essential features of cultural and
religious contact and conflict are well known: a significant level of Helleni-
sation, met by a conscious and violent reaction and reassertion of ‘‘national’’
tradition. The Samaritans too retained and reasserted their ‘‘Israelite’’ iden-
tity. This fact is perfectly illustrated by two dedications of the middle and
late second century from Delos in Greek put up by ‘‘The Israelites on Delos
who pay their tithes to holy Argarizein [Mount Gerizim].’’^71
By contrast, if we think for instance of Damascus, virtually nothing is
known of its character as a city or community at the moment of the Mace-
donian conquest except the bare fact of its existence. Nor has any signifi-
cant evidence about it through the Hellenistic period survived, beyond some
coins of the second and first centuries..with the legendDamaskēnon(of
the people of Damascus) and passing mentions of it as an object of suc-
cessive dynastic conflicts.^72 The occasional documents of persons from Da-
mascus abroad in the Hellenistic world are not very informative, though
they do illustrate the adoption of Greek nomenclature. It is not surprising
that Semitic names might also be retained, for instance ‘‘Martha, Damascēnē
[a Damascene],’’ on a late second-century inscription from Delos (IDnos.
–).
No real insight into the internal life of Damascus can be attained until the
middle of the first century, when we come to Nicolaus’ account of his father
Antipater, who was presumably born around the beginning of the century
. See Colledge (n. ), .
. M. Avi-Yonah, ‘‘Syrian Gods at Ptolemais-Accho,’’IEJ (): –.
. P. Bruneau, ‘‘ ‘Les Israélites de Délos’ et la juiverie délienne,’’BCH (): –
.
. Schürer, Vermes, and Millar,HistoryII, –.