370 S. Rebecca Martin
(a) (b)Figure 24.10 Astarte figurine mold of the later Iron Age II and a modern figurine made from the
ancient mold. From Tel Dor, Israel (reg. no. 38397, L3952). Image appears courtesy of Professor
Ephraim Stern and the Tel Dor Excavation Project.
non-Hellenic/not-Hellene toward “Hellenized” that can be measured by degrees—an
idea that has limited support in the sources (e.g., themixellenesin Hellanikos of Myti-
lene,FGrHist4 F 71a). Use of the phrase “fully Hellenized” to describe Macedonians
such as Alexander and Phoenicians such as Dionysios signals that the Hellenization
process could result in quasi-Hellenism. Hence, although the stimuli are different,
Greek–Near Eastern contact always produces a kind of Hellenism. Even those who
advocate strongly for significant Near East input and initiative in Greek Iron Age culture
(notably Burkert 1992) avoid using the term “Orientalizing” to describe people; thus,
Orientalizing is not concerned with ethnicity. Is Hellenization? To call a Phoenician
“fully Hellenized” is to signal that he is culturally indistinguishable from those we call
“Greeks,” but that he is still not “really Greek”—the distinction is significant.
Recent theories suggest that ethnic groups cannot be considered “culture-bearing
units” (Jones 2007: 48; cf. Chapter 26 by Adam Kemezis in this volume), but are
nonetheless retrievable in the archaeological record (Bentley and Maschner 2008: 4–5).
Yet, when Isokrates (Paneg. 50) claimed that “the name Hellene should be applied
to persons sharing in the culture rather than the ancestry of the Greeks,” he seems to
challenge the idea that ethnicity and culture are independent (unless “Hellene” signals
culture and not ethnicity, as per Hall 2002: 172–228). If so, what is the difference
between Hellene and Hellenized? The culture–ethnicity relationship is perhaps more
ambiguous than that of ethnicity and biology (physiognomy, race, etc.). For scholars
whose primary concern is material culture, the issue is critical. The range of opinions is