MEYERS:TEAClIINGSECONDTEMl'LEJU[)AIS~'lINLIGHTOF,\HClI,\EOWGY 157Within suchacontext, the impact ofAlexander'stakingcontrolof
Syria-Palestineandneighboringlandswasevenmoresignificant.I have
notedhowtheindirectruleofthePersians facilitatedindigenous, con-
queredpeoples<lndculturestocontinueandevennourish,albdtunder
foreignhegemony.Alexander,however,h:Olda visionofbringingHellenis-
liecultureand Greeklanguage tohis newlyadopled and conquered
territoriesinhopesofbringingtheworldclosertogether.Theprocessby
whichthosenewpeoples;1l1dplacesweretobecomeacculturatedtothis
newideawecall"Hellenization,"themovement"Hellenism."Accommocla-
lion to such a worldview was made possible as Greek selllers and
mercenariesweremovedinlooldestablishedcitiesandnewcolonieswere
founded.^24 Seeingthetransformationofoneofthesecities,suchas Dor
anditsf0l1ificationwallthatpreviouslyhadbeenPhoenicianindesignand
constructiontechnique,wouldbeagoodwaytodcmonstr.:ttethekindof
culturalshiftthatlookplaceearlyinthellellenisticera,atleastbythemicl-
thirdcelliuryH.C.F..Thenew'·header" stoneconstruction,withitsnarrow
endsfacingoulanda seriesoflargesquaretowersprojectingOulfromthe
wallatforty-meterintervals,demonstratessucha transition.l,)
ItiswellknownthaitwoofAlex~lllder"sgeneralsestablishedtwoHel-
lenisticempiresinthe NcarEastafterhisdeath: Ptolemyin Egyptand
Seleucusin Syria.These smallerempiresbecame the vehicles through
whichGreekculturecontinuedtofilterintoPalestineandEgyptas well.
ThePtolemicsinfluencedPalestinethrougha varietyofmeans,butitsmer-
cantilecenter becameGaz:l, through which all mannerofgoodsand
services nowecl. Thestepped-up economic aClivity is rcnected in the
Zenonpapyri,whichnotesGaza'scentralroleinIhecaravantrade,The
newactivityalsobringstonoticetheNabateans,whobecamea<.1iveinthe
Irans-Negev(E-W)tradefromPelratoGaz:I.^26 Theimpactoftheseactivi-
tiesisrenectedin theearlicsibilingual(AramaicandGreek)inscriptions
fromKhirbetel-QominIdumaea,inthenorthernNegev,sixinall,and
datedtothefourthandearlythirdcentuly.17SecularJewishcoinsofthe
oftheEgyplianJ..:wi~hcommunity,lh~~xi1~sInBabylonia,andolh~rsoUlsidethel:mdof
Isr:leLit isnotdimClJItos<."Chowlh..:majorityofJ..:wslivedout~id..:th..:land.
24 The bc~t ;u1icle by f:lr on intcgr.ning :Ir{'h:lcology with hisIOl)· is Bcrlin
("ArchaeologiGJISource~forlh..:llistoryofP:Jlcstinc··):In{1thebibliogr:lphythcrc,butsc..::llso
Greenspoon,whom,inontheint..:nc~t:ul1\:nt:JI,id..:{[.con:lrdJ.Gr..:..:n~poon, ·'BetwL"Cn
Alt:xandri;JandAntioch:Jews:Ind.lud;JisminlhcHdknisticl'criou'"inCoog:lll,11}('o.Yjord
l-lisloryof/beBihfica/Ir'o,./d. 421 ....(6).
2')Berlin,"ArdJ;lcologic:t1Sourccsf(lrlhcllisulryof1':t1cslinc."S.
26 SeeJ);lVidGr:jf,"Nab:l1<':;lll~'"OHAt\'H4,1:l2-l'lS:Bcrlin...Ardla..:ologicalSOllr<.'C,'forthe
IlislOryofPalcstinc."
27 Fortheb<.:slknownoflh~EI-QOlllbilingllCll~.,\oCCl.awrcnceT.Gcraly,·Th~Khirbct
clK6mBilingualOstl:lCon:BASON 220 (19-'):.,S--<ll