Between Text and Artifact: Integrating Archaeology in Biblical Studies Teaching (Archaeology and Biblical Studies)

158 BETWEENTEXTANDARTIFACf

Ptolemaiceralacktheseculardesignationofpepilorgovernor,familiar[Q
usfromthePersianera,andsignala shift{Qwardthetempleandthehigh
priesthood.WhilethePtolemiesallowedtheJewstomintcoins,itisalso
quiteclearthattheyhadnointentionofgrantingtheJewsautonomy.
AllinallthetransitiontotheHellenisticage,thoughpeaceful,surely
broughtwithitthetrappingsofa paradigmshift.Whilewecannotspeak
ofauniformspreadofHellenism,wenoteHellenism'sclearimprintonthe
coastandinplacessuchasMarissa,somefortykilometerssouthwestof
Jerusalem,wherethePtolemiesinstalleda Sidoniancolonyandlaidoutthe
ciryonaGreekgrid.JerusalemandothersilesintheJudeanheanlanddo
notatthistimerevealsuchsignsofHellenization,however,whichmeans
at leastthat Hellenism'sadvancewas unevenandaffectedby regional
tradesystemsandeconomies. Moreover, it indicatespossiblythatthere
werepocketsofresistancetoHellenization,andmanyofthoseresurfaced
inthetimeoftheMaccabeanrevolLThestampedjarhandleswithYHD
("Yehud") in Paleo-Hebrewandthe othergroupwithYRSLM onthem
("Jerusalem")thatdatetomid-thirdcenturymaypointtoamoreconserva-
tivegroupinchargeofthecomplexsystemoftaxationthatwasintroduced
bythepneslS.^28
TheflourishingoftradeandriseintheeconomyduringPtolemaicrule
overPalestineresultedintheriseofanewJewishmiddleclassandbegan
thetransformationofsocietyasawholethatcontinuedforcenturies.^29 111e
emergenceoftheTobiadclanasaweahhyJewishfamilythatservedthe
interestsofthePtolemics,mentionedintheZenonpapyriandembellished
inJosephus'streatmentofthem,30erecteda monumentaltradingfacility
andcastleinAmmoninTransjordanata sitecalledArJ.kel-'Amir,deco-
ratedwithgorgeousfelinesinitsfourcornersanddatedtotheendofthe
thirdcenturyorbeginningofthesecondcenturyU.C.E.3^1
OnlyinthecontextofwhatIhavedescribedisitpossible,forexam-
ple, for a teacher ofHebrew Bible/Old Testament to appreciate the
appearancein EgyptinthetimeofPtolemyPhiladelphus(288-247B,C.E.)
ofthepublicationoftheGreek Bible,rheSeptuagint.Certainly theold
Greek translationis oneofthe most important literarycreationsofall
antiquityandisa majorby-productoftheprocessofHellenizationofthe

28 SeeMeyers,"JeWishCultureinGreco-RomanPalestine:143.

29 RobenK.Harrison,"HellenizationinSyria-Palestine:TheCaseofJudaeaintheThird

Cemuryll.C.E.,"BA 57 (1992):98-108.

30 TheJosephann~lrrativcoftheTobiadfamily,butprimarilyconcerningJosephandhis

sonHyrcanus,occursinJosephus,Alii.12.157-236.Thoughfullofmanynovelisticelements,

thenarrativeremainsusefulforunderstandingthePtolemaicem.

31 Fawzizayadine,·'Iraqel-Amir."OEANE3:177-81.