Hellenization in the Near East By Alex Smith When scholars of the ancient world traditionally described the process of Hellenization, or ‘becoming Greek’, it was typically seen as a top-down process. The spread of Greek culture, government and religion was portrayed as being imposed by Greek overlords on captive states. In reality, Hellenization was far more complicated. The way places were Hellenized varied depending on where the area was, the time period in which it took place, and who was in charge. Levine defined Hellenization as the adoption and adaption of Greek culture. This article will compare the different ways the populations of Palestine and Egypt were Hellenized between the fourth and first centuries BCE.
third centuries BCE, and in Egypt up until the Roman conquest. Where Hellenization took place, it was often the work of individuals and groups within the local populations to gain status and influence. Locals would sometimes learn Greek and give themselves Greek names, as language was at the heart of the Hellenistic world. As a result, it was sometimes difficult to determine whether a person was Jewish, Egyptian, or Greek. Greek was the language of the administration and only those who could speak it could hold official positions. It was also often needed in society. Whilst not going out of their way to see their culture as superior, and not attempting to directly Hellenize the Egyptians, the Greeks did take advantage of the local populations to implement their rule. When they could, the Ptolemies favoured Greeks in their administration. Whilst there was not a ‘racial policy’, there were discriminatory boundaries in play. This can be seen in Zenon Papyri no.66, where the writer complains that he is not being paid fairly because he is a ‘barbarian’ and cannot speak Greek.
Alexander the Great had conquered the regions of Palestine and Egypt in 333-332 BCE. After Alexander’s death, his generals vied for succession in what became known as the Wars of the Diadochi. By the end, Ptolemy I Soter had gained control of Egypt and Palestine. His family would rule Palestine until 198 BCE and Egypt until 30 BCE. As a result of his rule, Jews and Egyptians had been brought into the Greek speaking world, but Hellenization would take place differently in the two different regions.
By the first century BCE, some Egyptians had risen to positions of authority by adapting to Greek culture. An example of this Hellenization in Egypt after Alexander’s conquest was the cult that Ptolemy I formed, called the cult of Serapis and Isis. It contained both Greek and Egyptian religious elements, with Serapis reflecting both Osiris as well as Zeus and Hades. It helped solidify his power over the Egyptians and reflected Alexander the Great’s relationship with Zeus-Ammon. The cult may have had links to the worship of the Apis bull, which was already associated with both Egyptian and Greek religion.
The level of Hellenization in Palestine before Alexander is hard to identify. Martin Hengel used an account of a meeting in Asia Minor between Aristotle and a Jewish man who could speak Greek and understood Greek culture as evidence for Hellenization in Judaea. However, this Jewish man had reportedly spent a lot of time in the Greek states of Asia Minor so, if the story is true, it is the account of a single Jewish man in an area who had been Hellenized for a long time and is not reflective of Jewish culture in Palestine. Whilst a few Greek coins have been found in Palestine that date from before the fourth century BCE, these are rare and do not reflect a significant level of Hellenization. Hellenization in Egypt was different. The Greeks had been aware of Egypt for a long time and had supported some elite Egyptian families in their revolt against the Persians. But this was as far as Greek influence had gone in Egypt and there was very little Hellenization in the region before Alexander’s conquest. Both Hengel and Millar have argued that the Greeks never had the intention to fuse local cultures with their own and change the ordinary people to become more Greek. They simply wanted to stay in power. This was true in both Palestine in the fourth and
Another way in which many Jews encountered Hellenization in the third century BCE was through the army. Many served as mercenaries to the Ptolemies and were settled on estates in Egypt. This number was increased after Ptolemy I Soter captured Jerusalem circa 302 BCE and brought 30,000 Jews back to Egypt for his army. They would have been Hellenized quickly as they were spread amongst other troops. This is evidenced by the fact that only twenty-five percent of the names of the settlers that we have in manuscripts are Semitic, the others being Greek, and with a few being both.
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There was already a large Jewish diaspora community in Egypt before Alexander’s conquest, and this increased during the time of the Ptolemies. There was
