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The Hellenistic Period
Historical References
The Hellenistic era in Israel is divided into four historical phase:. The conquest of Palestine by Alexander the Great and its aftermath (332-296 B.C.E.), Ptolemaic rule (296-201 B.C.E.), Seleucid rule (200-104 B.C.E.), and Hasmonean rule (104-64/3 B.C.E.). Josephus describes Hellenistic Dor as "a fortress difficult to take" (Antiquities XIII, 7: 20). Twice during this period the city was besieged unsuccessfully, first by Antiochus the Great in 219 (Polybius History V.66) and then by Antiochus VII Sidetes and Simon the Hasmonean in 139/8 B.C.E. in an attempt to oust Tryphon - a pretender to the Seleucid throne (r. 149-139 B.C.E.; 1 Maccabees 15: 10-14; 25-27, Joesphus, Antiquities XIII, 7:2 and Wars I, 2: 2). Sling bullets made for Tryphon's forces were found outside the city gates area.
The tyrant Zoilos ruled Dor and its neighbor Straton's Tower (later to become Roman Caesarea) in the late second century B.C.E. Alexander Jannaeus (104-78 B.C.E.) may have wrestled control of these cities away from Zoilos around 100 B.C.E. The city was under Hasmonean rule until the conclusion of the Hellenistic period in 64/3 BCE when Dor is included in a list of cities granted autonomy by Pompeius and placed under the authority of the Roman governor (Josephus, Antiquities XIV 4:4).
Other Greek sources state only that Dor was a small city with maritime significance adjacent to Straton's Tower (Apollodoros, Artemidoros of Ephesos, Alexander Ephesius ap. Steph. Byz. s.v. "Doros").
Archaeological explorations have revealed extensive evidence of the Hellenistic city. In the eastern part of the mound are remains of the well-fortified city wall, workshops, and houses running along a north-south street. The east-west street runs from the city gate to public buildings overlooking one of the three natural harbors. The primary economic activity of Hellenistic Dor was centered around these harbors: trade, ship building, fishing, and the harvesting of murex for the manufacture of purple dye.
Other finds speak to the mixed Phoenician-Greek
character of the city. Greek and Greek-influenced
material includes imported table-ware, wine amphorae,
figurines, a marble "herm," a fine Dionysiac mosaic,
and an akroterion in the shape of the goddess Nike. The Greek
language appears on lead weights, catapult stones,
ostraka and in signatures on pottery vessels.
The continuing Phoenician character of the
population is attested inter alia by the persistence
of ancient Phoenician building traditions, by evidence of the
textile-dyeing industry, including quantities of
loom weights and spindle whorls and dyeing
installations. The sling bullet of Tryphon is
inscribed both in Greek and Phoenician, showing that
local behaviors persisted even as the population
became increasingly Hellenized.
Archaeological results
Area A
Local phases 2-4: Section of the city wall, including a tower. Two partially-excavated insulae on either side of Persian-Roman street I (see plan) leading from area B to area C.
Area B2
Local phases 3-4: In the Hellenistic period there was no 'piazza', though both street I and the decumanus date back at least to this era (see plan). South of the gate (and under the Roman peristyle house) the city-wall turned east and then south again, so as to include within the fortifications a massive structure - probably a gate-bastion. A concentration of several dozens catapult stones of various diameters was found here.
Area C
The Hellenistic period is the best preserved one in area C, and Hellenistic insula C0 can still be seen on site. It comprises of strata III and IV - local phases C0/3-4, C1/:2-3, C2/2d-3. A long stretch of the city wall, probably built by the Ptolemais, and an additional square tower was excavated east of Insula C1. The central insula, C0, comprised of several residential units, built with fine ashlar masonry, on the west side of Persian-Roman street I.
Area D1
Local phase 2:
consists of a large structure, the lines of which follow that of the previous
(phases 3-4) walls,
but are narrower. A typical construction technique of this structure
is the use of single large ashlar headers as diatons in the rubble
walls; nicknamed 'pseudo a-telaio' after a similar technique
found in Phoenician colonies in the west.
An opus vermiculatum mosaic of the mask-an-garland type,
arguably the finest piece of
Hellenistic art ever found in the country, may have belonged with this
building or an adjacent one. It was recovered from a Roman pit
in the area. In another pit, a statue of Nike (victory) was found.
Area D2
Local phases 3-5: The basic divisions (insulae and streets) are similar to the subsequent Roman period. However, there is a marked change in the character/function of the area within this period: in the Persian period mostly buildings comprising long and narrow halls are attested, probably harbor store-houses. During the Hellenistic Period, the are becomes residential. In the northern edge of a the northern insula a building of massive, perhaps even palatial proportions is beginning to appear, which continues in the adjacent area D1.
Area F
Phase 3: Remains dating to the Late Hellenistic period were found buried underneath the temple podium. These consist of a large olive press with two beam-and-weight presses. Earlier Hellenistic remains, as well as Persian ones were cut by the Roman foundations. As in other areas, there appears to have been little change in the general layout of the town between the Persian and the early Roman periods, other than the introduction of street pavement and a central sewage system under it in the latter era.
Area G
Local phases 3-4:
The open, possibly public nature of this part of town is evident in the
Hellenistic and
Persian periods too. The center of the area
seems to have been an open space throughout these eras and to the east
and south of it were what appear to be residential insulae.
To the west and north, on the other hand, were found massive ashlar
foundations of the facades of large public structures.
Most of the buildings themselves, though, are outside the excavated
area.