Harbour Cities as Vehicle of Cultural Identity: the Case of Hellenistic Gaza and Ashkelon
Résumé
The strategic position of the port cities of Ashkelon and Gaza within the geography of the Near East made them crossroads of trades and cultures from the Early Bronze Age onwards. As junctions between the Via Maris, the trade route that run along the coast connecting Egypt with Phoenicia, Syria, and Anatolia, and the frankincense route that stretches from the Mediterranean through the Negev until India and beyond, Gaza and Ashkelon had experimented a continuous passage of peoples that had shaped their cultural and religious horizons.
However, the two cities proved the maintenance of a strong local identity through time shown by the survival of their ancestral deities, as well as the self-representation left by their citizens around the Mediterranean. Through the analysis of Hellenistic epitaphs of Ashkelonite and Gazan merchants dead abroad, the continuity of worshipping of local
deities, and the syncretism that involved them, Ashkelon and Gaza will be presented not only as junctions and cross-roads of identities, but also as carriers and vehicles of a strong cultural originality. Moreover, from this analysis, also the extent of their intrinsic Mediterranean dimension will emerge.