URUMS ~ THE TATAR - SPEAKING GREEKS

 

Urums; Greek: Ουρούμ, Urúm;  are several groups of Turkic-speaking Greek Orthodox people native to Crimea. The emergence and development of the Urum identity took place from 13th to the 17th centuries. Bringing together the Crimean Greeks along with Greek-speaking Crimean Goths, with other indigenous groups that had long inhabited the region, resulting in a gradual transformation of their collective identity.

The term Urum is derived from the Arabic word روم (rūm), meaning Roman and subsequently Byzantine and Greek, with a prothetic u in some Turkic languages. In Ottoman Turkish under the Ottoman Empire, Rum denoted Orthodox Christians living in the Empire; in modern Turkish, Rum denotes Greeks living in Turkey and Cyprus. The word "Urum" involves a prothetic u- that generally appears in Turkic language loanwords initially starting with a r-. The common use of the term Urum appears to have led to some confusion, as most Turkish-speaking Greeks were called Urum.

The term is used by the following sub-ethnic groups of Greeks as a way of ethnic self-identification:

Crimean-Tatar speaking Greeks of North Azov (Ukraine) (Crimean Greeks)

Turkish speaking Greeks of Tsalka (Georgia) (see Caucasus Greeks)

North Azovian Urums

The Greeks of Crimea (and later of the adjacent Azovian region; present-day Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine) were represented by two groups: the Hellenic-speaking Romaioi, whose dialect is known as Rumeíka, a.k.a. Mariupol Greek, and the Turkic-speaking Urums (also called Graeco-Tatars). Both groups populated the region over the course of many centuries, and consist of both the descendants of the ancient (4th century BCE – 4th century CE) Greek and Byzantine Christian Greek colonizers of the northern shores of the Black Sea and interior of southern Russia and Ukraine, and also of Pontic Greeks who fled as refugees or economic migrants from northeastern Anatolia between the fall of the Empire of Trebizond to the Ottomans in 1461 and the 1828-29 Russo-Turkish War. Some Greek settlers of the Crimea region gradually adopted the Crimean Tatar language as a mother tongue.

In 1777, after the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Empire, Empress Catherine the Great ordered all Greeks from the peninsula to settle in the North Azov region around Mariupol, and they have been known as the North Azovian Greeks (приазовские греки / priazovskie greki) henceforth. Some linguists believe that the dialect spoken by the North Azovian Urums differs from the common Crimean Tatar language on a more than just dialectical level and therefore constitutes a separate language unit within the Kypchak language sub-group (see Urum language).

Urums practice Eastern Orthodox Christianity.  Throughout history, they represented an isolated cultural group and rarely settled in towns populated by the Romaioi, despite sharing Greek heritage with them. Unlike Greek, Urum has never been a language of secondary education in Ukraine. Turkologist Nikolai Baskakov estimated that by 1969, 60,000 people spoke Urum as a native language. According to the All-Ukrainian Population Census of 2001, only 112 of the Donetsk Oblast's 77,516 Greeks listed languages other than Greek, Ukrainian and Russian as their mother tongue.

Tsalka Urums

Tsalka Urums are sometimes referred to as the Trialeti Greeks or the Transcaucasian Turcophone Greeks, Pontic Greeks and Caucasus Greeks, or Τσαλκαλίδες (Tsalkalides), a name that refers to the Georgian town of Tsalka, where Urums once made up the largest ethnic community.

Between the fall of the Empire of Trebizond to the Ottomans in 1461 and the Russian annexation of Georgia in 1801 there had been several waves of Pontic Greeks who left the eastern Black Sea coastline and the highlands of the Pontic Alps, and then settled as refugees or economic migrants in Georgia and the South Caucasus. The largest and most recent waves came in the late 18th and especially the early 19th century, when the South Caucasus experienced mass migrations of Greeks from the Ottoman Empire, mainly from the region of Pontus, as well as the vilayets of Sivas and Erzurum in northeastern Anatolia. This wave of Pontic emigrants is particularly associated with the 1828-29 Russo-Turkish War, when many Pontic Greeks collaborated with or welcomed the Russian army that had occupied the region and then, to escape likely Turkish reprisals, followed it with their families when it withdrew back into Russian territory.

Many Pontian Greeks spoke Turkish either as Greek-Turkish bilinguals, or as a mother tongue due to linguistic assimilation processes that isolated groups of the Anatolian Greeks were exposed to.

According to Andrei Popov, throughout the 19th century hundreds of Turkish-speaking Greek Orthodox families from Erzurum, Gümüşhane and Artvin moved to Southern Russia and settled on the Tsalka Plateau, in present-day Georgia. During the Soviet era they populated over 20 villages in Georgia's Tsalka, Dmanisi, Tetritsqaro, Marneuli, and Akhaltsikhe regions. In 1926, there were 24,000 Greeks living in Tiflis and the neighbouring area with 20,000 of them being Turcophone.

Tsalka language, the dialect spoken by the Tsalka Urums, is similar to that of the Meskhetian-Ahiska Turks, an Eastern Anatolian dialect of Turkish, which hails from the regions of Kars, Ardahan, and Artvin. The Turkish Meskhetian-Ahiska dialect has also borrowed from other languages (including Azerbaijani, Georgian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Russian, and Uzbek) which the Meskhetian-Ahiska Turks have been in contact with during the Russian and Soviet rule. However some linguists, like Nikolai Baskakov, classify it as a separate Oghuz language due to differences in phonetics, vocabulary and grammar. Present-day Tsalka language is also thought by some to be phonetically closer to Azeri than to the literary Turkish, which leads them to believe that it is rather a dialect of Azeri. Late Soviet censuses also showed Azeri as the mother tongue of the Tsalka Urums, however this may have been done simply due to the Soviets' somewhat unfavourable attitude towards Turkish culture. No secondary education in Urum Turkish has been available; its speakers attended schools where subjects were taught in Azeri and later in Russian.

The Tsalka Urums themselves call their language bizim dilja (turk. 'our language') or moussourmanja (turk. 'Muslims' language). Nowadays, the majority speaks Russian. Also starting from the 1960s, there has been a modest cultural revival among the Turcophone Greeks. Historian Airat Aklaev's research showed that 36% of them considered Greek their mother tongue despite not speaking it; 96% expressed a desire to learn Greek.

A documentation project on the language of Caucasus Urum people compiled a basic lexicon, a sample of translations for the study of grammar, and a text collection. The website of the project contains further information about the language and the language community.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, serious migration did take place, so Greeks are no longer the largest ethnic group in Tsalka. Between 1989 and 2002, their population declined from 35,000 to 3,000. Many emigrated to Greece, particularly Thessaloniki and other parts of Greek Macedonia in Northern Greece, and also to the relatively near the North Caucasus region of Krasnodar Krai and other parts of Southern Russia (particularly the cities of Krasnodar, Abinsk, Sochi, and Gelendzhik).

Religion

By religion, the majority of Urums are Greek Orthodox Christians. Urums tend to practice their religion in Greek, Georgian or Russian Orthodox churches. Despite there not being any liturgical practices in the Urum language, 60% (18/30 respondents) of native Urum speakers reported that they use Urum in praying. 23% of Urum vocabulary in the field of religion or belief are said to be loanwords - much less than the average across world languages, being estimated to be 43%. According to legend common among the Urums of Georgia, long before they left Turkey, the Orthodox Greeks were forced to make a choice between their language and faith. Being devout Christians, they chose to keep their Orthodox faith and thus relinquished their language.

Language

The language of the North Azov Urums is a Turkic language belonging to the West Kipchak branch. It has been written with the Greek alphabet, and between 1927 and 1937 it was written with Yañalif, and it was taught in some schools. After Yañalif's replacement by the Cyrillic script in 1940, the Urum language was to only be written in Cyrillic.Urum is considered by some to be a dialect of Crimean Tatar.

Much of Urum's religious vocabulary is descended from words of Turkic origin, for example, Allah for ‘God’ or cänäm for ‘hell’ (compare Turkish allah, cehennem). However, Russian loanwords are restricted to narrow Christian terms, e.g., gimn meaning ‘hymn’, derived from Russian gimn (Гимн) and episkop meaning ‘bishop’, derived from Russian episkop (Епископ).

The Tsalka Urum language belongs to the Oghuz branch of the Turkic language and displays substantial similarities with the Turkish dialects of Anatolia (e.g. in vocal harmony), but also with Russian (e.g. in the use of subordinate clauses).

SOURCE Wikipedia 

THE GREEK MUSLIMS OF PONTUS AND CAUCASUS

Geographic dispersal

Pontic Greek (called Ρωμαίικα/Roméika in the Pontus, not Ποντιακά/Pontiaká as it is in Greece), is spoken by large communities of Pontic Greek Muslim origin, spread out near the southern Black Sea coast. Pontian Greek Muslims are found within Trabzon province in the following areas:

In the town of Tonya and in six villages of Tonya district.

In six villages of the municipal entity of Beşköy in the central and Köprübaşı districts of Sürmene.

In nine villages of the Galyana valley in Maçka district. These Greek Muslims were resettled there in abandoned former Greek Orthodox Pontian dwellings from the area of Beşköy after a devastating flood in 1929.

In the Of valley, which contains the largest cluster of Pontian speakers.

There are 23 Greek Muslim villages in Çaykara district, though due to migration these numbers have fluctuated; according to native speakers of the area, there were around 70 Greek Muslim villages in Çaykara district.

Twelve Greek Muslim villages are also located in the Dernekpazarı district.

In other settlements such as Rize (with a large concentration in İkizdere district), Erzincan, Gümüşhane, parts of Erzerum province, and the former Russian Empire's province of Kars Oblast (see Caucasus Greeks) and Georgia (see Islam in Georgia).

Today these Greek-speaking Muslims regard themselves and identify as Turks. Nonetheless, a great many have retained knowledge of and/or are fluent in Greek, which continues to be a mother tongue for even young Pontic Muslims. Men are usually bilingual in Turkish and Pontic Greek, while many women are monolingual Pontic Greek speakers.

History

Many Pontic natives were converted to Islam during the first two centuries following the Ottoman conquest of the region. Taking high military and religious posts in the empire, their elite were integrated into the ruling class of imperial society. The converted population accepted Ottoman identity, but in many instances people retained their local, native languages. In 1914, according to the official estimations of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, about 190,000 Greek Muslims were counted in the Pontus alone. Over the years, heavy emigration from the Trabzon region to other parts of Turkey, to places such as Constantinople, Sakarya, Zonguldak, Bursa and Adapazarı, has occurred. Emigration out of Turkey has also occurred, such as to Germany as guest workers during the 1960s. 

Glossonyms

In Turkey, Pontic Greek Muslim communities are sometimes called Rum. However, as with Yunan (Turkish for "Greek") or the English word "Greek," this term 'is associated in Turkey to be with Greece and/or Christianity, and many Pontic Greek Muslims refuse such identification. The endonym for Pontic Greek is Romeyka, while Rumca and/or Rumcika are Turkish exonyms for all Greek dialects spoken in Turkey.  Both are derived from ρωμαίικα, literally "Roman", referring to the Byzantines. Modern-day Greeks call their language ελληνικά (Hellenika), meaning Greek.  In Turkey, standard modern Greek is called Yunanca; ancient Greek is called either Eski Yunanca or Grekçe.

Religious practice

According to Heath W. Lowry's seminal work on Ottoman tax books (Tahrir Defteri, with co-author Halil İnalcık), most "Turks" in Trebizond and the Pontic Alps region in northeastern Anatolia are of Pontic Greek origin. Pontian Greek Muslims are known in Turkey for their conservative adherence to Sunni Islam of the Hanafi school and are renowned for producing many Quranic teachers. Sufi orders such as Qadiri and Naqshbandi have a great impact.

SOURCE Wikipedia 

GREEK ART IN YEMEN ~ EROS /DIONYSOS RIDING A LION

 

Timna is an ancient city in Yemen, the capital of the Qataban kingdom. Its modern name is Beihan.

During ancient times, Timna was an important hub in the famous Incense Route, which supplied Arabian and Indian incense via camel caravan to ports on the Mediterranean Sea, most notably Gaza, and Petra.

Archaeological expeditions in Timna have yielded some very interesting artifacts. Through their excavations, archaeologists confirmed a great fire destroyed the city of Timna in the first century CE. They also unearthed this bronze lion and its boy rider covered with a layer of ash. The rider is often identified as Eros or Child Dionysus, the latter relates to the cult of Dionysus, the Greek God of wine, who was a popular figure in ancient Arabia. The sophisticated modeling and treatment of this sculpture, one of a pair, attest to the advanced bronze-casting tradition in Arabia. It also suggests the familiarity of local artists with the technical and artistic language of the Greeks.

The lion and its rider were cast separately using the lost-wax technique. An inscription on the base reads, "Thuwayb and Aqrab dhu-Muhasni placed [these figures] at Yafash. Thuwayb and Aqrab of the Muhasni family decorated the house called Yafash."

SOURCE  Wikipedia 

THE SEA EAGLE OF SINOPE ~~ THE ETERNAL SYMBOL OF PONTUS

Hemidrachm of the  Greek city of Sinope,  circa 330-250 BCE.

In ancient Greek Religion, Sinope is a Nymph who was associated with the region of Paphlagonia, located on the southern coast of the Black Sea (modern-day turkey). Sinope is believed to have been the daughter of Asopos, a river god, and Metope. There are variations in Sinope's story,  but a common version involves her being pursued by the God Apollo. 

In order to escape His advances, she fled to the sea and prayed to the Gods to be transformed into a seal. Her plea was granted, and she became a seal, finding refuge in the Black Sea. The city of Sinope, also located in Paphlagonia, was said to be founded by Autolycus, the son of Hermes, and it was named after the Nymph Sinope. This city grew to become a significant Greek colony known for its trade, culture, and history.

The image of the sea eagle looking left later became the symbol on the flag of the Greeks of Pontus. 

THE CITY OF GERRHA ~ SAUDI ARABIA

Gerrha ( Greek: Γέρρα) was an ancient and renowned city within Eastern Arabia, on the west side of the Persian Gulf. Known from Greek sources, it has been identified with a few candidate archaeological sites in Eastern Arabia, with the main candidates being Hagar (modern-day Hofuf) and Thaj.

In the aftermath of the conquests of Alexander the Great and the subsequent Seleucid Empire in the region, Gerrha became a site of central importance in the Hellenistic world and the major site of trading in the Persian Gulf. It was a major source of Arabian aromatics and for the transport of goods from India.

Gerrha was located at or near the Persian Gulf, possessing a port and an inland town. A detailed description of the city was offered by the geographer Strabo:

'After sailing along the [east] coast of Arabia [from the outlet of the Euphrates] for a distance of 2400 stadia [c.380 km] one comes to Gerrha, a city situated on a deep gulf. It is inhabited by Chaldaeans, exiles from Babylon. The soil contains salt and the people live in houses made of salt; and since flakes of salt continually scale off, owing to the scorching heat of the rays of the sun, and fall away, the people frequently sprinkle the houses with water and thus keep the walls firm. The city is 200 stadia [c.32 km] distant from the sea; and the Gerrhaeans traffic by land, for the most part, in the Arabian merchandise and aromatics' . However, Aristobulus says that the Gerrhaeans import most of their cargoes on rafts to Babylonia, and thence sail up the Euphrates with them, and then convey them by land to all parts of the country.

Location and etymology

To the ancient Greeks, Eastern Arabia (now al-Ahsa Governorate) was known as Gerrha after its capital city. Gerrha was a Greek adaptation of the ancient name; it is now Hofuf, the name of the largest city of Bahrayn or al-Ḥasāʾ, pre-modern names for Eastern Arabia, which now encompass the Eastern Province and al-Aḥsāʾ Governorate of Saudi Arabia. Bahrayn was also known as Hagar or Gerrha in the Hellenistic period. Other English spellings are Hajar Hufuf and Hajar Hasa' Hajarah.

The name Hagar is not to be confused with Hegra near the Red Sea. Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Hamdani says the etymology of Hajar means ‘large village’ in the Himyaritic language.

The researcher Abdulkhaliq Al Janbi argued in his book that Gerrha was most likely the ancient city of Hajar, located in modern-day Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia.Al-Janbi's theory is the most widely accepted one by modern scholars, although there are some difficulties with this argument, given that the al-Ahsa Oasis is 60 kilometres (37 mi) inland and thus less likely to be the starting point for a trade route, making a location within the archipelago of islands comprising Bahrain, particularly the main island of Bahrain itself, another possibility.

Another location suggested as Gerrha is Thāj, an archaeological site and ancient town located west of Jubail in Eastern Province, located approximately 95 km from the coast of the Persian Gulf.

MOULD FOR THE CASTING OF SLING BULLETS

 

The sling was used as a weapon throughout antiquity. Traditionally, sling-shots were made of stone. But in the 5th century BCE, a new type of lead sling bullet was introduced. The lead bullets weighted 30-80 gr. and could be thrown over more than 100 meters.

The picture shows us a part of a double bronze mould for casting lead sling-bullets. It has conduits and cavities for the pouring of metal, small dowels for attaching to the other half, and a handle on the back side. Its length is about 12 cm.

Molten lead was poured from the top and filled the cavities. At the bottom of each cavity a Greek name in genitive is inscribed (ΤΙΜΩΝΟΣ). Such inscriptions could have denoted the name of the officer who was responsible for the casting, the commander of the military unit, the general, or the king himself.

This fascinating artifact is part of the collection of the Canellopoulos  Museum in Athens.

Source  Canellopoulos Museum  

ALEXANDER THE GREAT COIN ~ SAUDI ARABIA

 

Eastern Arabia. Gerrha. 230-220 BCE.

The makers of this coin were mitating the coin types of Alexander the Great . Head of young Herakles , wearing lion skin / Shams seated l. on throne holding eagle and scepter, ΣΒΥ (Shams )in South Arabian script, and  Greek script ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ   (of king  Alexander ).

This rare tetradrachm is one of the earliest Arabian coin issues struck by the caravan city of Gerrha in what is now Saudi Arabia. Exposure of the rulers and people of Gerrha to the international trade coinage of Alexander the Great led to the adoption and reinterpretation of his Herakles and Zeus types for themselves. Here, the God on the reverse is clean shaven and youthful, reflecting contemporary Arab fashion rather than Greek tradition, and is clearly identified by the South Arabian legend as the Arab god Shams, rather than Greek Zeus. Shams was a sun god derived from the Mesopotamian god Shamash. In Eastern Arabia Shams was regularly understood as a young male deity, following old Mesopotamian custom, while in the south Shams was understood to be female. The tetradrachm reflects the multicultural character of Arabia in the third century BCE, standing as it did at the crossroads of the Seleucid Empire that succeeded the vast Macedonian Empire of Alexander the Great and Mesopotamia, whose civilization was already very old when Alexander arrived, as well as the ability and willingness of the ancient Arabs to adapt features of these foreign cultures for their own use. Even the inscription naming Shams is borrowed in that it is a South Arabian script used by Eastern Arabs who more commonly wrote in Aramaic. As such, the use of this script as well as the reinterpretation of Zeus as Shams places a strongly Arab stamp onto an otherwise ubiquitous Greek coin type. 

DEMETRIUS OF BACTRIA AS DEVA GOBUJO ~ FREE PDF

 

A very interesting research by Lucas Christopoulos . For those who wish to read it, it's available below in pdf form for free.

Click on this link https://www.sino-platonic.org/complete/spp368_demetrios_of_bactria_deva_gobujo.pdf  

HELLENISTIC JUDAISM

 

Hellenistic Judaism was a form of Judaism in classical antiquity that combined Jewish religious tradition with elements of Hellenistic culture and religion. Until the early Muslim conquests of the eastern Mediterranean, the main centers of Hellenistic Judaism were Alexandria in Egypt and Antioch in Syria (modern-day Turkey), the two main Greek urban settlements of the Middle East and North Africa, both founded in the end of the 4th century BCE in the wake of the conquests of Alexander the Great. Hellenistic Judaism also existed in Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period, where there was a conflict between Hellenizers and traditionalists.

The major literary product of the contact between Second Temple Judaism and Hellenistic culture is the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible from Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic to Koine Greek, specifically, Jewish Koine Greek. Mentionable are also the philosophic and ethical treatises of Philo and the historiographical works of the other Hellenistic Jewish authors.

The decline of Hellenistic Judaism began in the 2nd century, and the precise causes are not fully understood. Following the Roman suppression of the Diaspora Revolt (115–117 CE), Jewish populations in Egypt, including the large and influential community in Alexandria, as well as those in Cyrenaica and Cyprus, were eradicated. Jewish presence in these regions was not re-established until centuries later, without regaining their former influence. Over time, much of the Greek-speaking diaspora was incorporated into the rabbinic framework by the rabbis. Additionally, it is possible that some members of Hellenistic Jewry were marginalized, absorbed, or gradually became part of the Koine-speaking core of early Christianity centered on Antioch and its traditions, such as the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch.

The conquests of Alexander the Great in the late 4th century BCE spread Greek culture and colonization—a process of cultural change called Hellenization—over non-Greek lands including the Levant. This gave rise to the Hellenistic period, which sought to create a common or universal culture in the Alexandrian empire based on that of fifth-century Athens, along with a fusion of Near Eastern cultures.The period is characterized by a new wave of Greek colonization which established Greek cities and kingdoms in Asia and Africa, the most famous being Alexandria in Egypt. New cities established composed of colonists from different parts of the Greek world and not from a specific metropolis ("mother city") as before.

The spread of Hellenism caused a blending of the local indigenous culture and the culture of the conquerors.Jewish life in both Judea and the diaspora was influenced by the culture and language of Hellenism. Local indigenous elites frequently played a significant role in embracing and promoting Hellenism, leading to its impact on all regional cultures, including the Jewish culture. In Judea, Hellenism gradually took hold, despite the relatively small number of foreign inhabitants.

The Jews living in countries west of the Levant formed the Hellenistic diaspora. The Egyptian diaspora is the most well known of these.Indeed, there was firm economic integration of Judea with the Ptolemaic Kingdom that ruled from Alexandria, while there were friendly relations between the royal court and the leaders of the Jewish community. This was a diaspora of choice, not of imposition. Information is less robust regarding diasporas in other territories. It suggests that the situation was by and large the same as it was in Egypt.

Adaptation to Hellenic culture did not require compromise of Jewish precepts or conscience. When a Greek gymnasium was introduced into Jerusalem, it was installed by a Jewish High Priest. And other priests soon engaged in wrestling matches in the palaestra. They plainly did not reckon such activities as undermining their priestly duties.

— Erich S. Gruen[9]: 73–74 

Later historians would sometimes depict Hellenism and Judaism uniquely incompatible, likely the result of the persecution of Antiochus IV. However, it does not appear that most Jews in the Hellenistic era considered Greek rulers any worse or different from Persian or Babylonian ones. Writings of Hellenized Jews such as Philo of Alexandria show no particular belief that Jewish and Greek culture are incompatible; as another example, the Letter of Aristeas holds up Jews and Judaism in a favorable light by the standards of Greek culture. The one major difference that even the most Hellenized Jews did not appear to compromise on was the prohibition on polytheism; this still separated Hellenistic Jews from wider Greek culture in refusing to honor shrines, temples, gods etc. that did not pertain to the God of Israel.

Hellenistic rulers of Judea

Under the suzerainty of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and later the Seleucid Empire, Judea witnessed a period of peace and protection of its institutions. For their aid against his Ptolemaic enemies, Antiochus III the Great promised his Jewish subjects a reduction in taxes and funds to repair the city of Jerusalem and the Second Temple.

Relations deteriorated under Antiochus's successor Seleucus IV Philopator, and then, for reasons not fully understood, his successor Antiochus IV Epiphanes drastically overturned the previous policy of respect and protection, banning key Jewish religious rites and traditions in Judea (although not among the diaspora) and sparking a traditionalist revolt against Greek rule. Out of this revolt was formed an independent Jewish kingdom known as the Hasmonean Dynasty, which lasted from 141 BCE to 63 BCE and eventually disintegrated into civil war.

Hellenization of Jewish society

Overall, Jewish society was divided between conservative factions and pro-Hellenist factions.Pro-Hellenist Jews were generally upper-class or minorities living in Gentile-majority communities. They lived in towns that were far from Jerusalem and heavily connected with Greek trading networks.

The most significant literary achievement of Hellenistic Judaism was the development of the Septuagint. Other notable works include the Book of Wisdom, Sirach and pseudepigraphic apocalyptic literature such as the Assumption of Moses, the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, the Book of Baruch and the Greek Apocalypse of Baruch. Some scholars consider Paul the Apostle to be a Hellenist Jew, even though he claimed to be a Pharisee (Acts 23:6).

Hellenistic Jews also created rewritten versions and expansions of biblical stories. As Erich S. Gruen points out, these writings show "a strong sense of identity and national self-consciousness."

Philo defended Judaism as a monotheistic philosophy that anticipated the tenets of Hellenistic philosophy. He also popularized metaphors such as "circumcision of the heart" to Greek audiences.

Hellenization was evident in the religious Jewish establishment:

'Ḥoni' became 'Menelaus'; 'Joshua' became 'Jason' or 'Jesus' [Ἰησοῦς]. The Hellenic influence pervaded everything, and even in the very strongholds of Judaism it modified the organization of the state, the laws, and public affairs, art, science, and industry, affecting even the ordinary things of life and the common associations of the people [...] The inscription forbidding strangers to advance beyond a certain point in the Temple was in Greek; and was probably made necessary by the presence of numerous Jews from Greek-speaking countries at the time of the festivals (comp. the "murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews," Acts vi. 1). The coffers in the Temple which contained the shekel contributions were marked with Greek letters (Sheḳ. iii. 2). It is therefore no wonder that there were synagogues of the Libertines, Cyrenians, Alexandrians, Cilicians, and Asiatics in the Holy City itself (Acts vi. 9).

The turbulence created by Alexander the Great's death also popularized Jewish messianism.

Legacy

Both early Christianity and early Rabbinical Judaism were far less doctrinal and less theologically homogeneous than they are today, and both were significantly influenced by Hellenistic religion and borrowed allegories and concepts from classical Hellenistic philosophy and the works of Greek-speaking Jewish authors of the end of the Second Temple period before the two schools of thought eventually affirmed their respective norms and doctrines, notably by diverging increasingly on key issues such as the status of purity laws, the validity of Christian messianic beliefs, and the use of Koiné Greek and Latin as liturgical languages replacing Biblical Hebrew.

The word synagogue comes from Jewish Koine Greek, a language spoken by Hellenized Jews across southeastern Europe (Macedonia, Thrace, northern Greece), North Africa, and the Middle East after the 3rd century BCE. Many synagogues were built by the Hellenistai or adherents of Hellenistic Judaism in the Greek Isles, Cilicia, Northwestern and Eastern Syria, and Northern Israel as early as the first century BCE—notably in Delos, Antioch, Alexandretta, Galilee and Dura-Europos. Because of the mosaics and frescos representing heroic figures and Biblical characters (viewed as potentially conductive of "image worship" by later generations of Jewish scholars and rabbis), many of these early synagogues were at first mistaken for Greek temples or Antiochian Greek Orthodox churches.

Early rabbis of Babylonian Jewish descent, such as Hillel the Elder, whose parents were Aramaic-speaking Jewish migrants from Babylonia (hence the nickname "Ha-Bavli"), had to learn the Greek language and Greek philosophy to be conversant with sophisticated rabbinical language—many of the theological innovations introduced by Hillel had Greek names, most famously the Talmudic notion of Prozbul, from Koine Greek προσβολή, "to deliver":

Unlike literary Hebrew, popular Aramaic or Hebrew constantly adopted new Greek loanwords, as is shown by the language of the Mishnaic and Talmudic literature. While it reflects the situation at a later period, its origins go back well before the Christian era. The collection of the loanwords in the Mishna to be found in Schürer shows the areas in which Hellenistic influence first became visible- military matters, state administration and legislature, trade and commerce, clothing and household utensils, and not least in building. The so-called copper scroll with its utopian list of treasures also contains a series of Greek loanwords. When towards the end of the first century BCE, Hillel in practice repealed the regulation of the remission of debts in the sabbath year (Deut. 15.1-11) by the possibility of a special reservation on the part of the creditor, this reservation was given a Greek name introduced into Palestinian legal language- perōzebbōl = προσβολή, a sign that even at that time legal language was shot through with Greek.

— Martin Hengel, Judaism and Hellenism (1974)

The unique combination of ethnocultural traits inhered from the fusion of a Greek-Macedonian cultural base, Hellenistic Judaism and Roman civilization gave birth to the distinctly Antiochian "Middle Eastern-Roman" Christian traditions of Cilicia (Southeastern Turkey) and Syria/Lebanon:

"The mixture of Roman, Greek, and Jewish elements admirably adapted Antioch for the great part it played in the early history of Christianity. The city was the cradle of the church".

Following the destruction of the Jewish community in Egypt during the Diaspora Revolt, the Septuagint and other Jewish writings from the region were adopted and preserved by early Christians. Some presently used Grecian "Ancient Synagogal" priestly rites and hymns have survived partially to the present, notably in the distinct church services of the followers of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church and its sister church the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch in the Hatay Province of southern Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Northern Israel, and in the Greek-Levantine Christian diasporas of Brazil, Mexico, the United States and Canada. Many of the surviving liturgical traditions of these communities rooted in Hellenistic Judaism and, more generally, Second Temple Judaism, were expunged progressively in the late medieval and modern eras by both Phanariot European-Greek (Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople) and Vatican (Roman Catholic) Gentile theologians who sought to “bring back” Levantine Greek Orthodox and Greek-Catholic communities into the European Christian fold: some ancient Judeo-Greek traditions were thus deliberately abolished or reduced in the process.[citation needed] Members of these communities still call themselves "Rûm" (literally "Roman"; usually referred to as "Byzantine" in English) and referring to Greeks in Turkish, Persian and Levantine Arabic. In that context, the term Rûm is preferred over Yāvāni or Ionani (literally "Ionian"), also referring to Greeks in Ancient Hebrew, Sanskrit and Classical Arabic.

In parallel to these Levantine developments, decentralized Jewish communities also emerged in the Roman provinces of Illyricum, Moesia, and Thrace—sometimes referred to as "Illyrian Jews" or "Jews of Slavia Graeca." These groups settled in frontier zones of the Balkans and adhered to Greek-speaking, Jerusalem Talmud traditions of Judaism, distinct from the rabbinic movements of Judea and Babylonia. Archaeological remains—including synagogue inscriptions and funerary sites—indicate their presence from the 1st through the 6th centuries CE, particularly in cities such as Stobi, Nicopolis ad Istrum, and along the Via Egnatia. Over time, these Balkan Jewish communities either migrated northward into the Carpathian Basin or were absorbed into the larger Romaniote and Ashkenazi populations. Their liturgical practices and communal structure may have influenced later Jewish developments in Southeastern Europe.

List of Hellenized Jews

Hellenistic and Hasmonean periods

-Andronicus son of Meshullam, Egyptian Jewish scholar of the 2nd century BCE. One of the first known advocates of early Pharisaic (proto-Rabbinical) orthodoxy against the Samaritans.

-Antigonus of Sokho, also known as Antigonos of Socho, was the first scholar of whom Pharisaic tradition has preserved not only the name but also an important theological doctrine. He flourished about the first half of the third century BCE. According to the Mishnah, he was the disciple and successor of Simon the Just. Antigonus is also the first noted Jew to have a Greek name, a fact commonly discussed by scholars regarding the extent of Hellenic influence on Judaism following the conquest of Judaea by Alexander the Great.

-Antigonus II Mattathias (known in Hebrew as Matityahu) was the last Hasmonean king of Judea. Antigonus was executed in 37 BCE, after a reign of three years during which he led the national struggle of the Jews for independence from the Romans.

- Alexander of Judaea, or Alexander Maccabeus, was the eldest son of Aristobulus II, king of Judaea

- Aristobulus of Alexandria (fl. 181–124 BCE), philosopher of the Peripatetic school who attempted to fuse ideas in the Hebrew Scriptures with those in Greek thought.

- Artapanus of Alexandria (fl. 3rd century BCE), Alexandrian Jewish writer who wrote a history Concerning the Jews, quoted by Polyhistor and Eusebius.

- Cleodemus Malchus, Jewish historian referenced by Alexander Polyhistor and Josephus.

- Eupolemus, an early Hellenic Jewish historian whose writings are known from Alexander Polyhistor and Eusebius Pamphili.

- Ezekiel the Tragedian, Alexandrian Jewish poet who wrote a play Exagōgē, a paraphrase of the Exodus in iambic trimeter.

- Jason of the Oniad family, High Priest in the Temple in Jerusalem from 175 to 172 BCE.

- Menelaus, High Priest in Jerusalem from 171 BCE to about 161 BCE.

- Mariamne I, Jewish princess of the Hasmonean dynasty, was the second wife of Herod the Great.

- Onias I (Hellenized form of Hebrew name (Greek: Ὀνίας) from (Hebrew: Honiyya) was the son of Jaddua mentioned in Nehemiah. According to Josephus, this Jaddua is said to have been a contemporary of Alexander the Great. I Maccabees regards Onias as a contemporary of the Spartan king Areus I (309–265 BCE). Onias I is thought to be the father or grandfather of Simon the Just.

- Ben Sira, also known as Yesu'a son of Sirach, leading 2nd century BCE Jewish scholar and theologian who lived in Jerusalem and Alexandria, author of the Wisdom of Sirach, or "Book of Ecclesiasticus".

- Simon Thassi (died 135 BCE) was the second son of king Mattathias and the first prince of the Jewish Hasmonean Dynasty. He was also a general (Doric Greek: στραταγός, stratagos; literally meaning "army leader") in the Greco-Syrian Seleucid army of Antiochus VI.

Herodian and Roman periods

- Philo of Alexandria (Φίλων, Philōn; c. 20 BCE – c. 50 CE), also called Philo Judaeus, of Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt.

- Flavius Josephus was the first Jewish historian. Initially a Jewish military leader during the First Jewish-Roman War, he famously switched sides and became a Roman citizen and acclaimed Romano-Jewish academic. He popularized the idea that Judaism was similar in many ways to Greek philosophy.

- Justus of Tiberias, Jewish historian born in Tiberias, "a highly Hellenistic Galilean city", he was a secretary to governor Herod Agrippa II and rival of Flavius Josephus.

- Julianos (Hellenized form of the Latin name Julianus) and Pappos (from Koine Greek pappa or papas 'patriarch' or 'elder') born c. 80 CE in the city of Lod (לוֹד; Greco-Latin: Lydda, Diospolis, Ancient Greek: Λύδδα / Διόσπολις – city of Zeus), one of the main centers of Hellenistic culture in central Israel. It is possible that Julian and Pappus led the Jewish resistance movement against the Roman army in Israel during the Kitos War, 115–117 CE (their Hebrew names were Shemaiah and Ahijah respectively).

- Lukuas, also called Andreas, Libyan Jew born c. 70 CE, was one of the main leaders the Jewish resistance movement against the Roman army in North Africa and Egypt during the Diaspora Revolt, 115–117 CE.

- Trypho the Jew, thought to be a 2nd-century CE rabbi opposed to Christian apologist Justin Martyr, whose Dialogue with Trypho is paradoxically "equally influenced by Greek and Rabbinic thought." He is most likely the same as Rabbi Tarfon.

EDITED FROM WIKIPEDIA 

RUM, THE GREEK PEOPLE OF SYRIA AND THE LEVANT

From  the  early  days of history, the Greeks have asserted themselves as one  of   the most adventurous peoples.  Even from before the first millenium  BCE, they  set off from their homeland in modern day Greece, to explore and settle across all of the known world. Over the next centuries, they would leave their cultural  impact throughout the world,  from the coast of Spain up until India. Many of those Greeks that settled foreign lands were lost to history- however, there still exist many communities outside of the modern Greek world that still maintain   their roots and their Greek identity.  One such  case is that of the Rum, the Greek inhabitants of present-day Lebanon and Syria. These distinctly Greek people have been forgotten by the Western world, and their plight  throughout history, and   especially during the Syrian civil war, has gone unnoticed.

A Brief Historical Overview

The history of the Greeks in the Levant begins very early, from the 8th century BCE, when settlers from Euobeia founded present- day  Al-Mina. However, large   scale migration of Greeks into the region did not start until Alexander’s  conquest of  the  Persian empire,  at which  point Syria and the Levant became parts of the  Greek Kingdom of  the Seleucids. Throughout the next centuries, many settlers   from mainland Greece arrived in this region, and  many of  the indigenous  inhabitants were quickly Hellenized and adopted  the Greek culture. By the time of the  Roman conquests, Greek had become the lingua franca of  the region, and Greek was the dominant culture. This was also one of  the first regions to be christianized, with most of  the inhabitants adopting Christianity, and Syria was   one of the core regions of Christianity before the spread of Islam.

Culture and Demographics

It is important to note here the origin of the name Rum. It comes from the days when all of the Greek world was conquered by the Romans. When the Roman Empire was split into a Latin West and Greek East, the Greeks of the Eastern Roman Empire, subsequently termed Byzantine Empire by historians, continued to call themselves Romioi (Ρωμιοί, i.e. Romans).When the Ottomans conquered the  Eastern Roman  Empire, they adopted the word Rum, meaning Roman, to refer   to  all their Christian subjects. In mainland Greece, this characterization   gradually fell out of use  to the characterization Greek, however in the Levant and Syria the term persisted and continues to be used by the Christian Greeks in the area. Most Rum belong to the Greek Orthodox denomination, though in 1724 a   part of them formed the Greek Catholic Melkite denomination. These Christian denominations have only minor differences, and they both use Koine Greek as   their liturgical language, and are baptized with Greek names. This contrasts them to the other Christian people of Syria and the Levant, that is the Roman Catholic Maronites, the Oriental Orthodox Armenians, and the

Syriac Christian Assyrians. The adherence of the Rum to the Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic church has preserved their Greek heritage throughout centuries of foreign rule .There is little information on the numbers of the Rum, but an estimation based on statistical data from 2011 gives about 4.3 million Greek Orthodox and 1.5 million Greek Catholic Rum. Of those, 1.3 million live in Syria, 0.8 million live in Lebanon, while the rest have scattered all over the world.

Present Situation

Ever since the start of the Syrian civil war, the Rum, along with the rest of the Christians of Syria, have been  persecuted relentlessly. Operation Antioch, an  independent group of activists who aim to raise awareness on the plight of the Rum, states in an interview on Al Masdar News that the Rum “have undergone a genocide in the hands of islamist terrorists ,funded and supported by Turkey and Saudi Arabia, as well as Western allies.” In their words, “The continuing war in Syria has destroyed our people. Ever since the  conflict started, we have been characterized as friendly to the regime and infidels by the islamists, and we have been targeted for extermination by terrorist organizations such as FSA, Al-Nusra,   and Daesh. Many Rum villages in Syria have been abandoned by our brothers who are forced to flee, afraid for their lives. 

Our religious leaders have been   abducted  and murdered, our churches desecrated and destroyed. Even the cultural sites of our ancestors, dated to the time of the Greeks, have been targeted for destruction. Those of us with the courage to stay are forced to live in constant fear. Forced to live under inhuman conditions, without food or water, our people are forced to rely on humanitarian support from the government of Syria and International Organizations. Our only refuge is the region of  Wadi  al-Nasara, as  our people are becoming the victim of a coordinated persecution against all   Syrian Rums, Assyrians,  Aramaians, and Armenians. For us, our own existence is at stake.”

According to TheGreek Observer, when these events started, thousands of Greek Christians hurried to the Greek Consulate authorities and applied for the Greek citizenship- however, those applications remained unanswered as the Greek embassy in Damascus had to cease operations in 2012 due to security concerns. The Rum priest, Father  Antonios Malouf, in an event for Syria in Greece  in   2019,  stated in perfectly fluent  Greek:  “The  Christians  in  Syria lived without  discrimination, equal among equals…Unfortunately this spiritual and social development stopped abruptly, because of the war…the Christian population decreased from 22% to just 1%. Christians are refugees in the whole world…Rockets keep falling on the houses of those that stayed and on the schools of their children…They don’t want to leave their homeland. In the beginning of the war they were told  that ships  were waiting for them at  the port  to save them, as   was said  in the destruction of Smyrna. The jihadists attack cities and towns, destroy monuments and cultural sites…An entire village on the border with Lebanon was massacred and the dead bodies were thrown into a well until it was filled. Those that stayed and were beheaded constitute the new martyrs of the Church,  those   that  didn’t  betray  their  faith. 

Everyone talks  about refugees, but who talks of the Christians of Syria?”Those same people that are persecuted  are  not very  different  from modern-day  Greeks. Even though they lost their Greek language in the 16th century, the Rum continue to adhere to Greek Orthodoxy and Greek Catholicism, and use Greek as their liturgical language. Their churches and  monasteries  are Greek, built during the Byzantine times. They are baptized with Greek names. They uphold Greek traditions. And most importantly, they feel Greek. It is important that the rest of the Greeks and the world realize who they are and what they are going through and raise awareness of the  crisis  they are facing, so these ancient  people, that have withstood so many wars and conquests, will not perish.

SOURCE  Ilias MeletopoulosStudent, National Technical University of Athens, Anthony Kriezis, Student, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

ARABIA , GREECE AND BYZANTIUM ~ FREE BOOK PDF

A book about the cultural contacts tthroughout ancient and medieval times, available in PDF. Click on the following link.

https://www.mfa.gr/missionsabroad/images/stories/missions/saudi-arabia/docs/Arabia_Greece_and_Byzantium_en.pdf

GRECO~ARABIAN KINGDOM

The Greco-Arabian Kingdom, a period of dynamic interaction between Greek and Arabian cultures, emerged in the ancient Arabian Peninsula during a pivotal time in the region’s history. Spanning from 298 BCE to 27 BCE, this kingdom represented a unique fusion of Hellenistic influence, introduced after the conquest of Alexander the Great, and the local Arabian traditions. This paper explores the political, cultural, and military significance of the Greco-Arabian Kingdom, as well as its relationship with neighboring empires and its eventual decline.

The Origins of the Greco-Arabian Kingdom

The Greco-Arabian Kingdom’s formation can be traced back to the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE. His vast empire fragmented, and control over the Arabian Peninsula shifted between the Seleucid Empire, which ruled much of the Near East, and local Arabian dynasties. One such local dynasty was that of the Nabataeans, a powerful people in the northern Arabian Peninsula. In 298 BCE, as Seleucid control waned and the Nabataean Kingdom gained strength, the Greco-Arabian Kingdom came into being.

Initially, the Nabataeans maintained their political independence under the leadership of King Aretas I. His kingdom was a key player in the region, with Petra, the capital, becoming a thriving trade hub connecting the Mediterranean world with Arabia, India, and Africa. The Seleucid Empire’s weakening influence in the region allowed for the growth of such kingdoms, which became increasingly autonomous.

Political and Cultural Developments

The Greco-Arabian Kingdom represented a remarkable blend of Greek and Arabian cultures. The Greek influence, particularly from the Seleucid Empire, brought with it Hellenistic art, architecture, and governance. Greek was used as the language of diplomacy and administration, while Greek-influenced urban planning and city-building projects flourished in regions such as Petra and other parts of modern-day Jordan.

However, this kingdom also preserved many aspects of traditional Arabian culture, including its tribal social structure, religious practices, and nomadic traditions. The kingdom's leaders, who were of Arabian descent, skillfully integrated these two worlds, promoting a hybrid culture that was neither fully Greek nor fully Arabian.

One of the most remarkable aspects of the Greco-Arabian Kingdom was its role in trade. Positioned along the lucrative incense routes, it was strategically important for controlling trade between the Mediterranean and the Arabian Peninsula. The kingdom played a pivotal role in the export of frankincense, myrrh, and other valuable commodities, which were highly sought after by the ancient world.

The Military and Strategic Importance

The Greco-Arabian Kingdom’s military was another key factor in its success. Although not as formidable as the armies of the Ptolemies or Seleucids, the Nabataeans had a unique military advantage. Their knowledge of the desert and ability to control key trade routes made them formidable adversaries. Their reliance on cavalry and archers, combined with guerrilla tactics, allowed them to hold their ground against larger, more powerful foes.

The Greco-Arabian Kingdom's control over trade routes also made it a significant player in the geopolitics of the time. Both the Roman Empire and the Parthian Empire had an interest in controlling the Arabian trade routes. However, the Nabataeans skillfully navigated their relationships with both powers, maintaining their independence and flourishing as a regional power.

Decline and Legacy

The Greco-Arabian Kingdom began to decline in the 1st century BCE, as Roman influence expanded in the region. In 64 BCE, the Roman general Pompey conquered the Nabataean Kingdom, marking the end of the Greco-Arabian Kingdom as an independent entity. Although the Kingdom was absorbed into the Roman Empire, the legacy of the Greco-Arabian Kingdom persisted. The cultural and architectural contributions of the kingdom continued to influence the region, with Petra remaining an iconic symbol of its unique heritage.

The Nabataean Kingdom’s integration into the Roman Empire also allowed for the continued prosperity of its trade routes, which remained vital for Roman commerce.

Conclusion

The Greco-Arabian Kingdom, which lasted from 298 BCE to 27 BCE, was a remarkable fusion of Greek and Arabian cultures. It was a kingdom that thrived due to its strategic location, rich trade routes, and ability to blend Hellenistic and Arabian traditions. While its political independence was eventually absorbed by the expanding Roman Empire, its cultural legacy endures, particularly in its architectural achievements such as Petra. The Greco-Arabian Kingdom is a testament to the power of cultural syncretism and the ability of smaller kingdoms to influence the larger geopolitical stage.

References

Bowersock, G. W. (1983). Roman Arabia. Harvard University Press.

Krencker, R. (1922). Petra: A Study in Greco-Roman Art and Architecture. Journal of the British School at Rome, 18(2), 125-147.

Whitcomb, D. (2004). The Nabataean World: Architecture and Culture in the Greco-Roman Period. Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 63(4), 245-267.

Schick, T. (2003). Petra: The Archaeology of the Nabataean Kingdom. Oxford University Press.