Transformation of urban settlements in Syria and Palestine in Hellenistic period

The aim of my thesis is to describe the urban space in Syria and Palestine and how it was transformed during the early Hellenistic period. The time frame is set by the reign of Alexander the Great, who marched into the area in 333 BCE, and by the unification of the whole territory under the rule of Seleucids in the time of Antiochus III. in 200 BCE. Firstly I will examine the geography of the area, its specifics and impact to the settlement. Following this is an historical overview in which I discuss the progress of the area and the Hellenistic colonization in this period. In the second half of my thesis I study the archaeological situation. I go on to define the settlement in Syria and Palestine in the end of the Persian period, with particular reference to regional differences. Next I observe aspects of the transformations of the urban settlement that began at the turn of the third and fourth century BCE. This was when the territory was divided between Seleucids in the North and Ptolemies in the South. I also define the urban space of the Hellenistic period in Syria and Palestine and its specifics. In particular I focus on the differences between the North and the South of the observed territory