| 亞歷山大大帝沒那麼偉大幾乎每本西洋史教科書都說，亞歷山大大帝東征，最偉大的成就之一，就是使中東地區希臘化。不過，根據加州大學柏克萊分校歷史暨考古學者安德魯．史都華的最新研究，早在亞歷山大大帝東征之前1世紀，地中海東岸的以色列小城鎮就已接受希臘的物質文化，因此，亞歷山大大帝並未像自己所說的那般偉大。
安德魯．史都華花了20年時光，在古代受腓尼基統治、今為以色列小城的多爾遺跡的沙地上，挖掘出超過10萬件的器物，大部分是陶器。這些陶器上的圖案顯示，多爾社區如何從習於造船和航海的文化，在紀元前400年轉變成希臘物質文化的前哨站，而亞歷山大大帝是在紀元前336年開始東征的。安德魯．史都華說，這些陶器上的圖案說明，多爾社區的居民買進希臘的鎖、桶等器物，這顯示希臘物質文化絕對不是零星的輸出。
儘管多爾社區早在亞歷山大大帝統治前，就已建立了相當程度的文明，但考古學家無法證明的是，多爾社區只是特例或是通則。不過，亞歷山大大帝在多爾的一項成就，或許是造成許多多爾居民不再迷戀希臘的物質文化。
原文
Way back in the fourth century B.C., a young Alexander
the Great thundered across what is now the Middle East in a bloody mission
that ranks among the most brilliant military conquests in history.
And according to almost any textbook, Alexander, though barely out
of his teens, paved the way for the rapid spread of Greek culture throughout
that tortured land.
But according to some intriguing research, the young Macedonian's
achievements may not have been as great as his name implies. The evidence
suggests quite strongly that Greek material culture, at least, flourished
as far away as the coast of what is now Israel at least a century before
Alexander's conquests.
The findings dispute the widely held belief that Hellenization（希臘化）,
or the spread of Greek culture, "went into high gear" on the
heels of Alexander's military exploits, says Andrew F. Stewart, an art
historian and archaeologist at the University of California, Berkeley,
who is heading up an international team of experts investigating the
matter. "What we think we can prove is that's not true," Stewart
says.
The evidence also suggests that Greek culture did not increase, at
least in that area, under Alexander. "If anything there was a bit
of retrenchment（減少）," Stewart says.
Why should anyone care, other than a bunch of art historians? Simply
this. It may seem logical to assume that military victories in places
like Iran, Afghanistan, Israel and other hot spots will lead to the
spread of the culture and values of the conquering forces. But beneath
a small mound（土墩） overlooking two ancient sand-filled harbors, archaeologists
are uncovering evidence that "decouples（切開） material culture from
military conquest," Stewart says.
For nearly two decades Steward has been digging into the sandy soil
where a Phoenician（腓尼基） town once thrived on the eastern shore of the
Mediterranean Sea, in what is now Israel. The site is extraordinarily
rare in that it has remained relatively undisturbed for two millennium.
No modern city rose on the ruins of Dor, as has happened in so many
areas of archaeological interest, and the nearest village was an Arab
settlement just to the south, abandoned in 1948 after the Israeli war
of independence. It was replaced by a kibbutz（集體農場）, Nachsholim, a popular
retreat for beach lovers who flock to the white sands carried along
the Mediterranean shoreline by the northward thrust of the Nile River.
Stewart and other researchers from Berkeley, as well as Hebrew University
in Jerusalem and several other American, Canadian and South African
universities, have recovered more than 100,000 artifacts from the site,
mostly pottery. They tell a graphic story of how that community changed
from a Phoenician culture steeped in boat building and seamanship（船舶駕駛）
to a veritable outpost（前哨） of Greek material culture by 400 B.C., well
before Alexander's exploits began in 336 B.C.
Stewart refers to it as "material" culture because there
is no evidence yet of literary, or political, Greek culture spreading
into that area. The artifacts show only that the people who lived there,
or the people who moved there, were deeply involved in the production
of material items, like pottery, that was clearly Greek in nature.
And they were into it big time.
"It tells you that the community on that site was buying lock,
stock and barrel into Greek material culture, as opposed to merely sporadically（零星的）importing
stuff," Stewart says.
That's significant because it shows that these people were Greeks,
or really wanted to be at least partly like Greeks, long before they
had heard of Alexander. So "Hellenization" didn't come in
with Alexander. It was there to greet him when he first arrived.
But does that mean Alexander was overrated（高估）by historians? Not necessarily.
His military might was something extraordinary.
The young Alexander, who had been tutored by Aristotle, ascended to
the throne of the Macedonian region when his father, Phillip II, was
assassinated in the summer of 336 B.C. Surrounded by enemies, he moved
quickly to gain control of the rest of Greece, although he was not yet
20 years old.
Historians consider him a brilliant military tactician（戰術家）with an
exceptional ability to rally his troops in the face of what might have
seemed overwhelming challenges. With 35,000 troops he overcame armies
many times that size, although many experts believe the strength of
the opposition has been greatly overestimated by historians. But whatever
the odds, in three years time he blazed a trail from what is now Turkey
to Egypt, dismantling the Persian Empire. He fell ill in Babylon in
323, and died there at the age of 33. There is no doubt that Greek culture
became deeply entrenched in the major cities under his rule, many of
which he named Alexandria, but the story in the hinterlands（內地）, where
"most people lived" is still unclear, Stewart says. It was
well established at Dor long before Alexander's rule, but the archaeological
record is so incomplete that it's impossible at this point to say whether
Dor was the exception or the rule. It seems likely that the same cultural
transition happened throughout much of the area, but no one knows for
sure.
What is clear is that on the heels of Alexander's triumphs, some of
the people of Dor grew disenchanted with all things Greek. Some artifacts
show that "sometimes the locals were trying to reach back to their
roots," rejecting both the style and substance of Greek pottery.
They probably grew tired of Alexander and his generals.
"After all, the Macedonians were pretty harsh overlords,"
Stewart says. |
