This is the second of a three-volume study of the Hellenistic settlements. The first, The Hellenistic Settlements in Europe, the Islands, and Asia Minor, dealt with foundations in those regions. The present volume focuses on the Hellenistic settlements of Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa. The third volume will deal with the foundations in Mesopotamia and regions farther east. The present volume, like the first, is organized by geographic areas. Within each area the settlements are ordered alphabetically. The entry for each foundation has two basic sections: narrative and annotation. In the narrative I attempt to identify the settlements, their founders, and location. I also try to present information about their history and organization during the Hellenistic period. The extended annotation is keyed to the narrative. The annotation provides detailed references, citations, and discussions for the material covered in the narrative. At the end of the work I have included various appendices that attempt to distill some of the information in the collected entries. In addition there is an essay dealing with the toponym “Alexandreia near Egypt.” For the region covered by the present volume, Tcherikover identified approximately 100 settlements; I have included entries for over 135.

This authoritative and sweeping compendium, the second volume in Getzel Cohen's organized survey of the Greek settlements founded or refounded in the Hellenistic period, provides historical narratives, detailed references, citations, and commentaries on all the settlements in Syria, The Red Sea Basin, and North Africa from 331 to 31 BCE. Organized geographically, the volume pulls together discoveries and debates from dozens of widely scattered archaeological and epigraphic projects. Cohen's magisterial breadth of focus enables him to provide more than a compilation of information; the volume also contributes to ongoing questions and will point the way toward new avenues of inquiry.