The account of Hegemonides being appointed new governor of Coele-Syria has some backing archaeological evidence of such a person indeed being active at the time. An inscription found in Dyme in Greece records a Hegemonides, son of Zephyros making a dedication to Antiochus Epiphanes; an inscription in Laodicea in Syria honors a Hegemonides of Dyne. The city of Ptolemais, which apparently resisted the more Jewish-friendly policy of Hegemonides, is described in 1 Maccabees 5 as being known for their hostility to Jews.
