Palmyra
Hellenistic to Byzantine periods

Zabdibel, who aided the Seleucids in the battle of Raphia (217 BC), was mentioned as the commander of "the Arabs and neighbouring tribes to the number of ten thousands"; Zabdibel and his men were not actually identified as Palmyrenes in the texts, but the name "Zabdibel" is a Palmyrene name leading to the conclusion that he hailed from Palmyra. The Arab newcomers were assimilated by the earlier inhabitants, used Palmyrene as a mother tongue, and formed a significant segment of the aristocracy.

At its height during the reign of Zenobia (around 270), Palmyra had more than 200,000 residents.

The classical city also had a Jewish community; inscriptions in Palmyrene from the Beit She'arim necropolis in Lower Galilee confirm the burial of Palmyrene Jews.

During the Roman period, occasionally and rarely, members of the Palmyrene families took Greek names while ethnic Greeks were few; the majority of people with Greek names, who did not belong to one of the city's families, were freed slaves. The Palmyrenes seem to have disliked the Greeks, considered them foreigners, and restricted their settlement in the city.
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