Whereas modern Judaism celebrates the Jewish revolt against the Hellenised dynasty that ruled the Levant, Mr Abulafia prefers to focus on Alexandria, where there was a more productive symbiosis between Hellene and Hebrew.

ECONOMIST: History??s most important sea

But the main point is this: whether Jerusalem is being compared with Athens or any other centre of Hellenised culture, there is a great deal more for modern scholars to say about the elusive and all-important question of how Hellenism and Judaism interacted as value systems.

ECONOMIST: Judaism and the rise of Christianity