Wall paintings of the hellenistic and Herodian period in the land of Israel

The Herodian style of decoration developed against the background of the Hellenistic style prevalent in the region. During the Hellenistic period, Palestine was a border state between the Ptolemaic and the Seleucid Kingdoms, alternately belonging to one or the other and influenced by the art both of the Oriental regions and of the Hellenistic world. It seems that in the field of interior decoration the principal influence came from the Greek styles that prevailed in the neighbouring countries, which boasted a long tradition of wall painting. Remains of buildings in different sites (Mareshah, Tel Anafa, Acco, Pella of the Decapolis, Iraq el Emir) show the use of different styles - the zone painted style, the incised style, and the relief style, all of them common in the Masonry style of painted decoration current in the Hellenistic centres, such as nearby Pergamon, Priene, Olynthos, and Alexandria. Sometimes the different styles were used in combination. In addition, eclectic decorative and architectonic traits were occasionally borrowed from the Hellenistic world as well as from ancient oriental traditions. The Herodian-Roman examples ( Jericho, Masada, Herodion, Jerusalem, Caesarea, Cypros, Samaria-Sebaste), in contrast, are actually closest to the Second and Third Style, which originated in Italy, and it seems that the most important influences came from Rome.