Greek culture had taken root in Gaza…

Greek culture had taken root in Gaza following the siege and conquest by Alexander the Great, and the city-state has earned a reputation as a flourishing center of Hellenic learning and philosophy.

Gaza experiences another siege in 96 BCE by the Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus, who, after a yearlong investment, "utterly overthrew" the city, killing five hundred senators who had fled into the temple of Apollo for safety.

During the conflict, the besieged Gazans had requested help from "Aretas, King of the Arabs", but the Nabatean monarch had not come to their aid and the city is destroyed.

This victory gains the Hasmonean kingdom control over the Mediterranean outlet for the Nabataean trade routes.