It was probably founded by Seleucus Nicator (one of Alexander's generals who 'inherited' a large tract of his empire) who was credited by Appian with founding 60 sites; a hypothesis that is supported by the significant number of coins from the early third century.
The town is built on a steep, twin-peaked mountain and its principle purpose must have been defensive, to judge by the Circuit Wall of 4-5 kilometres and the twenty-eight towers dispersed along it.
During the 3rd century BC, early in the site’s occupation, a two-storied administrative public building, or palace, was constructed on the Acropolis. Architecturally this building appears to be Greek, but it also has features that belong rather to the Mesopotamian/Achaemenid tradition of palace design.
Archaeology has suggested that the entire site was virgin when settlement was established relatively early within the Seleucid period (no doubt in the immediate post-Ipsos years). The town was inhabited for approximately two centuries until it was largely abandoned by the late 70s BC, when the Seleucid Empire collapsed.
Jebel Khalid
