The port of ancient Gaza has been found. A joint Palestinian-French expedition is conducting the first scientific archaeological excavation since the Palestinian Authority took charge of the city. They have found remains of the port in at least two sites along the shoreline.
Today Gaza evokes images of poverty. But in ancient times it was an important and thriving urban center from at least the time of the Philistines. It was one of the members of the Philistine pentapolis. A bare 10 miles north of Gaza, an American team has been excavating another member of the Philistine pentapolis, Ashkelon, which is in Israel. The potential of Gaza is as great. Its treasures have barely been touched.
But time may be short. As one archaeologist connected with the excavation told me, a good part of the ancient city may soon “fall prey to real estate developers.” Although we hear a great deal about the dreadful conditions of the Gaza refugee camps—and it is all true—there is also a construction boom going on. From a certain direction the skyline could be mistaken for Kansas City.
The assault of the real estate developers is not the only thing that 053makes archaeology difficult. The winds that blow in from the sea year-round create a virtual invasion of sand dunes. Sometimes the archaeological treasures can be found only after removing 35 feet of sand.
Even before the Biblical references, Gaza is mentioned in Egyptian texts. For thousands of years it was the gateway from Canaan to Egypt. In the Hellenistic period it was the largest city in Syria-Palestine. Aside from its importance as a commercial interchange, it produced wine, oil and wheat. Although Gaza has neither rivers nor springs, wells were abundant and supplied the city with more than enough water in antiquity.
The Franco-Palestinian dig team has opened several excavation areas, one of which may be the port known in Greek texts as Anthedon. The sea at the level of the site is cluttered with the remains of the ancient quay, where ships once tied up. A survey of archaeological remains along the seashore indicates that installations for docking ships extended for several miles.
At another site the archaeologists have uncovered the remains of a tower that goes back at least to the fifth century B.C., part of a fortification system facing the sea. In the Roman period the tower was rebuilt with stones instead of mudbrick. Adjacent to the tower is a sandbank over 3 feet wide, with pottery that goes back to the eighth century B.C. In future seasons the diggers hope to explore this very early defense system more intensively.
In another area excavators identified a Christian cemetery; several crosses appeared among the more than 25 graves. Coins helped date the cemetery to the fourth to fifth century A.D.
Elsewhere Mameluke remains have been uncovered, one more civilization that thrived in Gaza over the millennia.
The hazards of digging in Gaza can strain even the most placid dig director. On the day we were there, the normally calm Père Jean-Baptiste Humbert, who heads the dig on behalf of the École Biblique et Archéologique Français, was angry beyond words. The workers had been dissatisfied with their wages and took “revenge,” as Jean-Baptiste explained, by redirecting an open sewer line over the area he was excavating.
Moain Sadek, director of the Palestinian Department of Antiquities in Gaza and director of the Gaza digs, displayed more sangfroid. “Those things happen,” he said.
The port of ancient Gaza has been found. A joint Palestinian-French expedition is conducting the first scientific archaeological excavation since the Palestinian Authority took charge of the city. They have found remains of the port in at least two sites along the shoreline. Today Gaza evokes images of poverty. But in ancient times it was an important and thriving urban center from at least the time of the Philistines. It was one of the members of the Philistine pentapolis. A bare 10 miles north of Gaza, an American team has been excavating another member of the Philistine pentapolis, Ashkelon, […]
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