A Long Look at a Small Place GAZA a History
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GREAT SEA A LONG LOOK AT A SMALL PLACE GAZA A HISTORY oday, the Palestinian enclave of Gaza is known as its prime trade location also made it a perennial target a flashpoint for conflict that far eclipses its minus- for invaders. Cycles of conquest—from the Hyksos of T cule size. At 140 square miles—sharing an eight- Syria to the Philistines to King David to Alexander the mile frontier with Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and hugging Is- Great to Napoleon Bonaparte—have wracked Gaza’s rael’s border for nearly 32 miles—the sliver of desert is only much-trespassed borders for millennia, leaving up- twice the area of the District of Columbia. Yet modern Ga- heaval and devastation in their wake. In modern times, za’s reputation for turmoil is not new: Throughout its his- the region made up of 1.8 million inhabitants is at the tory, this Middle Eastern territory has rarely been at peace. heart of a drawn-out struggle with its neighbors. Known as “the outpost of Africa, the door to Asia,” Moment asked Matt Rees, former TIME Jerusalem bu- in ancient times, Gaza was a key port city and a hub reau chief and author of The Palestine Quartet series, to step of religious diversity, with Jews and Christians once back from the headlines about this historic city and illumi- ALL IMAGES: CREATIVE COMMONS ALL IMAGES: CREATIVE living in harmony under Muslim rule. Unfortunately, nate the deep roots of the ongoing turbulence. BEFORE THE COMMON ERA 3300 they capture Samson—a long-haired Jew 100 of supernatural strength: The Philistines A synagogue with “seized him and gouged out his eyes. They a mosaic of King brought him down to Gaza.” About to be David playing the sacrificed, Samson leans against a pillar of the lyre is built in Temple of Dagon, and the building crashes what is now the down killing his enemies. Rimal district of the city. (Egyptian 1000s-730 archaeologists King David brings Israelite rule to Gaza. who discover it in When the Israelite kingdom splits in 930, 1965 insist they’ve The first confirmed settlement of Gaza Gaza becomes part of the northern King- found the remains occurs at Tell as-Sakan, an Egyptian for- dom of Israel, which is conquered by the of a church and tress that was located a little south of to- Assyrians in 730. In the Bible, the prophet that the mosaic depicts Orpheus. After day’s Gaza City. Archaeologists believe that Amos reports God as saying: “I will send Israelis capture the area during the Six-Day the Egyptians located the outpost there to down fire upon the wall of Gaza” (Amos War, they find the face has been gouged out, protect their eastern frontier from invad- 1:7) to punish the Philistines for their and they transfer the mosaic to the Israel ers from the Levant. The Canaanites who transgressions. Around 600, the Philistines Museum.) In 96, Jewish king Alexander inhabit the land alternately submit to and vanish without a trace. Yannay storms Gaza and settles in the city. resist Egyptian rule. 529 63-66 1600 The Persians overrun Gaza after a long siege. In his writings, the fifth-century Greek historian Herodotus refers to Gaza as “Kadytis” and calls it “one of the greatest cities of all time.” 332-323 Gaza is conquered by the Roman general The Hyksos—“Asiatic hordes” from Pompey the Great and incorporated into Northern Syria—conquer Egypt and settle the Roman Empire, bringing an end to in Gaza, destroying whatever is in their Jewish rule. The Roman governor Aulus path, according to the Reverend Archibald Gabinius rebuilds Gaza, but in 66, Jewish Sayce in his 1895 book, Patriarchal Palestine. rebels take up arms against Rome. In The Hyksos rule Egypt—and Gaza—until The Jewish War, Roman historian Flavius they are driven out in the late 16th century. Josephus writes that they “entirely demolished Anthedon and Gaza; also 1300s many of the villages. Everyone [sic] Gaza gets its name from the of those cities were plundered, and an Amarna Tablets, which immense slaughter was made of the men were “letters” written in who were caught in them.” Babylonian cuneiform During his several-month siege of Gaza, that were sent to Egyp- Alexander the Great is wounded in the 34 tian Pharaoh Thutmose shoulder—by a missile, according to the III—who expanded his rule ancient historian Arrian. After Alexander’s into Asia Minor and Ethiopia. In the tab- victory against thousands of Persians and lets, Gaza is called Zzati, which becomes Arabs, the men of Gaza are slaughtered, Ghazza (pronounced razza) in Arabic. the women and children enslaved. Batis, the commander of the Gaza fortress, is 1100s treated with “horrible cruelty,” according The Philistines, who come from Crete and to Arrian. Gaza undergoes Hellenization. Asia Minor, take over Gaza and make it one Upon Alexander’s death in 323, Gaza is Mark Antony deeds Gaza to his lover, of their five most important cities. They call fought over by the Ptolemies (Greeks in Egyptian Queen Cleopatra, but the Roman it Philistia, from which the name Palestine Egypt) and Seleucids (Greeks in Syria). senate annuls the gift and hands Gaza over is derived. According to the Book of Judges, Ultimately the Ptolemies take control. to its Jerusalem vassal King Herod. THE COMMON ERA 130 father-in-law to Muhammad—because Mongols under Hulagu Khan—grand- The Roman Em- it’s the burial place of Prophet Muham- son of Genghis—overrun Gaza as well peror Hadrian in- mad’s great-grandfather Hashim ibn as Damascus and Aleppo. The Egyp- augurates wrestling, Abd Manaf. According to Muslim tradi- tian Mamluk general Baibars and his boxing and oratori- tion, his tomb is in the Sayid al-Hashim slave warriors drive the Mongols back cal competitions at Mosque in Daraj, a quarter of Gaza’s at the Battle of Ain Jalut. Gaza becomes a new stadium. One Old City. Many Jews and Christians re- the capital of a Mamluk province ex- of Gaza’s favored main despite the Muslim takeover. tending south from Rafah to Caesarea Greek deities is in the north, and east to the Hebron Tyche, the “blind 767 Hills and Samaria. In the eyes of Ara- mistress of fortune,” Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi’i is born in bic writer Dimashki, Gaza is “a city so whose capriciousness is used to explain the Gaza and goes on to found an important rich in trees that it looks like a cloth of cruel vicissitudes of fate. The Romans re- school of Sunni Islamic law. One of its dis- brocade spread out on the land.” The main in control until the empire is broken tinguishing principles is that jihad can be Mamluks rule until 1516. up in the 4th century, and the eastern part launched against “disbelievers” in addition comes under Byzantine rule. to those who are unjust to Muslims. 1481 Meshullam of Volterra, an Italian Jewish 401 1100 jeweler, travels through Gaza. Despite rumors that Syrians have “spread over the land,” he arrives safely at the city. “It is a good and worthy land, yielding fruits of the highest repute,” he writes. “The finest bread and wine can be had there. The latter is made only by Jews. The circumference of the city is four miles; but there is no wall. It is six miles Gaza returns to Christian rule when the from the sea, built partly on a hillside According to some accounts, Christi- Crusaders seize Gaza from the Fatimid and partly in a valley. The dwellers are anity takes root after Porphyry, one of caliphs, a dynasty said to be descended many, among them sixty Jewish and four Gaza’s first Christian bishops, promises from Muhammad’s daughter Fatima. Je- Samaritan families.” Byzantine Empress Eudoxia a son rusalem’s King Baldwin III erects a castle if she will suppress paganism in Gaza. to defend Gaza against Egyptian raids and 1483 When a son is born, Eudoxia pays for a installs the Knights Templar in it. Many church, and Christianity spreads. Jews and Muslims flee or are killed. 634 1260 Another traveler, the Swiss Dominican Felix Fabri, sees what locals call the ruins of the Temple of Dagon, which was destroyed by Samson, and the house Gaza is the first city in Palestine to be where the Philistine temptress Delilah captured by Muslims. It narrowly avoids seduced him. “There is a great palm- being destroyed by the army of Ca- grove around the city,” writes Fabri. liph Abu Bakr—a trusted advisor and “The houses are wretched and made of mud; but the mosques and baths are up kabbalah and fasting and sees “visions In 1882, the British begin their de costly... At night the sound of the waves of God all day long,” declares Gaza the true facto rule of Gaza, which flourishes. is audible.” holy city. When Zevi converts to Islam, Na- From 2,000 inhabitants in 1840, Ga- than flees to Italy, then Macedonia. za’s population increases to 40,000 1516 in 1906. In 1905, Gaza exports $1.5 1799 million worth of wheat, barley, corn, dates, sesame, leather and chicken through its port. In the same year, the value of imports reaches $750,000. There is also a Jewish school. 1838 American scholar Edward Robinson, known as the “Father of Biblical Ge- ography,” writes about the roads to Gaza rather than about the city itself, which is less important to him than other sites because its ancient buildings had mostly been destroyed by The Ottomans push the Mamluks out war.