Ancient period
Statue of Zeus unearthed in
Gaza
A city which would become present-day
Gaza began to develop on the site of Tell
al-Ajjul. This city served as Egypt's
administrative capital in Canaan, and was
the residence of the Egyptian governor of
the region. A caravan point of strategic
importance from the earliest times, it was
constantly involved in the wars between
Egypt and Syria and the Mesopotamian
powers, and appeared frequently in
Egyptian and Assyrian records. Under
Tuthmosis III, it is mentioned on the
Syrian-Egyptian caravan route and in the
Amarna letters as "Azzati". Gaza was in
Egyptian hands for 350 years, until it was
settled by the Philistines, a seafaring
people with cultural links to the Aegean,
in the 12th century BCE. It then became a
part of the pentapolis; a league of the
Philistines' five most important city-
states.[2]
The Hebrew Bible mentions the Avvites
occupying an area that extended as far as
Gaza, and that these people were
dispossessed by the Caphtorites from the
island of Caphtor (modern Crete).[3] Some
scholars speculate that the Philistines
were descendants of the Caphtorites.
Gaza is also mentioned in the Hebrew
Bible as the place where Samson was
imprisoned and met his death.[4] The
prophets Amos and Zephaniah are
believed to have prophesied that Gaza
would be deserted.[5][6][7] According to
biblical accounts, Gaza fell to Israelite rule,
from the reign of King David in the early
11th century BCE.[2] When the United
Monarchy split in about 930 BCE, Gaza
became a part of the northern Kingdom
of Israel.[citation needed] When the
Kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians
under Tiglath-Pileser III and Sargon II
around 730 BCE, Gaza came under
Assyrian rule.[2] In the 7th century, it
again came under Egyptian control, but
during the Persian period (6th-4th
centuries BCE) it enjoyed a certain
independence and flourished.[2] In 529
BCE, Cambyses I unsuccessfully attacked
Gaza and later, around 520 BCE, the
Greeks established a trading post in Gaza.
The first coins were minted on the Athens
model around 380 BCE.[8]
Alexander the Great besieged Gaza—the
last city to resist his conquest on his path
to Egypt—for five months, finally
capturing it in 332 BCE.[2] Led by a
eunuch named Batis and defended by
Arab mercenaries, Gaza withstood the
siege for two months, until it was
overcome by storm. The defenders, mostly
local elements, fought to the death and
the women and children were taken as
captives. The city was resettled by
neighboring Bedouins,[9] who were
sympathetic to Alexander's rule. He then
organized the city into a polis or "city-
state" and Greek culture took root in Gaza
which gained a reputation as a
flourishing center of Hellenic learning and
philosophy.[10][11] Belonging at first to
the Ptolemaic kingdom, it passed after
200 BCE to the Seleucids.[2]
In the 1st century BCE and the first half of
that century, it was the Mediterranean
port of the Nabateans, whose caravans
arrived there from Petra or from Elath on
the Red Sea. In 96 BCE, the Hasmonean
king Alexander Jannaeus besieged the city
for a year. The inhabitants, who had
hoped for help from the Nabatean king
Aretas II, were killed and their city
destroyed by Jannaeus when Aretas did
not come to their aid.[2][12]
Classical antiquity
Roman rule
Gaza was rebuilt by consul Aulus Gabinius
after it was incorporated into the Roman
Empire in 63 BCE, under the command of
Pompey Magnus.[2] Roman rule brought
six centuries of relative peace and
prosperity to the city—which became a
busy port and locus of trade between the
Middle East and Africa.[10]
In the Acts of the Apostles, Gaza is
mentioned as being on the desert route
from Jerusalem to Ethiopia. The Christian
gospel was explained to an Ethiopian
eunuch along this road by Philip the
Evangelist, and he was baptised in some
nearby water.[13]
Gaza was granted to Herod the Great by
Roman emperor Augustus in 30 BCE,
where it formed a separate unit within
his kingdom; and Cosgabar, the governor
of Idumea, was in charge of the city's
affairs. On the division of Herod's
kingdom, it was placed under the
proconsul of Syria.[2] After Herod's death
in 4 BCE, Augustus annexed it to the
Province of Syria. In 66 CE, Gaza was
burned down by Jews during their
rebellion against the Romans. However, it
remained an important city; even more so
after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus
the following year.[14] Titus passed
through Gaza on his march toward to
Jerusalem, and again in his return. The
establishment of the Roman province of
Arabia Petraea restored trade links with
Petra and Aila.[15]
Throughout the Roman period, Gaza was
a prosperous city and received grants and
attention from several emperors.[2] A
500-member senate governed Gaza, and a
diverse variety of Philistines, Greeks,
Romans, Canaanites, Phoenicians, Jews,
Egyptians, Persians and Bedouin
populated the city. Gaza's mint stamped
out coins adorned with the busts of gods
and emperors.[11] During his visit in 130
CE,[8] Emperor Hadrian, who favored
Gaza,[15] personally inaugurated
wrestling, boxing and oratorical
competitions in Gaza's new stadium,
which soon became known from
Alexandria to Damascus. The city was
adorned with many pagan temples—the
main cult being that of Marnas. Other
temples were dedicated to Zeus, Helios,
Aphrodite, Apollo, Athena and the local
deity Tyche.[2]
The spread of Christianity in Gaza was
initiated by Philip the Arab around 250 CE;
first in the port of Maiuma, but later into
the city. The religion faced obstacles as it
spread through the inland population
because pagan worship was strong. In
299, an unverified number of local
Christians who assembled in Gaza to hear
the Scriptures read were seized and
mutilated by the Romans.[16] Also, its
Christians were harshly repressed during
the Diocletianic Persecution in 303. The
first bishop of Gaza was Philemon,
believed to have been one of the 72
disciples, but the first cleric was Saint
Silvanus who, during the persecution by
Maximinianus in 310, was arrested along
with about 30 other Christians, and
condemned to death.[2]
Byzantine rule and advent of Christianity
On the breakup of the Roman Empire,
Gaza became part of the Byzantine Empire
as part of the Palaestina Prima province.
The official recognition of Christianity by
Constantine I did not increase sympathy
of the religion in Gaza. Although Gaza was
represented by Bishop Asclepas in the
First Council of Nicaea in 325, the vast
majority of its inhabitants continued to
worship the native gods.[16] As the
Roman Empire was crumbling at this time,
Gaza remained unaffected.[10] At this
time, the inhabitants of Maiuma
reportedly converted to Christianity en
masse. Constantine II decided to separate
it from pagan Gaza in 331, giving Maiuma
its own episcopal see.[16] Julian reversed
the process during his reign in the latter
half of the 4th century. Although Maiuma
had its own bishop, clergy, and diocesan
territory, it shared its magistrates and
administration with Gaza.[17] Upon
Julian's death, Maiuma's independence
was restored and the rivalry between it
and Gaza intensified.[16]
During most of the 4th century, the
Christian community was small, poor, and
carried no influence in the city. The
church was insignificant and its members
were not allowed to hold political
office.[18] However, conversion to
Christianity in Gaza was spearheaded
under Saint Porphyrius between 396 and
420.[2] In 402, after obtaining a decree
from the emperor, he ordered all eight of
the city's Pagan temples destroyed and
non-Christian worship was forbidden by
the Byzantine government, replacing
persecution of the Christians with
persecution of pagans in the late Roman
Empire . Paganism continued despite
persecution, and according to the
traditional Christian history, Christians
were still persecuted in the city, resulting
in St. Porphyrius to undertake more
measures.[19] As a result of his
persuasion, Empress Aelia Eudocia
commissioned the construction of a
church atop the ruins of the Temple of
Marnas in 406.[20] Note, that according to
MacMullen it is likely that Porphyrius did
not even exist.[21] The alleged
persecution against Christians, according
to traditional Christian history, did not
cease, but it was less harsh and frequent
than previously.[19] A large 6th century
synagogue with a mosaic tile floor
depicting King David was discovered in
Gaza. An inscription states that the floor
was donated in 508–509 CE by two
merchant brothers.[22] Around 540, Gaza
became the starting point for pilgrimages
to the Sinai Peninsula. It was an important
city in the early Christian world and many
famous scholars taught at its academy of
rhetoric, including 6th-century scholar
Procopius of Gaza.[2] The celebrated
Church of Saint Sergius was built in this
century.[20]
Depicted in the mosaic Map of Madaba of
600, Gaza was the most important
political and commercial center on the
southern coast of Palestine.[23] Its
northern municipal border was marked
by Wadi al-Hesi, just before Ashkelon, and
its southern boundary is unknown, but
Gaza's jurisdiction did not reach Raphia.
The towns of Bethelea, Asalea, Gerarit and
Kissufim were included in Gaza's
territories.[24] Its large representation,
approximately half of which is preserved,
cannot be easily explained, mainly
because only small tentative excavations
have been made there and because
Byzantine Gaza is covered by the still
inhabited Old City.[23]
Arab caliphates
Rashidun rule
There were already converts to Islam
among the city's Greek-speaking Christian
population before Gaza's capitulation to
the Muslims. At the near end of the
Byzantine era, Gaza had become the home
of an increasingly influential group of
Arab traders from Mecca, including Umar
ibn al-Khattab, who later became the
second ruler of the Islamic Caliphate.
Muhammad visited the city more than
once before being a prophet of Islam.[11]
In 634, Gaza was besieged by the
Rashidun army under general 'Amr ibn
al-'As, with assistance from Khalid ibn al-
Walid, following the Battle of Ajnadayn
between the Byzantine Empire and the
Rashidun Caliphate in central
Palestine.[10][25] The Muslims' victory at
Ajnadayn gave them control over much of
Palestine's countryside, but not the major
cities with garrisons such as Gaza. With
Umar succeeding Abu Bakr as caliph
(head of the Caliphate), the Rashidun
forces began to make stronger efforts at
conquering Byzantine territory.[26]
During the three-year siege of Gaza, the
city's Jewish community fought alongside
the Byzantine garrison.[27] In the
summer of 637, Amr's forces broke the
siege and captured Gaza, killing its
Byzantine garrison, but not attacking its
inhabitants.[28] Amr's victory is attributed
to a combination of Arab strategy,
Byzantine weakness, and the influence of
Gaza's Arab residents.[11] Believed to be
the site where Muhammad's great
grandfather Hashim ibn Abd Manaf—who
also lived as a merchant in Gaza—was
buried, the city was not destroyed by the
victorious Arab army.[29]
The arrival of the Muslim Arabs brought
drastic changes to Gaza; its churches
were transformed into mosques,
including the Cathedral of John the Baptist
(previously the Temple of Marnas) which
became the Great Mosque of Gaza.[29]
Gaza's population adopted Islam as their
religion relatively quick in contrast with
the city's countryside.[28] Eventually,[29]
[30] Arabic became the official
language.[29] The Christian population
was reduced to an insignificant minority
and the Samaritan residents deposited
their property with their high priest and
fled the city east upon the Muslim
conquest.[31] Gaza was placed under the
administration of Jund Filastin ("District of
Palestine") of Bilad al-Sham province
during Rashidun rule, and continued to
be a part of the district under the
successive caliphates of the Umayyads
and Abbasids.[32]