DUBAI: Steeped in more than 5,000 years of history, Gaza has long been an archaeological treasure, with workers on construction sites regularly discovering ancient gems.
Discoveries such as Saint Hilarion Monastery and Tel Umm el-Amr, arguably Gaza’s largest archaeological site, are perhaps not surprising given Gaza’s proximity to the holy sites of Christianity, Islam and Judaism, three of the world’s largest religions.
Gaza’s historical importance also comes from its location on ancient trade routes between Egypt and the Levant.
But with the past seven weeks of Israeli bombing, concern is growing about the future of the sites discovered and those yet to be discovered.
According to the Gaza-based Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs, more than 31 mosques have been destroyed and more than three churches severely damaged since fighting began following Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 raid in southern Israel.
“Human life is more important than artifacts,” Jean-Michel de Tarragon, archivist at the École Biblique de Jerusalem, a former history professor at the Sorbonne and an archaeologist who excavated in Gaza from 1995 to 2005.
The hiatus since 2005 is no coincidence. While the 1993 Oslo peace accords made archaeologists’ work easier, de Tarragon said Hamas’s success in the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections led his team to leave the enclave.
(Hamas fighters took control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 from Fatah officials in the Palestinian National Authority, leading to the de facto division of the occupied Palestinian territories into two entities).
De Tarragon said the current war, which has seen the coastline “heavily bombarded, appears to have completely destroyed the Greek Anthedon”.
Located on the Mediterranean coast northwest of Gaza, Anthedon was the region’s first seaport and was inhabited from 800 BC to 1100 AD, being home to a variety of cultures from the Babylonian to Early Period Islamic.
“Historically speaking, during the Late Antique period, Gaza was the seaport of the Nabataean trading network. It was the port of Petra, now Jordan, and also AlUla, Saudi Arabia, for ships heading to Rome and the Roman Empire,” he explained.
“As a secondary city in Gaza, Anthedon was very important. Another port, called Maioumas, existed to the south. But we didn’t dig into it. We discovered Anthedon, then a beach camp, on the northern edge.
Anthedon’s rich history is such that UNESCO has placed it on a tentative list of Palestinian sites to qualify as a World Heritage Site.
It is not, however, alone in facing an uncertain post-war fate, with Tarragon singling out a 5th-century Byzantine church, Mkheitim, as having been destroyed in the fighting, although he noted that the ground mosaic seems to have survived.
“Now no archaeological work is planned in Gaza, only restoration work,” he said.
The fragility of life in war-prone Gaza and the intensity of the latest conflict have made it impossible to determine how many archaeological sites have been destroyed and the extent of the damage suffered by those still standing.
As for what it will take to bring them back to life, that remains a question for the future. For now, the sites serve a very different purpose: shelter from war.
Among them is one of the oldest active churches in the Palestinian enclave: Saint Porphyry Church.
Hit on the night of October 20, it is believed to have sheltered at least 500 Christians and Muslims, and 16 of them were killed, according to Palestinian officials.
In a statement, the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem expressed “its strongest condemnation of the Israeli airstrike which hit its church in Gaza City.”
Witnesses told the AFP news agency that the strike damaged the facade of the church and caused an adjacent building to collapse.
“Targeting churches and their institutions, as well as the shelter they provide to protect innocent citizens, especially children and women who have lost their homes due to Israeli airstrikes on residential areas over the past 13 days, constitutes a war crime that cannot be ignored. » declared the Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
Speaking to Arab News, Gaza-born, Dubai-based artist Hazem Harb said: “Artifacts are just as important as humans because they were made by us. »
His work has long focused on incorporating major sites from his Palestinian homeland.
Echoing a line he posted on the social network Instagram regarding the war, Harb said: “As I work with archival photographs, all my work is meant to pose history from a different perspective.
“Much of this photography has been denied by history and the same thing is happening today with the destruction and legacy of these archaeological places.”
In a statement dated October 25, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) said: “ICOM expresses its deep concern at the current violence affecting Israeli and Palestinian civilians and deplores the significant humanitarian consequences that the conflict has had during of the last few weeks. ICOM extends its deepest condolences to those who have lost family, friends and communities to violence.
“ICOM remains firm in its commitment to the preservation of cultural heritage and recalls the imperative for all parties to respect international law and conventions, in particular the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in case of armed conflict and its two protocols.
It is well known that museums become places of smuggling and looting amid the destruction and violence of war.
In October, ICOM warned of the potential increase in looting and destruction of monuments and cultural objects, highlighting international legal obligations that aim to prevent the illicit import, export and transfer of cultural property, such as the 1970 UNESCO Convention and the 1995 Unidroit Convention.
Amid the violence and administrative collapse in Gaza, these obligations do not appear to have been met.
Gaza is home to around 12 museums containing around 12,000 artifacts. Many of these museums were subjected to bombing and bombardment during the ongoing war.
Museums reported to have been destroyed include the Al-Qarara Cultural Museum near Khan Younis.
It was founded in 2016 and showcased the archeology and history of the area, collected and preserved by its founders and members of the local community.
The museum, which was privately licensed by the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, was designed to inform the public about Palestinian cultural heritage and contained 3,500 archaeological and historical objects from Gaza, dating back to 4,000 BC.
Another badly damaged institution was the Akkad Museum, which featured a permanent archive of archaeological pieces discovered in Palestine. It was established in 1975 and worked for many years, according to its website, in secret “due to the presence of the Israeli occupation.”
The Akkad Museum includes approximately 2,800 artifacts from prehistory to modern times.
Another important site that suffered damage is the Pasha Palace Museum, which was built during the Mamluk era and became a museum in 2010.
Other crucial Gaza-based monuments include the St. Hilarion Monastery, which de Tarragon said, citing his sources, was not destroyed. The largest known Christian monument in the enclave is located in an area called Tel Umm Amer, in central Gaza.
It is named after Hilarion, the founder of Palestinian monasticism around 300 AD. There is also the Hammam Al-Sammara, or Samaritan Baths, located in the old Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City, a Turkish-style bath named after the Samaritan community, an ancient offshoot of Judaism. Hammam Al-Sammara dates back to 1320 AD.
De Tarragon emphasized that the archaeological community still does not know the fate of many of these structures and that only time will tell.
Past wars have already destroyed much of Gaza’s once-brilliant heritage. They are now remembered through the photographs, articles and works of art that keep their memory alive.
Even as the violence continues to claim more civilian lives and destroy remaining structures, Gaza’s contribution to world history, like the thousands of lives lost, must not be forgotten.
As Harb said: “I think there is no difference between human beings and our houses because our houses are not just stones. »
