GAZA
Israel.
An important city on the coast
of Palestine from earliest times. It was a halt on the Via
Mans, the main highway connecting Egypt with Syria,
Mesopotamia, and Asia Minor. In the earlier periods of
its existence, Egypt and the N empires fought for control
of it and it was only in the Persian period that the city
enjoyed limited independence. After a siege of five
months Gaza was taken by Alexander the Great (Arr.
Anab. 2.26ff) and for more than a century Gaza was
under Ptolemaic rule. After 200 B.C. it was conquered
by the Seleucids.
Shortly after the conquest of Gaza by Alexander the
Nabateans apparently began using its port as their main
emporium for the export of spices and aromatics, brought
by land caravans from Arabia. In 96 B.C. Alexander Jannaeus attacked Gaza (
Joseph. AJ 13.357) and the city
was taken by the Hasmonaean monarch (
Joseph. AJ
13.360-64). As a result of this conquest the Nabateans
had to abandon their system of caravan halts in the
Negev for almost a century. After the conquest of Palestine by Pompey in 64 B.C., Gaza regained independence
and was subsequently rebuilt by Gabinius (
Joseph. AJ
13.75-76). Herod the Great acquired Gaza early in his
reign (
Joseph. AJ 15.217;
BJ 1.196). It was then that it
was detached from Judea, and formed a special district
under Cosbaras, the governor of Idumaea (
Joseph. AJ
15.254). After Herod's death Gaza was placed under the
charge of the proconsul of Syria.
During the Roman period Gaza was prosperous, and
the Roman emperors conferred many favors on it, helping to build temples and other public buildings. The chief
temple of the city was dedicated to Marnas. There also
were temples of Zeus Helios, Aphrodite, Apollo, Athena,
and of the local Tyche. The pagan temples were destroyed after the Christianization of the inhabitants of
Gaza by bishop Porphyrios (A.D. 396-420). In this period
a famous school of rhetoricians flourished there, and one
of the most famous of its scholars was Procopius, the
historian of emperor Justinian. During the Byzantine
period there was a large Jewish community, and remains
of its synagogues are still to be seen embedded in the
walls of modern mosques. Remains of a mosaic pavement of another synagogue were recently discovered
close to the Mediterranean coast, where lay the port
Maiumas Gaza. On this mosaic is depicted King David
playing the lyre. There have been no systematic archaeological investigations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
F. M. Abel,
Géographie de la Palestine
II (1938); G. Downey,
Gaza in the Early Sixth Century
(1963); M. Avi-Yonah,
The Holy Land from the Persian
to the Arab Conquests (536 B.C. to A.D. 640).
A Geographical History (1966).
A. NEGEV
