Gaza - Clickable Map of the Roman Empire - First Century AD

Gaza
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Ancient Gaza (Modern el-Ghazzeh) In Biblical times Gaza was one of the five Philistine cities and located at the southwestern portion of Israel. According to the Bible in the Book of Judges, the Israelite hero Samson was imprisoned by the Philistines and met his death in Gaza.

Gen. 10:19 - And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.

Deut. 2:23 - And the Avims which dwelt in Hazerim, [even] unto Azzah, the Caphtorims, which came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead.)

Josh. 11:22 - There was none of the Anakims left in the land of the children of Israel: only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, there remained.

Josh. 13:3 - From Sihor, which [is] before Egypt, even unto the borders of Ekron northward, [which] is counted to the Canaanite: five lords of the Philistines; the Gazathites, and the Ashdothites, the Eshkalonites, the Gittites, and the Ekronites; also the Avites:

Josh. 15:47 - Ashdod with her towns and her villages, Gaza with her towns and her villages, unto the river of Egypt, and the great sea, and the border [thereof]:

Judg. 1:18 - Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof.

Judg. 16:21 - But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house.

1 Sam. 6:17 - And these [are] the golden emerods which the Philistines returned [for] a trespass offering unto the LORD; for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Askelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;

1 Kgs. 4:24 - For he had dominion over all [the region] on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him.

2 Kgs. 18:8 - He smote the Philistines, [even] unto Gaza, and the borders thereof, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.

Jer. 47:1 - The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.

Gaza After being ruled by the Israelites, Assyrians, and then the Egyptians, Gaza achieved relative independence and prosperity under the Persian Empire. Alexander the Great besieged Gaza, the last city to resist his conquest on his path to Egypt, for five months before finally capturing it 332 BCE;[10] the inhabitants were either killed or taken captive. Alexander brought in local Bedouins to populate Gaza and organized the city into a polis (or "city-state"). Greek culture consequently took root and Gaza earned a reputation as a flourishing center of Hellenic learning and philosophy.[12] Gaza experienced another siege in 96 BCE by the Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus who "utterly overthrew" the city, killing 500 senators who had fled into the temple of Apollo for safety.[13] Josephus notes that Gaza was resettled under the rule of Antipas, who cultivated friendly relations with Gazans, Ascalonites and neighboring Arabs after being appointed governor of Idumea by Jannaeus.[14] Rebuilt after it was incorporated into the Roman Empire in 63 BCE under the command of Pompey Magnus, Gaza was temporarily ruled by Herod the Great before becoming a part of the Roman province of Syria.[10] It was targeted by the Jews during their rebellion against Roman rule in 66 and was partially destroyed.[15] It nevertheless remained an important city, even more so after the destruction of Jerusalem.[16]

Throughout the Roman period, Gaza was a prosperous city and received grants and attention from several emperors.[10] 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 issued coins adorned with the busts of gods and emperors.[17] During his visit in 130 CE,[18] Emperor Hadrian personally inaugurated wrestling, boxing, and oratorical competitions in Gaza's new stadium, which 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, Athene and the local Tyche.[10] Christianity began to spread throughout Gaza in 250 CE, last in the port of Maiuma.[19][20][21][22] Conversion to Christianity in Gaza was accelerated under Saint Porphyrius between 396 and 420. In 402, he ordered all eight of the city's pagan temples destroyed,[10] and four years later Empress Aelia Eudocia commissioned the construction of a church atop the ruins of the Temple of Marnas. - Wikipedia

Gaza (Γάζα). One of the five Philistine principalities, situated towards the southern extremity of Canaan, about sixteen miles south of Ascalon, and a small distance from the Mediterranean. Its port was called Gazaeorum Portus. As the name of the city of Gaza appears in the first book of Moses (x. 18), Mela must of course be mistaken, who says it is of Persian origin, and states that Cambyses made this place his chief magazine in the expedition against Egypt (Mela, i. 11). It was, however, an important and strongly-fortified place, as being situated so near the borders of that country. Alexander took and pillaged it, after it had made a powerful resistance for the space of three months (Arrian, ii. 27; Quintus Curtius, iv. 6). Antiochus the Great sacked it, and it was several times taken from the Syrians by the Maccabees (Iosephus, Ant. Iud. xiii. 21). It was afterwards subjected to new losses, so that St. Luke states (Acts, viii. 26) that it was, in his time, a desert place. The town was subsequently called Constantia. It is now termed by the Arabs, Ghuzzeh. The ancient name in Hebrew signifies �strong.� - Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. New York. Harper and Brothers.
 

Gaza GAZA
GAZA (Γάζα: Eth. Γαζαῖος), a very ancient and important city of Palestine Proper, first mentioned in the southern border of the Canaanites (Gens. x.: 19), but originally inhabited by the Avims, who were dispossessed by the Caphtorims. (Deut. ii.: 23.) It as included in the tribe of Judah (Josh. 15.47), but remained in possession of the Philistines (1 Sam. 6.17), whose capital it apparently was (Judges, 16.21). Josephus says that it was taken by Hezekiah. (Ant. 9.13.3.) It is celebrated in secular, as in sacred history. Arrian, in his Expedition of Alexander (2.27), describes it as a large city, distant 20 stadia from the sea, situated on a lofty mound, and fortified by a strong wall. It was well provisioned, and garrisoned by a force of Arab mercenaries under the command of an eunuch named Batis (or, according to Josephus, Babemeses), and its high walls baffled the engineers of Alexander (B.C. 332), who declared themselves unable to invent engines powerful enough to batter such massive walls. Mounds were raised on the south side of the town, which was most assailable, and the engines were erected on this artificial foundation. They were fired by the besieged, in a spirited sally, and the rout of the Macedonians was checked by the king in person, who was severely wounded in the shoulder during the skirmish. During his slow recovery the engines that had been used at Tyre were sent for, and the mound was proceeded with until it reached the height of 250 feet, and the width of a quarter of a mile. The besiegers were thrice repulsed from the wall; and when a breach had been effected, in the third assault, and the city carried by escalade, its brave garrison still fought with desperate resolution, until they were all killed. The women and children were reduced to slavery. The siege had apparently occupied three or four months; and the conqueror introduced a new population into the place from the neighboring towns, and used it as a fortress. (Arrian, 2.27, followed by Bp. Thirlwall, Greece, vol. vi. pp. 354--357.) If this be true, the statement of Strabo, that it was destroyed by Alexander, and remained desert, must be taken with some qualification (p. 759). Indeed, the figure which it makes in the intermediate period discredits the assertion of Strabo in its literal sense. Only twenty years after its capture by Alexander, a great battle was fought in its neighbourhood, between Ptolemy and Demetrius, wherein the latter was defeated, with the loss of 5000 slain and 8000 prisoners. �Gaza, where he had left his baggage, while it opened its gates to his cavalry on his retreat, fell into the hands of the pursuing enemy.� (Thirlwall, vol. vii. p. 340.) Again, in the wars between Ptolemy Philopator and Antiochus the Great (B.C. 217), it was used as a dep�t of military stores by the Egyptian king (Plb. 5.68); and when the tide of fortune turned, it retained its fidelity to its old masters, and was destroyed by Antiochus (B.C. 198). And it is mentioned, to the credit of its inhabitants, by Polybius, that, although they in no way excelled in courage the other inhabitants of Coelosyria, yet they far surpassed them in liberality and fidelity and invincible hardihood, which had shown itself in two former instances, viz., in first resisting the Persian invaders, [1.981] and then in maintaining their allegiance to the Persians against Alexander (16.40). It was evidently a strong place in the time of the Asmonean princes, for it stood a siege from Jonathan (1 Maccab. 11.61, 62; J. AJ 13.5.5); and having taken by Simon, not without resistance, he cast out its idolatrous inhabitants, peopled it with Jews, �made. it stronger than it was before, and built at therein a dwelling-place for himself� (13.43--48). Only a little later, Alexander Jannaeus besieged it in vain for twelve months, when it was betrayed into his hands. Its importance at this period is attested by its senate of 500, whom the conqueror slew and utterly overthrew their city. (Josoph. Ant. 13.13.3.) It did not long continue in ruins, for it was one. of the many cities rebuilt by the command of Gabinins (14.5.3). It was given to Herod the Great by Augustus (B. J. 1.20.3), but not included in the dominions of his son Archelaus, as being a Grecian city (2.6.3). These notices sufficiently expose the error of Strabo's statement above cited; nor does there seem to be any authority for the theory of the transference of the site, by which it has been attempted to reconcile his statement with these historical notices. It is true that Strabo places the city 7 stadia from the harbour (p. 759); whereas Arrian (l.c.) states it to be 20 stadia at the most; but this discrepancy concerning the site of a town of which neither of them could have any very accurate knowledge, cannot justify the conclusion that the ancient city had been deserted, and another city of the same name erected in its vicinity. Another and a decisive argument against this theory is, that while the modern city occupies an eminence corresponding with that described by Aprian, and is covered with ancient ruins, no vestiges have been discovered in the neighbourhood which could mark the site of an earlier city. A succession of coins, struck at Gaza, some few prior to the emperors, but many more from Hadrian downwards, attest the importance of the city subsequently to the Christian aera, and present some peculiarities worthy of observation. The cypher, or characteristic sign of the city, impressed on almost all the coins, has been variously explained, but by no one satisfactorily: but all that is intelligible clearly attests it to have been a pagan city, in accordance with the historical notices above cited The city itself is represented by a woman's head; and the Greek deities, Zeus, Artemis, Apollo, Hercules, which figure in the coins, with the absence of the local deity, Astarte, by far the most common in the coins of other maritime cities of Syria, prove the city to have been, as Josephus asserts (B. J. 7.13.4), a Grecian city, probably a colony, which may account for its inveterate adhesion to the exploded superstition in the reign of Constantine (Sozoman, H. E. 5.3). The h legends of the various coins serve no less to elucidate the history of the city. The earliest (probably A. U. C. 693) proves the city to have been autonomous; and as history bears witness to its senate (βολή) of 500, so does this coin to its ΔΗΜΟΞ. ΙΕΠ. ΑΞΓ. further prove it to have enjoyed the privileges of a sacred city and an asylum. The, name ΕΙΩ serves to connect this city with the mythic Io; and the name ΜΕΙΝΩ applied to an armed warrior with a sceptre in his hand, connects it also with the Cretan hero Minos, and suggests the idea that it may have been colonised from that island; and this idea is confirmed by another inscription, MAPNA, the signification of. which is famished by early Christian writers, who tell us that the most magnificent temple in Gaza (afterwards converted into a Christian church) was dedicated to Mama, and thence called Marnion. This Mama, they add been was identical with the Cretan Jove. (Eckhel, vol. iii. pp. 448--454.) Many of the Jewish captives taken by Hadrian (A.D. 119) were sold at a fair instituted Gaza, which was called, from this fact, the fair of Hadrian for many centuries after. (Chrosn. Paschale in ann). The town is frequently noticed in Christian and Moslem annals. It early became an episcopal see, and the names of its bishops are found in many councils. (Le Quien, Oriens Christ., vol. iii. pp. 603--622). It was a frontier town of great importance in the middle ages; and the historical notices have been collected by Quatrem�re (Les Suttans Mamlouks de Mackrisi, tom. 1.54.2. pp. 228--239).

The modern town, still called by its ancient name, �Azzah, signifying �the strong,� �is situated on a low round hill of considerable extent, not elevated more than 50 or 60 feet above the plain around. This hill may be regarded as the nucleus of the city, although only the southern half is now covered with houses. But the greater part of the modern city has sprung up on the plain below: a sort of suburbs stretching far out on the eastern and northern sides. The ancient city lay obviously chiefly on the hill. The present town has no gates; yet the places of the former ones remain, and are pointed out around the hill.� (Robinson, Bib. Res. vol. ii. pp. 374, 375.) �It contains, with the two villages or suburbs adjoining, about 10,000 inhabitants. It is situated a short league from the coast, which is here an open beach, and the landing difficult excepting in very calm weather. It is surrounded by gardens, which produce fruit in abundance.� (Alderson, Notes on Acre, p. 7, note 6.)

The port of Gaza was called �Majuma Gazae;� the Arabic word �Majuma,� signifying portus or navcale, being applied alike to Ascalon, Jamnia Azotus, and Gaza. (Le Quien, Oriens Christ. vol. iii. p. 622.) It was situated, according to Strabo, only seven stadia from the city (l.c.). Arrian, in agreement with Sozomen, makes the interva 20 stadia. (Sozomen, H. E. 2.5, p. 450, ed. Vales.) All that we know of it we learn from the last-mentioned historian. Having been formerly strongly addicted to pagan superstition, it was converted to the faith of Christ in the reign of Constantine, who consequently honoured it with special privileges, and erected it into an independent civitas, and called it Constantia, exempting it from its subjection to Gaza whose inhabitants still retained their attachment to the pagan superstition. (Sozomen, l.c.) Under the emperor Julian the people of Gaza reasserted their supremacy, and the emperor decided in favour of their claim. Its new name was withdrawn. and it was comprehended again within the name and municipal jurisdiction of Gaza.

The ecclesiastical position of Gaza still continued distinct, with a bishop and usages of its own; and when an attempt was made by a bishop of Gaza in the fifth century to unite the two churches, the provincial synod confirmed it in its former independence of that see. (Sozomen, H. E. 5.3, p. 597). Several of its bishops are mentioned in the ecclesiastical annals. (Le Quien, Oriens Christ. l.c.)  - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, William Smith, LLD, Ed.