JABALIYA, Palestinian Territories — While workers labored on a large construction site
in the
Gaza Strip, a security guard noticed a strange piece of stone sticking
out of the earth.
اضافة اعلان
“I thought it was a
tunnel,” said Ahmad, the young guard, referring to secret passages dug by
Hamas to help it battle Israel.
In the Gaza Strip,
which is repeatedly ravaged by Israeli war, people are more familiar with
burying the dead than digging up their heritage.
But what Ahmad found
in January was part of a Roman necropolis dating from about 2,000 years ago —
representative of the impoverished Palestinian territory’s rich, if
under-developed, archaeological treasures.
After the last
Israeli war on Gaza in May 2021 left a trail of damage in Gaza, Egypt began a
reconstruction initiative worth $500 million.
As part of that
project in Jabaliya, in the north of the coastal enclave, bulldozers were
digging up the sandy soil in order to build new concrete buildings when Ahmad
made his discovery.
“I notified the
Egyptian foremen, who immediately contacted local authorities and asked the
workers to stop,” said Ahmad, a Palestinian who preferred not to give his full
name.
With rumors on
social media of a big discovery, Gaza’s antiquities service called in the
French NGO
Premiere Urgence Internationale and the French Biblical and
Archaeological School of Jerusalem to evaluate the site’s importance and mark
off the area.
“The first
excavations permitted the identification of about 40 tombs dating from the
ancient Roman period between the first and second centuries AD,” said French
archaeologist Rene Elter, who led the team dispatched to Jabaliya.
“The necropolis is
larger than these 40 tombs and should have between 80 and 100,” he said.
One of the burial
sites found so far is decorated with multi-colored paintings representing
crowns and garlands of bay leaves, as well as jars for funereal drinks, the
archaeologist added.
‘Treasures’ of Gaza
Archaeology is a highly political subject in Israel and the Palestinian
territories, and discoveries are used to justify the territorial claims of each
people.
While Israel has
a number of
archaeologists reporting on an impressive number of ancient
treasures, the sector is largely neglected in Gaza.
Authorities
periodically announce discoveries in the territory, but tourism at
archaeological sites is limited.
Israel and
Egypt, which share a border with Gaza, tightly restrict the flow of people in
and out of the enclave since 2007.
“However, there
is no difference between what you can find in Gaza and on the other side of the
barrier” in Israel, Elter said. “It’s the same great history.”
“In Gaza, a lot
of sites have disappeared because of conflict and construction, but the
territory is an immense archaeological site which needs many teams of experts,”
he added.
Stakes and
fences have been erected around the Roman necropolis, which is watched over
constantly by guards as new buildings go up nearby.
“We are trying
to fight antiquities trafficking,” said Jamal Abu Rida, director of the local
archaeological service tasked with protecting the necropolis and which hopes to
find investors for further excavation.
Gaza has endured
four wars, waged by Israel, just in the last 15 years.
“The image of
Gaza is often associated with violence, but its history is bursting with
archaeological treasures that need to be protected for future generations,”
said Jihad Abu Hassan, director of the local Premiere Urgence mission.
Demographics add
to the pressure.
Gaza is a tiny,
overcrowded strip of land whose population in 15 years has ballooned from 1.4
million to 2.3 million. As a result, building construction has accelerated.
“Some people
avoid telling authorities if there is an archaeological discovery on a
construction site out of fear of not being compensated” for the resulting work
stoppage, Abu Hassan said.
“We lose
archaeological sites every day,” which shows the need for a strategy to defend
the enclave’s heritage, including training local archaeologists, he said.
Over the last few
years, his organization has helped to educate 84 archaeological technicians.
Doing so also offers employment prospects, in an impoverished territory where
youth joblessness exceeds 60 percent.
Still hunting
stones
One rare success is the preservation of the Byzantine monastery of
Saint Hilarion.
It opened
several years ago to the public and includes an atrium, baths, and multiple
churches, standing as a testament to an era when Gaza was a crossroads for
Mediterranean pilgrims.
“We receive
around 14,000 visitors a year, including school students,” said Fadel Al-Otol,
41, a Palestinian archaeologist whose early passion for ancient ruins was
formalized with training in France.
As a child
during the first Palestinian intifida, or uprising, Otol said he hunted stones
to hurl at Israeli soldiers.
“Today I look
for stones to prove to the military that we have a great history,” he said.
Wandering around
the Saint Hilarion site, Otol pondered his dream: “That we excavate all the
archaeological sites of Gaza and that they be accessible to the public to show
our history and culture to the entire world.”
If nothing is done, he
said, “the sites would disappear forever.”
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