Local archaeologists dedicate their lives to protect priceless artefacts from smugglers, Hamas and Israeli attacks in a land at history’s crossroads
which means “strong” in Semitic languages; other accounts believe it derives from the Persian wordIt’s true that you almost can’t move for ancient treasures in the tiny blockaded strip. Fishers, farmers and construction workers regularly uncover elements of Gaza’s 5,000-year-old past in the course of a day’s work.
“No one here has formal training. I’m basically the best we’ve got. There’s a small department attached to the architecture school at the Islamic University, but that’s it,” said Fadel al-Atul, Gaza’s foremost archaeologist. Gaza, a port city linking the Mediterranean with the trade caravans that traversed the Sinai and Negev deserts, has always been a liminal place at the crossroads of civilisations and cultures. Land, particularly space for building, is at a premium, but there are many more archaeological discoveries waiting to be found.
The main obstacles Gaza’s archaeologists face are lack of funding and the blockade, which hampers travel and attempts to import specialist tools, but Bitar and Atul’s work is also made much harder by amateur excavations carried out by would-be antiquities smugglers. Coins and medals are particular favourites for smugglers, since their size makes them easier to transport. They can prove extremely valuable. A spectacular 294AD gold medallion featuring the Roman emperor Diocletian on one side and the god Jupiter on the other wasto an anonymous bidder for $2.3m – the highest price ever for an Imperial Roman coin.
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