here of manufactures of soap, and also of cotton for the supply of the neighbouring Bedawîn.' The position of Gaza on the route of the great caravans, which in all ages have passed between Egypt and Syria, is favourable to its commerce and prosperity; both as affording a means of constant communication with both countries, and also from the opportunity of furnishing supplies to the caravans in passing. Those travelling towards Egypt, naturally lay in here a stock of provisions and necessaries for the desert; while those coming from Egypt, arrive at Gaza exhausted, and must of course supply themselves anew. The inhabitants of Ma'ân likewise, on the East of Wady el-'Arabah, about the time of the passing of the Syrian Haj to and from Mecca, buy up provisions of all kinds at Gaza and Hebron, and sell them at a great profit to the pilgrims.2 The Bazars in Gaza seemed well supplied with wares; far better indeed than those of Jerusalem. Gaza is among the earliest of the Canaanitish cities mentioned in the Old Testament;3 and became afterwards celebrated as one of the five cities of the five lords of the Philistines. Joshua extended his conquests to Gaza, but did not vanquish this remarkable people; and although the tribe of Judah, to whose lot it fell, subdued the city, yet they appear to have held it but a short time; and the lords of the Philistines soon not only regained possession of their own territory, but also increased in strength, and at length extended their jurisdiction in turn over the Israelites. After forty years of oppression, Samson appeared as the champion and avenger of his people; and Gaza be 1) Voyage II. p. 313. 2) Burckhardt Travels in Syria, etc. p. 436. Volney II. pp. 314, 315.-The caravan route between Ma'ân and Gaza passes near Wady Mûsa, and strikes the fountain el- 4) Josh. x. 41. xi. 22. xiii. 3. xiii. 1. comes renowned as the scene of his later deeds and of his fall. Here too he drew down upon himself and the assembled multitude the temple of Dagon; so that "the dead which he slew at his death, were more than they which he slew in his life." After continual wars under the Judges and with Saul and David, the Philistines appear to have been subdued by the latter; and Gaza became the border of Solomon's kingdom on this side. Yet they gave trouble to the following Jewish kings; and Hezekiah at length smote them unto the borders of Gaza.3 The situation of Gaza on the great route of the military expeditions, which the monarchs of Egypt, and those of Syria and the East, afterwards undertook against the dominions of each other, necessarily exposed it to the calamities of war and to frequent change of masters. To the Egyptians, Gaza 'the strong,' was the key of Palestine and Syria; and no conqueror could well pass by, until this city had submitted to his power. Thus one of the Pharaohs (probably Necho) subdued it in the time of Jeremiah; and Cambyses during his expedition to Egypt is reported to have deposited here his treasures. Gaza opposed itself for five months to the progress of Alexander the Great; but was finally taken by storm, its brave defenders slaughtered at their posts, their wives and children sold as slaves, and the city repeopled with inhabitants drawn from the surrounding country. 1) Judg. c. xvi. 2) 1 Sam. c. iv-vi. xiv. 52. xxxi. 1, seq. 2 Sam. v. 17, seq. viii. 1. xxi. 15, seq. 1 Kings iv. 24. 3) 2 Chron. xxi. 16. xxvi. 6. xxviii. 18. 2 Kings xviii. 8. 11. 4) Jer. xlvii. 1. Pomp. Mela I. 5) Arrian Exp. Alex. II. 26, καὶ ἀπέθανον πάντες αὐτοῦ μαχό μενοι, ὡς ἕκαστοι ετάχθησαν· παῖ δας δὲ καὶ γυναῖκας ἐξηνδραπόδισεν αὐτῶν ̓Αλέξανδρος· τὴν πόλιν δὲ ξυνοικίσας ἐκ τῶν περιοίκων, ἐκρῆτο ὅσα φρούρια ἐς τὸν πόλεμον. Strabo indeed says that Gaza was destroyed by Alexander, and remained desolate; XVI. 2. 30, Erdosos πότε γενομένη, κατεσπασμένη δ ̓ ὑπὸ Αλεξάνδρου, καὶ μένουσα ἔρημον. But this is contradicted by the express language of Arrian; nor do 1 During the wars of the Maccabees, Gaza continued to be a place of strength; it was fortified by the Syrian Bacchides, its suburbs burned by Jonathan, and the city itself captured by Simon.1 Alexander Jannaeus at length destroyed Gaza about 96 B. C. after a siege of a year; but it was again rebuilt with other cities by the Roman general Gabinius.2 Augustus gave it to Herod; and after his death it was assigned to Syria.3 About A. D. 65, during the government of the procurator Gessius Florus, Gaza with other cities was again laid in ruins by the rebellious Jews. Yet this destruction was probably partial, and could have been but temporary; for there exist coins of Gaza struck in honour of Titus, Adrian, and the following emperors; which show at least that the city was still a place of importance, very soon after the destruction of Jerusalem.5 From these details it seems to follow, that the expression in the book of Acts, which might at first appear to imply that Gaza was then "desert," is more probably to be referred to the particular road from Jerusalem to Gaza, on which the evangelist was to find the ennuch, viz. the southern road leading from Eleutheropolis to Gaza through the "desert," or region without villages, as is the case at the present day.' A Christian church appears to have been early planted at Gaza; its bishop Silvanus is mentioned by Eusebius as a martyr under Diocletian about A. D. 285; and among the names of other bishops enumerated, not less than six are found in the subscriptions of councils, as late as to that of Jerusalem in A. D. 536. Yet the city still retained in a great degree its devotion to idolatry; and in the beginning of the fifth century, not less than eight public temples dedicated to the worship of the heathen gods, still existed there.2 Among these the most celebrated was a temple of Marnion, the Cretan Jupiter. By the influence of Eudoxia, wife of the emperor Arcadius, the bishop Porphyrius was invested with authority to demolish these temples; and was furnished with means to erect a Christian church, which was dedicated in A. D. 406 and named after the empress. This may probably have been the great church now converted into a mosk, which we visited.-Eusebius and Jerome speak of Gaza in their day as an important city. About the end of the sixth century, or the beginning of the seventh, Gaza was visited by Antoninus Martyr, who describes it as" splendid and delicious;" and its inhabitants as "noble, liberal, and friendly to strangers.5 Such was Christian Gaza. In A. D. 634 it fell into the hands of the generals of Abu Bekr, the first Muhammedan Khalif, after a decisive battle with the Roman armies; but the Khalif died before the tidings of the victory could reach him. From this time we hear little more of Gaza, except as the birth-place of 1) Eusebius Hist. Eccles. VIII. 13. de Martyrib. Palaest. c. 13. Le Quien Oriens Chr. III. p. 603, seq. Reland Pal. p. 795, seq. 2) Marc. Diaconi Vit. Porphyrii, in Acta Sanctor. Feb. Tom. III. p. 655. Reland Pal. p. 793. 3) Marc. Diacon. 1. c. p. 655, seq. Le Quien Oriens Chr. III. pp. 613, 614. Reland Pal. pp. 793, 794. Jerome also mentions the destruction of the temple of Marnion esh-Shâfi'y the founder of a Muhammedan sect,' until the time of the crusades. In A. D. 796 it was laid waste during a civil war among the Arab tribes.2 During the many wars between the Muhammedan rulers of Egypt and Syria, which preceded the crusades, Gaza appears to have suffered greatly, if indeed it had recovered from the former blow. The crusaders found it deserted, and its ruins spread out over the hill and the adjacent plain, like the city of the present day. Here in A. D. 1152 they erected a fortress, occupying a portion of the hill, in order to cut off the approach to Askelon from the South; the defence of this castle was intrusted to the Knights Templars.* The dwellings of the city became again inhabited; but in A. D. 1170 the place was sacked by the troops of Saladin, who however did not get possession of the citadel. Yet after the fatal battle of Hattîn in A. D. 1187, and the surrender of Askelon to Saladin, Gaza also passed into his hands. It appears also to have opened its gates to Richard for a short time; but it must soon have reverted to the Muhammedans. It is afterwards mentioned in the history of the crusades, only as the scene of two battles lost by the Franks in A. D. 1239 and 1244.8 According to Brocardus it was in his day commonly called Gazara, and it is also mentioned by this name as late as the close of the fifteenth century. At that 1) Abulfedae Tab. Syr. p. 77. D'Herbelot Biblioth. Orient. art. Gazzah. Reland Pal. p. 793. 2) See above, p. 39. 3) Will. Tyr. XVII. 12, "Gaza urbs antiquissima ab Ascalona decem distans miliaribus, diruta et habitatoribus carens . .. sita in colle aliquantulum edito, magnum satis et diffusum infra muros continens ambitum." Comp. also XX.21. 4) Will. Tyr. l. c. Wilken Gesch. der Kr. III. ii. p. 10. |