Gaza in the Ancient World
Gaza, located at the southwestern edge of ancient Philistia and Judaea, played a significant role in regional trade and cultural exchange due to its strategic position along the coastal road connecting Egypt to Syria and Mesopotamia. The city experienced various periods of control, initially coming under Israelite rule around the early 11th century BCE under King David. After a period of limited autonomy under Persian influence, Gaza faced conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE, who later repopulated it and introduced a Greek constitution. The city's significance continued through subsequent rule by the Ptolemies and Seleucids, thriving as a hub for trade, particularly in wine and spices.
In the Roman era, Gaza gained prominence as a free city and a center of Hellenistic culture, particularly during the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. The city was known for its vibrant intellectual life, including a renowned school of rhetoric and philosophy, and its diverse religious practices featured temples dedicated to both local deities and Greco-Roman gods. Throughout its history, Gaza encountered resistance to Christianity, with local pagan traditions persisting until the 5th century when efforts were made to convert the populace. In sum, ancient Gaza was a melting pot of cultures, religions, and economic activity, reflecting the complex historical narrative of the region.
Subject Terms
Gaza in the Ancient World
A city at the southwestern extremity of Philistia and Judaea (now the center of an Arab strip administered by Israel); occupying a key position three miles from the Mediterranean on the vital coastal road (Ways of Horus, Way of the Sea) leading from Egypt to Syria and Mesopotamia
After enjoying limited independence under Persian rule, Gaza was stormed after a long siege by Alexander the Great (332 BC), who first partially destroyed the place but then ordered its repopulation, probably endowing it with a Greek constitution, one of the first to be introduced around the fringes of Judaea. In 312 Gaza was the scene of a victory of Ptolemy I Soter over Demetrius the Besieger (Poliorcetes), but after 200 it passed into Seleucid hands, as its new name Seleucia showed. Besides trading in the popular wine of the region, and serving as a large-scale slave market, the city's port, Maiumas, was used by the Nabataean Arab kingdom as a harbor for the export of spices, brought by land caravans from Arabia. For a time the city was in the hands of the Nabataeans; but then it was captured by the Jewish (Hasmonaean) ruler Jonathan and devastated by Alexander I Jannaeus (96).
When Pompey the Great, however, overran Judaea, he declared Gaza a free city—whereupon it introduced a new era (61)—and another Roman general, Aulus Gabinius (57–55), founded a new town on an adjacent site. It was granted to Herod the Great in 37, and he gained control of it again after its temporary loss to Cleopatra VII of Egypt (c 35–30); the governor of his southern territories described his province as `Idumaea and Gaza.’ After the death of Herod's son Archelaus (AD 6), Gaza became a free city, issuing coinage for the occasion. The city prospered during the Roman Principate, especially in the second and third centuries AD, acquiring the status of a Roman colony and a new civic era (128), as well as a famous school of rhetoric and philosophy, and a reputation as a flourishing center of Hellenic culture. Following the Second Jewish Revolt (132–35), the rebel prisoners of war were sold in thousands at Gaza, where `Hadrian's market’ was spoken of for centuries.
Its principal temple was dedicated to Marna (`Lord,’ the Baal of Gaza), but there were also shrines of the principal Greco-Roman divinities. Remains of synagogues in both the city and its port have come to light. Although reputedly included in a missionary journey undertaken by St. Peter himself, the Gazans stubbornly stood against Christianity—the temple of Marna being considered a leading stronghold of paganism—so that Constantine chose to show favor to their port Maiumas instead, granting it independence under the name of Constantia. There was an episcopal see at Gaza, but for generations the rival cries `Marna’ and `Jesus’ were heard, until in 402 Bishop Porphyrius, as we learn from his life by Marcus the Deacon, was ordered by the eastern emperor Arcadius to destroy Marna's shrine. Nevertheless, the renown of Gaza's Greek learning continued to increase, although it still possessed many inhabitants who did not know the language.