Workers struggle to protect antiquities
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Walid alAqqad’s Gaza home would be the envy of many an antiquities collector.
Pieces of Corinthian columns greet visitors in the backyard. Inside, hundreds of ancient pots and other artifacts hang on the walls or are arranged helterskelter on shelves.
They are remnants of five millennia of Gaza’s history, from the Bronze Age to the Islamic caliphates and on down to the years of Ottoman and British rule in the 20th century.
A sliver of land on the Mediterranean, Gaza was a major trade route between Egypt and the Levant going back to ancient times. But decades of uprisings, war and political turmoil have inflicted a heavy toll on its rich archaeological heritage, exposing it to looting and destruction.
The Islamic militant group Hamas seized Gaza in 2007 from forces loyal to the Westernbacked Palestinian Authority. In response, Egypt and Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza that has left the territory isolated and increasingly impoverished. The Palestinians say the closures have also hindered excavations and restricted experts’ access to new discoveries.
Hamas has done little to protect Gaza’s antiquities and in some cases actively destroys them. In 2017, Hamas authorities leveled large parts of Tel EsSakan, the remains of a 4,500yearold Bronze Age city, to make way for construction projects.
Ayman Hassouna, professor of history and archaeology at Gaza’s Islamic University, blames Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas equally for not protecting the territory’s cultural heritage. He says Israel confiscated artifacts from archaeological digs in the decades it occupied Gaza and did little to prevent antiquities trafficking. Palestinian authorities governing Gaza since 1995 have “attacked many archaeological sites — either intentionally or not,” he said.
He also blamed a lack of awareness among Gazans of the importance of preserving antiquities and leaving ancient sites undisturbed.
“When they find something, they would hide it or build over it,” he said.
Antiquities plundering and trafficking also remains a problem, said Heyam alBitar, an archaeologist with Gaza’s ministry of tourism and antiquities.
Restorers are struggling to save two of Gaza’s endangered heritage sites: a 5thcentury Byzantine Church in Jabaliya, discovered in 1996, and a 4thcentury monastery just south of Gaza City.