Gaza City, often simply called Gaza, is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, and the capital of the Gaza Governorate. Located on the Mediterranean coast, southwest of Jerusalem, it was home to Palestine's only port. With a population of 590,481 people as of 2017, Gaza City was the most populous city in Palestine until the Gaza war caused most of the population to be displaced.
Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC, Gaza City has been dominated by different peoples and empires throughout its history. The Philistines made it a part of their pentapolis after the ancient Egyptians had ruled it for nearly 350 years. Under the Roman Empire, Gaza City experienced relative peace and its Mediterranean port flourished. In 635 AD, it became the first city in the Palestine region to be conquered by the Rashidun army and quickly developed into a centre of Islamic law. However, by the time the Crusader states were established in 1099, Gaza City was in ruins. In later centuries, Gaza City experienced several hardships—from Mongol raids to severe flooding and locust swarms, reducing it to a village by the 16th century, when it was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire. During the first half of Ottoman rule, the Ridwan dynasty controlled Gaza City and the city went through an age of great commerce and peace. The municipality of Gaza City was established in 1893.
Gaza City fell to British forces during World War I, becoming a part of Mandatory Palestine from 1922. As a result of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Egypt administered the newly-formed Gaza Strip territory and several improvements were undertaken in the city. Its population rose sharply after the influx of Palestinian refugees displaced by the war and the ensuing Nakba. Gaza City was occupied by Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967, and in 1993, the city was transferred to the newly created Palestinian National Authority. In the months following the 2006 election, an armed conflict broke out between the Palestinian political factions of Fatah and Hamas, resulting in the latter taking power in Gaza. The Gaza Strip was then subject to an Israeli-led, Egyptian-supported blockade. Israel eased the blockade allowing consumer goods in June 2010, and Egypt reopened the Rafah Border Crossing in 2011 to pedestrians.Gaza Benefiting From Israel Easing Economic BlockadeGaza Border Opening Brings Little Relief The city has been largely destroyed by Israeli airstrikes since the Gaza war began in October 2023, including a large amount of significant cultural heritage in the Old City of Gaza.
The primary economic activities of Gaza City are small-scale industries and agriculture. However, the blockade and recurring conflicts have put the economy under severe pressure. The majority of Gaza City's Palestinian inhabitants are Muslim, although there is also a Christian minority. Gaza City has a very young population, with roughly 75% under the age of 25. As of , many residents have fled or been evacuated to the Southern Gaza Strip, or killed as a result of Israel's actions in the north. Therefore, previous recorded or estimated population numbers have become outdated.
Etymology The name Gaza first appears in the military records of Thutmose III of New Kingdom of Egypt in the 15th century BC, and was mentioned in the Amarna correspondence as and other variant spellings. In Neo-Assyrian sources, reflecting the late Philistine period, it was known as Ḫāzat.Seymour Gitin, 'Philistines in the Book of Kings,' in André Lemaire, Baruch Halpern, Matthew Joel Adams (eds.)The Books of Kings: Sources, Composition, Historiography and Reception, BRILL, 2010 pp.301–363, for the Neo-Assyrian sources p.312: The four city-states of the late Philistine period (Iron Age II) are Amqarrūna (Ekron), Asdūdu (Ashdod), Hāzat (Gaza), and Isqalūna (Ascalon), with the former fifth capital, Gath, having been abandoned at this late phase. It is clear that the name originates from none of these languages, however.
Based on the city's Hebrew name, , a common folk etymology insists the name stems from the Semitic root ʿayin-zayin-zayin, from which words related to strength and fierceness are derived, but this is unlikely. The in the root corresponds to a Proto-Semitic *ʿ () sound (compare Hebrew with Arabic , both meaning "to be strong, powerful, mighty"), while it is clear from city's name in Arabic (, ), Koine Greek (, ), and Egyptian () that the name of Gaza was likely originally pronounced with an initial *ḡ (~) sound, and thus cannot have been from the same root as .
Historically, Muslims often referred to the city as Ḡazzat Hāšim in honor of Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, the great-grandfather of Muhammad who, according to Islamic tradition, is buried in the city.Shahin, 2005, p. 414.
History
Gaza's history of habitation dates back 5,000 years, making it one of the oldest cities in the world.Dumper et al., 2007, p. 155. Located on the Mediterranean coastal route between North Africa and the Levant, for most of its history it served as a key entrepôt of southern Palestine and an important stopover on the spice trade route traversing the Red Sea.
Settlement in the region of Gaza dates back to the ancient Egyptian fortress built in Canaanite territory at Tell es-Sakan, to the south of present-day Gaza. The site was inhabited until about 3000 BC. In about 2600 BC, the settlement was re-founded and this time inhabited by the Canaanites. Tell es-Sakan was abandoned again about 2300 BC.de Miroschedji & Sadeq 2008 Another urban center known as Tell el-Ajjul began to grow along the Wadi Ghazza riverbed. During the reign of Thutmose III (r. 1479–1425 BC), the city became a stop on the King's Highway, a crucial trade route of the Levant, and was mentioned in the 14th-century Amarna letters as Azzatu. Gaza later served as Egypt's administrative capital in Canaan.Michael G. Hasel (1998) Domination and Resistance: Egyptian Military Activity in the Southern Levant, Ca. 1300–1185 B.C. BRILL, p 258 Gaza remained under Egyptian control for 350 years until it was conquered by the Philistines in the 12th century BC. In the 12th century BC Gaza became part of the Philistine "pentapolis". Gaza achieved relative independence and prosperity under the Persian Empire.
Hellenistic period
Alexander the Great besieged Gaza, the last city to resist his conquest on his path to Egypt, for five months before capturing it 332 BC; the inhabitants were either killed or taken captive. Alexander brought in people from neighbouring localities to populate Gaza and organized the city into a polis (or "city-state").
Under the Seleucid Empire, Seleucus I Nicator or one of his successors renamed Gaza as Seleucia to control the surrounding area against the Ptolemies. Greek culture consequently took root and Gaza earned a reputation as a flourishing center of Hellenistic learning and philosophy.Ring and Salkin, 1994, p.287. During the Third War of the Diadochi, Ptolemy I Soter defeated Demetrius I Poliorcetes in the Battle of Gaza in 312 BC. In 277 BC, following Ptolemy II's successful campaign against the Nabataeans, the Ptolemaic fortress of Gaza took control of the spice trade with Gerrha and South Arabia.
Gaza experienced another siege in 96 BC by the Hasmonean king Alexander Jannaeus, who "utterly overthrew" the city, killing 500 senators who had fled into the temple of Apollo.Patai, 1999, p. 149.
Roman period
Josephus notes that Gaza was resettled under the rule of Antipater, who cultivated friendly relations with Gazans, Ascalonites and neighboring cities after being appointed governor of Idumaea by Jannaeus.Shatzman, 1991, p. 79.
Rebuilt after it was incorporated into the Roman Empire in 63 BC under the command of Pompey Magnus, Gaza then became a part of the Roman province of Judaea. It was targeted by Jewish forces during their rebellion against Roman rule in 66 and was partially destroyed.Patai, 1999, p. 142. It nevertheless remained an important city, even more so after the destruction of Jerusalem during the First Jewish–Roman War.Dowling, 1913, p. 33 Following this, and again at the end of the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–136 CE), captives were sold into slavery in Gaza.
Throughout the Roman period, Gaza was a prosperous city and received grants and attention from several emperors. A 500-member senate governed Gaza, and a diverse variety of Greeks, Romans, Phoenicians, Jews, Egyptians, Persians, and Bedouin populated the city. Gaza's mint issued coins adorned with the busts of gods and emperors. During his visit in 130 AD, Emperor Hadrian personally inaugurated wrestling, boxing, and oratorical competitions in Gaza's new stadium. The city was adorned with many pagan temples; the main cult being that of Marnas. Other temples were dedicated to Zeus, Helios, Aphrodite, Apollo, Athena and the local Tyche. Christianity began to spread throughout Gaza in 250 AD, including in the port of Maiuma.Jennifer Lee Hevelone-Harper (1997) Disciples of the Desert: Monks, Laity, and Spiritual Authority in Sixth-century Gaza (JHU Press) pp 11- 12Hagith Sivan (2008) Palestine in late antiquity Oxford University Press, p 337Andrea Sterk (2004) Renouncing the World Yet Leading the Church: The Monk-bishop in Late Antiquity Harvard University Press, p 207Gerald Butt (1995) Life at the crossroads: a history of Gaza Rimal Publications, p 70 First evidence of a Bishop of Gaza is from early 4th century, when St. Sylvan served in that capacity."Gaza" from the Catholic Encyclopedia
Byzantine period Following the division of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century, Gaza remained under the control of the Eastern Roman Empire, which in turn became the Byzantine Empire. The city prospered and was an important center for southern Palestine.Kaegi, W. Byzantium and the early Islamic conquests, p. 95 A Christian bishopric was established at Gaza. Conversion to Christianity in Gaza was accelerated under Porphyry of Gaza between 396 and 420. In 402, Theodosius II ordered all eight of the city's pagan temples destroyed, and four years later Empress Aelia Eudocia commissioned the construction of a church atop the ruins of the Temple of Marnas.Pringle, 1993, p. 208 It was during this era that the Christian philosopher Aeneas of Gaza called Gaza, his hometown, "the Athens of Asia."J.S. Tunison: "Dramatic Traditions of the Dark Ages", Burt Franklin, New York, p.11 The large Gaza synagogue existed in the 6th century, according to excavations.
Early Islamic period
In Gaza was captured by Arab Muslim forces under Amr ibn al-As, in the years following the Battle of Ajnadayn between the Byzantine Empire and the Rashidun Caliphate in central Palestine.Kennedy, 2007, p. 88. It was captured by Amr's forces about three years later. Believed to be the site where Muhammad's great-grandfather Hashim ibn Abd Manaf was buried, Gaza was not destroyed and its inhabitants were not attacked by Amr's army despite the city's stiff and lengthy resistance, though its Byzantine garrison was massacred.Filiu, 2014, pp. 18–19.
The arrival of the Muslim Arabs brought significant changes to Gaza; at first, some of its churches were transformed into mosques, including the present Great Mosque of Gaza (the oldest in the city). It was later rebuilt by Sultan Baybars, who endowed it with a huge manuscript library containing over 20,000 manuscripts in the 13th century. A large segment of the population swiftly adopted Islam,Filiu, 2014, pp. 23.Ring and Salkin, 1994, p. 289. and Arabic became the official language. In 767 Muhammad ibn Idris ash-Shafi'i was born in Gaza and lived his early childhood there; he founded the Shafi'i school, one of the four major schools of fiqh (law) in Sunni Islam.Gil, 1992, p.292.