Saving Gaza's Archaeological Treasures

 

The mosaic floor of a Byzantine church in Gaza, on display at the
Arab World Institute in Paris. © Julien De Rosa, AFP

Archaeological treasures across Gaza have been damaged and destroyed in the war that is once more raging in the Palestinian territory.

Some that escaped the devastation went on show at the Arab World Institute on Thursday, April 3, shedding light on the extraordinary heritage of a land that has been for centuries a crossroads of civilisations. 

Lined up in a vast exhibition hall on the banks of the River Seine, a dozen terracotta amphoras tell a little-known history of the Gaza Strip, one of prosperous trade, refined craftsmanship and intercultural exchange. 

The ancient jars, some ominously shaped like artillery shells, were once used to carry wine from Gaza to far-flung destinations across the Mediterranean world and as far as England. 

Spanning nine centuries under Persian, Greek and Roman rule, they bear witness to Gaza’s historic role as a hub that connected trade routes from Egypt to the Levant and beyond. 

“One struggles to imagine the extraordinary wealth of exchanges that took place in Gaza over thousands of years, knowing that the territory is now completely sealed off,” says Béatrice Blandin, curator of archaeology at the Museum of Art and History (MAH) in Geneva.

For the past 17 years, Blandin and her colleagues in Geneva have helped preserve the amphoras – and hundreds of other precious artefacts – in a secure warehouse, far from the wars that have ravaged the Palestinian territory. 

A selection of 87 of those works goes on display at the Institut du Monde Arabe (Arab World Institute, or IMA) in Paris on Thursday, giving viewers a rare chance to sample Gaza’s rich and diverse heritage, much of which has been bombed into rubble.

French-Palestinian teams work at the Anthedon/Blakhiya excavation site in
northern Gaza. © Jean-Baptiste Humbert, courtesy of Institut du Monde Arabe

- Author: Benjamin DODMAN, France24