Gaza

A Palestinian site under modern Gaza; the southernmost city of the Philistine Pentapolis. Philistines, Egyptians, and 'Peoples of the Sea' occupied the site. The earliest evidence comes from two cemeteries, one to the north and one to the east of the main mound, with shaft graves containing pottery and daggers of the late 3rd millennium BC. On the tell itself, the earliest excavated remains are of the Middle Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC); earliest of all was a cemetery, underlying a large building interpreted by Flinders-Petrie as a palace of the Middle Bronze Age II period. This was succeeded by four other large buildings, of the later Bronze Age and early Iron Age. There are famous mosaics in the Synagogue from c 6th century AD and the Great Mosque, originally a cathedral of the 12th century AD.

Palestinian site underlying the modem town of Gaza. No excavations have taken place, but it is known to have had Philistine, Egyptian and ‘Peoples of the Sea’ occupation. The nearby cemetery of Deir el-Daleh has produced Egyptian material. Ten km south is the mound of Tell el-Ajjul, which was excavated by Flinders Petrie in the 1930s. The earliest evidence comes from two cemeteries, one to the north and one to the east of the main mound, with shaft graves containing pottery and daggers of the late 3rd millennium bc. On the tell itself the earliest excavated remains are of the Middle Bronze Age (2nd millennium bc); earliest of all was a cemetery, underlying a large building interpreted by Petrie as a palace of the Middle Bronze Age II period. This was succeeded by four other large buildings, of the later Bronze Age and early Iron Age. In the Middle Bronze Age the town was defended by a great ditch, of a type often associated with the Hyksos.