Gaza

Gaza is one of the oldest cities in the world. The city is strategically situated between two continents, Asia and Africa. This geographical location made the city acquire a strategic and extraordinary military status. Consequently, the city had been a battle field for most of the ancient and recent empires, the Pharaonic, the Assyrian, the Persian, the Greek, the Roman, the Crusades, and during the First World War.

 

The Cana'nites established the original city and called it Gaza around the year 3000 BC. During the reign of the Pharaoh III, 1447-1501 BC., the Egyptians named the city Gazatwa which was related to the treasures said to be buried by Cambayses during the Persian rule. The city was described as the Kings Tunnel and the Gate between Africa and Asia by Napoleon Bonaparte.

 

Gaza has an important strategic location between the continents of Asia and Africa. This important location made Gaza a vital entrance to the most important trade and military route in the world. This route was known as "Via Mars - Sea Route" or "Horas Route". This route connects Palestine with Egypt on one side, and the Arabian Peninsula and Southeast Asia on the other; it also connects all of these areas with Europe through the Mediterranean.

For more information see Gaza on the Incense Road

 Bibliography

Gibson, Dan, The Nabataeans, Builders of Petra, CanBooks, Saskatchewan, Canada 2002

Gibson, Dan, The Nabataean Collection, CanBooks, Saskatchewan, Canada, 2003

Glueck, Nelson, Rivers in the Desert, A history of the Negev, The Norton Library, W. W. Norton & Company Inc, New York, 1959, 1968

Levy, Udi, The Lost Civilization of Petra, Bath Press Color Books, Glasgow, 1999