Nadene Goldfoot
In Nabatean times, the very ancient days, Gaza was a place noted for its black pottery. It had become noted as a trading center passing from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea.
It's mentioned in Egyptian documents of the 15th to 13th centuries BCE as a base for Egyptian expeditions to the North.
In the 12th century BCE it was captured by the Philistines and was the most important of their 5 coastal cities. It is where their temple of Dagon was built. Dagon was a Semitic god whose cult was adopted by the Philistines when they entered Canaan.
Dagon was an important god in the Ugaritic pantheon of gods. He was the god of the soil and plant-growth and widely worshiped in the Middle Eastern countries. "While Dagan is recorded as the father of the west Semitic deity Ba'al at Ugarit, Ba'al is also known as the son of El, and some scholars, therefore, have suggested a syncretism of Dagan and El l" The prominence of Dagan on the eastern Mediterranean of the first millennium BCE comes mainly from the Hebrew Bible and the Second Temple literature, which associate Dagan (Heb. Dāgōn) with the temples of the Philistinesl." In some traditions the spouse of Dagan was Šalaša, in others Išhara.
Moses led the Exodus back to Canaan which had become a land of farming after the 400 years of being away. The Israelites were originally shepherds-then turned into builders in Egypt.
From Moses and Joshua, it was allotted to the tribe of JUDAH. It remained in Philistine hands and was where SAMSON was imprisoned and died.
By 720 BCE, Gaza was annexed by Sargon of ASSYRIA and in 521 BCE, by Cambyses of Persia.
Alexander the Great recolonized it as a hellenistic city in 332BCE, but after his death, it was argued over by the Egyptian Ptolemies and the Syrian Selencids until annexed by Antiochus III of Syria in 198 BCE. It was independent in 110 BCE only to be captured by Alexander Yannai in 96 BCE, but declared a free city again by Pompey in 61 BCE.
David (1010-970 BCE) , as a teenager, slew Goliath with a slingshot. Goliath was a giant of a man and a Philistine soldier. David had outwitted him. Of course Goliath had been over-confident that nobody could ever beat him. David continued fighting Philistines. It was Israel's 1st king, Saul, who had to fight them constantly till he died in battle against them. David later was able to break the Philistine military power and annexed the entire coastal belt for Israel.
"Jews finally conquered it in the era c160 BCE onward, and continued to live there. Notable residents include Dunash Ibn Labrat, and Nathan of Gaza, advisor to false messiah .(1626-1676)"
A Jewish population lived there throughout the Middle Ages from 476 CE to 1492, as well as a Samaritan community until its capture by Napoleon in 1799. Gaza was a center of Sabbetaism in the 17th century, so over 2,000 years Jews had lived in Gaza. It's Jewish people left in 1917, at the end of World War I. The few returning left again during the 1929 Arab riots, led by Haj Amin al-Husseini. It became the main city in the GAZA STRIP. By 1949, the population was 30,000 being the place for refugees.
Gaza was captured in November 1956 by Israel forces who stayed there until March 1957, for 4 months. It passed under Israel rule during the Six-Day War in June 1967. A census taken later that year showed that the population had grown to 119,000.
THE GAZA STRIP includes the town of Gaza. It runs along the coast for 22 miles and is about 8 miles wide. It is the result of the Egyptian advance into the Negav in May 1948 and the Israel offensives from October to December of 1948 which drove them out of the whole area with the exception of the Gaza Strip. It continued to be under Egyptian control as of the Armistice Agreement of 1939. By 1955 it was under political tension and by November 1956 was captured by Israel during the Sinai Operation but Israel returned it in March 1957 with Egyptians taking control with a UN Emergency Force along the border with Israel.
In May 1967, U Thant, the UN secretary general gave in to the demand by Nasser of Egypt to withdraw the UN force which led to the Six Day War. when the Gaza Strip again passed under Israel control. It has been the place of constant unrest. In 1967, the census found 352,260 people living in there of whom 172,520 were refugees. By comparison, the population of Portland, Oregon in 2016 was 639,863 twice that of the Gaza Strip. Salem, Oregon's population in 2016 was 167,419, near that of the refugees.
Therefore, the Gaza Strip was occupied by Egypt from 1949 until 1967. Israel's army captured the strip only during the Six Day War in 1967. "Gaza is within the boundaries of Shevet Yehuda in Biblical Israel (see , , and ) and therefore some have argued that there is a requirement to live in this land. The earliest settlement of the area is by and (Abraham and son Isaac) , both of whom lived in the Gerar area of Gaza. In the fourth century Gaza was the primary Jewish port of Israel for international trade and commerce. Israel left Gaza, lock, stock and barrel, in the name of the trade-off for peace. Instead they've been rained on by Palestinian rockets, mortars, missiles and now fire. This was not what you would call a good deal or even a fair deal. This was a rotten deal.
Resource The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
http://www.jewishmag.com/176mag/jewish_gaza/jewish_gaza.htm
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/history-of-jewish-settlements-in-gaza
https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagon
http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/dagan/index.html
https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/fertility-cults-of-canaan
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| Dagon |
Dagon was an important god in the Ugaritic pantheon of gods. He was the god of the soil and plant-growth and widely worshiped in the Middle Eastern countries. "While Dagan is recorded as the father of the west Semitic deity Ba'al at Ugarit, Ba'al is also known as the son of El, and some scholars, therefore, have suggested a syncretism of Dagan and El l" The prominence of Dagan on the eastern Mediterranean of the first millennium BCE comes mainly from the Hebrew Bible and the Second Temple literature, which associate Dagan (Heb. Dāgōn) with the temples of the Philistinesl." In some traditions the spouse of Dagan was Šalaša, in others Išhara.
Moses led the Exodus back to Canaan which had become a land of farming after the 400 years of being away. The Israelites were originally shepherds-then turned into builders in Egypt.
The earliest deity recognized by the peoples of the ancient Near East was the creator god El. His mistress, the fertility goddess Asherah, gave birth to many gods, including a powerful god named Baal ("Lord"). There appears to have been only one Baal, who was manifested in lesser Baals at different places and times. Over the years, Baal became the dominant deity, and the worship of El faded.
"Baal won his dominance by defeating the other deities, including the god of the sea, the god of storms (also of rain, thunder, and lightning), and the god of death. Baal's victory over death was thought to be repeated each year when he returned from the land of death (underworld), bringing rain to renew the earth's fertility. Hebrew culture viewed the sea as evil and destructive, so Baal?s promise to prevent storms and control the sea, as well as his ability to produce abundant harvests, made him attractive to the Israelites. It's hard to know why Yahweh's people failed to see that he alone had power over these things. Possibly, their desert origins led them to question God's sovereignty over fertile land. Or maybe it was simply the sinful pagan practices that attracted them to Baal.
Baal is portrayed as a man with the head and horns of a bull, an image similar to that in biblical accounts. His right hand (sometimes both hands) is raised, and he holds a lightning bolt, signifying both destruction and fertility. Baal has also been portrayed seated on a throne, possibly as the king or lord of the gods." This pantheon is almost an exact copy of the Greek and Roman religions.
The temptation of Baal was a constant problem for the leaders of the Israelites. There was no room for anything but one G-d; THE G-D. So while they had to fight Philistines and other groups, they had this cult to fight against as well. It wasn't all that easy keeping the Israelites kosher in following their new unseen G-d.  |
| The Temple of Dagon was destroyed by Samson |
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| Philistines |
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| Sargon of Assyria |
Alexander the Great recolonized it as a hellenistic city in 332BCE, but after his death, it was argued over by the Egyptian Ptolemies and the Syrian Selencids until annexed by Antiochus III of Syria in 198 BCE. It was independent in 110 BCE only to be captured by Alexander Yannai in 96 BCE, but declared a free city again by Pompey in 61 BCE.
David (1010-970 BCE) , as a teenager, slew Goliath with a slingshot. Goliath was a giant of a man and a Philistine soldier. David had outwitted him. Of course Goliath had been over-confident that nobody could ever beat him. David continued fighting Philistines. It was Israel's 1st king, Saul, who had to fight them constantly till he died in battle against them. David later was able to break the Philistine military power and annexed the entire coastal belt for Israel.
"Jews finally conquered it in the era c160 BCE onward, and continued to live there. Notable residents include Dunash Ibn Labrat, and Nathan of Gaza, advisor to false messiah .(1626-1676)"
A Jewish population lived there throughout the Middle Ages from 476 CE to 1492, as well as a Samaritan community until its capture by Napoleon in 1799. Gaza was a center of Sabbetaism in the 17th century, so over 2,000 years Jews had lived in Gaza. It's Jewish people left in 1917, at the end of World War I. The few returning left again during the 1929 Arab riots, led by Haj Amin al-Husseini. It became the main city in the GAZA STRIP. By 1949, the population was 30,000 being the place for refugees.
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| Gaza before the war |
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| UN forces guarding Gaza on border 1957 |
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| Gaza along the seacoast |
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| City of Gaza |
Therefore, the Gaza Strip was occupied by Egypt from 1949 until 1967. Israel's army captured the strip only during the Six Day War in 1967. "Gaza is within the boundaries of Shevet Yehuda in Biblical Israel (see , , and ) and therefore some have argued that there is a requirement to live in this land. The earliest settlement of the area is by and (Abraham and son Isaac) , both of whom lived in the Gerar area of Gaza. In the fourth century Gaza was the primary Jewish port of Israel for international trade and commerce. Israel left Gaza, lock, stock and barrel, in the name of the trade-off for peace. Instead they've been rained on by Palestinian rockets, mortars, missiles and now fire. This was not what you would call a good deal or even a fair deal. This was a rotten deal.
Resource The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
http://www.jewishmag.com/176mag/jewish_gaza/jewish_gaza.htm
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/history-of-jewish-settlements-in-gaza
https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagon
http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/dagan/index.html
https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/fertility-cults-of-canaan
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