History of Gaza

Uncommon card · No. 170850

The known history of Gaza spans more than 5,000 years, and it has been ruled, destroyed and inhabited by various dynasties, empires, and peoples. Its position at the intersection of two ancient trade routes, the Via Maris and the Perfume route, meant that all manner of exotic and essential goods, as well as people, from all over the Old World passed through its port for more than three millennia. Gaza’s own people and products also moved through these trade networks. Originally an independent Canaanite cultural hub already renown in the 15th century BCE, Gaza first came under the control of the ancient Egyptians before re-emerging as an independent city kingdom, one of the pentapolis of Philistia. Gaza's king Hanunu was obliged to pay tribute to the Assyrian Empire beginning around 730 BC; however, the kingdom retained a degree of political and economic autonomy, even after being incorporated into the Achaemenid empire, and was among the first polities to mint its own coins in the Mediterranean...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Francis Frith, Public domain