CHAPTER II

SUMMARY OF CHIEF EVENTS RELATING TO GAZA[10] FROM 1503 B.C. to A.D. 1913

_Section_ I (1503 B.C. to 30 B.C.)[11]

1503-1449 B.C.--Eighteenth Dynasty. In the twenty-second year of his reign, 1481 B.C. (according to Sayce), Thothmes III made his first determined attempt to subdue Canaan. Gaza was occupied with much difficulty. The fortress of the Prince of Gaza is mentioned in the great expedition of Thothmes III.

_c._ 1444 B.C.--Eighteenth Dynasty. Amen-hetep II, successor of Thothmes III, has hieroglyphic inscriptions in Gaza, which have been lately discovered. They show that a temple had been built by this Egyptian king to the goddess An Mut.

_c._ 1366 B.C.--Nineteenth Dynasty. Seti Mer-en Ptah I, the father of Rameses II, drove the Beduins before him from the frontiers of Egypt to those of Canaan, and established a line of fortresses and walls along "the way of the Philistines," which ran by the way of the shore to Gaza (Sayce).

1348-1281 B.C.--Nineteenth Dynasty. Rameses II, User-Maāt-Ra (the Great), continued to hold Gaza till at least 1292, or later.

_c._ 1225 B.C.--Twentieth Dynasty. Rameses III, Hik-An, captured Gaza, but it does not seem to have remained long in the possession of the Egyptians (Sayce).

734-732 B.C.--Tiglath-pileser III, the founder of the second Assyrian Empire, plundered Gaza, and made it subject to Assyria. It soon revolted against its new masters, relying, no doubt, upon help from Egypt, but in vain.

_c._ 720 B.C.--Hanno, King of Gaza, called to his aid So (Shabaka), King of Egypt (2 Kings xvii. 4), against the Assyrian general Sargon, and commenced that gigantic struggle between Asia and Egypt, of which Gaza was the centre. Sargon chastised the rebels. In 715 B.C. Rabshakeh (the title of the officer sent by Sennacherib) reproached Hezekiah: "Thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, upon Egypt; whereupon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: So is Pharaoh King of Egypt unto all that trust on him" (2 Kings xviii. 21).

701 B.C.--Gaza remained subject to Sennacherib, the Assyrian king. Sennacherib died in 681 B.C. Tirhakah, the last king but one of the twenty-fifth (Ethiopian) dynasty, began to reign in 691 B.C. (2 Kings xix. 9).

674 B.C.--Esar-haddon, son of Sennacherib, one of the greatest Assyrian kings, retained Gaza (2 Kings xix. 37).

662 B.C.--One of Asshûr-bani-pal, King of Assyria's expeditions enveloped the east coast of the Mediterranean, including Gaza, which rendered him submission.

609 B.C.--Pharaoh Necho II took Gaza by force after the fall of the Empire of the Sargonides (Jeremiah xlvii. 1).

The Hellenistic population after this period became more numerous.

"The eight days' march across the sands from the Delta requires that, if an army came up that way into Syria, Gaza, being their first relief from the desert, should be in friendly hands. Hence the continual efforts of Egypt to hold the town."--_G. A. Smith._

624-596 B.C.--After some three generations of the dominion of Babylonia, Egypt once more spread its power. The sturdy Psamtek I (Psammetichus, "the lion's son") had, from 624-596, held the south of Palestine, including Gaza.

529 B.C.--Cambyses (Ahasuerus) King of Persians and Medes, after the fall of Babylon, set out for the conquest of Egypt. Gaza alone dared to resist him, and was not subdued till after a very long siege. There seems, however, to be considerable doubt as to Cambyses, the son of Cyrus. Xerxes is certainly the Ahasuerus of Ezra iv. 6, and of the Book of Esther.

332 B.C.--"Gaza was strong enough to resist for two months a siege of Alexander the Great, during which he was wounded. It was ultimately taken by storm, but not entirely destroyed. Bates, the Persian, who defended the city against Alexander, employed Arab mercenaries."--_G. A. Smith._

All the maritime towns, save Tyre and Gaza, appear to have welcomed Alexander the Great and accepted his policy.

Gaza, next to Tyre, was the most important fortress in the Philistinian-Phœnician coast. Plutarch (_c._ A.D. 66), telling the story of its siege by Alexander, calls it "the biggest city of Syria."

After this siege, Gaza became more and more a Greek centre. New colonists settled within the city, which ceased to be a Philistine centre. Josephus expressly designated it a πόλις Ἑλληνίς.

315 B.C.--Gaza was conquered by Antigonus, King of Asia, having been wrested from Ptolemy I, Soter, of Egypt (323-285), who had seized Philistia and garrisoned Gaza in 320 B.C.

312 B.C.--The city fell again into the hands of Ptolemy I, in consequence of his victory over Demetrius, the son of Antigonus.

In the same year, however, he renounced the possession of Cœle-Syria, and on his retreat had the most important fortresses, Gaza among them, demolished.

240 B.C.--The sovereignty over these districts changed several times during the decades next following, till at length they were for a longer period in the possession of the Ptolemies.

218-217 B.C.--Gaza, like the rest of Syria, was temporarily in the possession of Antiochus III (the Great). He is mentioned in 1 Macc. viii. 6-8. Becoming engaged in a quarrel with Egypt, he made four successive expeditions from Antioch to that country, in each case passing down the coast of Syria, inflicting misery on its inhabitants.

198 B.C.--Cœle-Syria came permanently under the dominion of the Seleucidæ, through the victory of Antiochus the Great at Panias. Gaza was conquered after a difficult siege.

The sway of the Seleucidæ is evidenced by a silver coin of Demetrius I, Soter, 162-150 B.C., minted at Gaza.

161-143 B.C.--During the leadership and high-priesthood of Jonathan "the wary" (who sided with Antiochus VI, son of Alexander Balas, against the faithlessness of Demetrius I), he lost no time in bringing the entire territory between Gaza and Damascus into subjection, with the assistance of Jewish and Syrian troops. Jonathan's history is one of constant intrigue, and his successes were due to craft and duplicity, rather than to valour and wisdom.

Gaza only yielded after Jonathan had recourse to forcible measures. He compelled the citizens to give hostages, and took them with him to Jerusalem.

Gaza at this time had a Council of 500 members.

141 B.C.--Gaza, the last of the Philistine towns not conquered by the Jews, was taken by Simon III, Ethnarch and High Priest. He is described in 1 Maccabees ii. 65, as "A man of counsel." A beautiful picture of him is to be found in 1 Maccabees xiv. 4-16.

96 B.C.--Gaza fell into the hands of King Alexander Jannæus, the third son of Hyrcanus, high priest, and a prince of the Maccabean line. He took the city after a year's siege, though at last only through treachery. He gave the inhabitants up to the sword, and entirely demolished the city.

"It was not till 96 B.C. that Jews actually crossed her walls, but in that year the pent-up hatred of centuries burst in devastation upon her."--_G. A. Smith._

65 B.C.--When Pompey the Great conquered Syria, Gaza obtained her freedom. He arranged that the Roman general, A. Gabinius, Governor of Syria, should divide Judæa into five parts. Gabinius rebuilt Gaza 57 B.C. which was once more securely inhabited, and allowed it to resume its ancient prosperity under the power of Rome.[12] The newly built "maritime" and free city began a "new era" from the time of Pompey. According to some few authorities the ancient city was then forsaken, and the new town built somewhat farther southwards, possibly close to its harbour.

30 B.C.--Augustus, when in Egypt, handed Gaza over to King Herod I, of Philistine origin, who placed over this "maritime city" his brother-in-law, the Idumean Costobar. In favour of his _Ascalon_ descent are certain allusions of Herod I to that city. At the death of Herod the Great, Gaza, still called a "maritime city," was annexed once more by Augustus to the province of Syria.[13]

Two of the passes through the Judæan and the Samaritan hills were strongly fortified by Herod I, who also held the tolls at Gaza, for Arabia by Petra and for Egypt. Gaza is the outpost of Africa, and the door of Asia.

_Section_ II (A.D. 41-1913)

A.D. 41-54.--During the reign of Claudius, Gaza is spoken of as an important city by the Spanish geographer Pomponius Mela, with whom agree Eusebius and St. Jerome.

A.D. 66.--During the government of the fourteenth and last Judæan Procurator, Gessius Florus, Gaza was burned by the rebellious Jews. This destruction could have been but temporary, for there exist coins of Gaza, struck in honour of Vespasian and following emperors, which show that the city was still a place of importance soon after the destruction of Jerusalem.

The independence of the city is proved by the fact that Gaza had then its own independent kalendar.

A.D. 129-130.--Special tokens of favour were bestowed upon Gaza by Hadrian. The twenty-two coins of Gaza (the new era), as described in detail by De Saulcy, _Numismatique de la Palestine_, pp. 215-18, refer to Hadrian's residence within the city. Dr. Coles, of Haifa, possesses a large number of Hadrian's Gaza coins.

"In the second and third centuries Gaza became a prosperous centre of Greek commerce and culture. Her schools were good, but her temples were famous, circling round the Marneion.... The schools of Gaza in philosophy and rhetoric grew more and more distinguished. Students, it is said, left Athens to learn the Attic style in Philistia, and even Persia borrowed her teachers." --_G. A. Smith._

_c._ A.D. 300-371.--St. Hilarion, the first hermit of Palestine, was born at Thabatha, five miles from Gaza. (The reader is referred to