Chapter IX for the Life of St. Hilarion.)

A.D. 307.--Copies of the Holy Scriptures had escaped their general destruction under Diocletian's Edict, and were still in use at Gaza when persecution raged there in this year.

A.D. 308.--St. Sylvanus, Bishop of Gaza, and others were martyred on May 4, during the persecution of Maximianus I.

A.D. 330.--Asclepas, Bishop of Gaza, who was accused of being "secretly tainted with Arianism," was deserted by the majority of the devout clergy and laity, and deposed, A.D. 341, but afterwards he received full acquittal.

Asclepas was present at the first Œcumenical Council of Nicæa, A.D. 325.

_c._ A.D. 335.--Constantine the Great rewarded the inhabitants of Mayoumas, the port of Gaza, for their unanimous adoption of Christianity, by erecting their town into "the city of Constantia" (Κωνστάντεια). It seems that this emperor, finding the inland city authorities obdurately pagan, gave a separate Constitution to its sea-town, but Julian (A.D. 361-363) took these privileges away.

A.D. 361.--At Mayoumas, the port of Gaza, the whole population was enthusiastically devoted to the Christian Faith, whereas Gaza was remarkable for its intense hatred.

Julian the Apostate's accession, A.D. 361, was the signal for an intensified persecution. He made Constantia again tributary to Gaza, but on his death its independence was restored.

A.D. 386.--St. Jerome and St. Paula, as early Christian pilgrims, after travelling among the Egyptian hermits, visited Gaza before returning to Bethlehem.

_c._ A.D. 401.--Eight heathen temples were destroyed through the influence of the Empress Eudoxia. As late as the fourth century an idol named Marnas was worshipped in the city.

In the Roman Imperial period commencing 27 B.C., the chief deity of the city was Marnas, Lord of heaven and sun and moon, as his name (מר = Lord) implies. He was originally a Shemitic deity, being, however, more or less disguised in a Greek garment.

A.D. 406.--On Easter Day St. Porphyrius consecrated the Church of Gaza, named after the Empress Eudoxia.

St. Porphyrius, a Greek ecclesiastic, after living five years as a hermit in the Thebaid of Egypt, went with his disciple Marcus to Jerusalem, and finally became Bishop of Gaza.

(For further particulars about St. Porphyrius, see Chapter VII.)

A.D. 541.--At the Council of Gaza, Pelagius (the first Pope of that name, A.D. 555-560) then a deacon, and Roman Legate at Constantinople, was sent by order of the Emperor Justinian I (the Great) with letters, ordering the deposition of Paul,[14] the twenty-ninth Patriarch of Alexandria, which was accordingly carried out. This local Council was attended by Ephraim, Patriarch of Antioch, Peter, Patriarch of Jerusalem, the Metropolitan of Ephesus, and some other Prelates. Zoilus succeeded Paul in the Throne of St. Mark.

The story of the fall of Paul is involved in much confusion. He was consecrated by St. Menas, Patriarch of Constantinople, this being the first instance of an Alexandrian Patriarch being consecrated from the Throne of Constantinople. He held his see for about two years, from A.D. 539-541.

A.D. 635.--Gaza fell into the hands of Abu-Bekr, the general of the first Khalif, Omar, after a decisive battle with the Byzantine army. It was one of the first points of attack during this invasion, and about this date the city became Muslim.

The city was regarded as an important place by the Muslims, because Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, Mohammed's grandfather was buried there. About this date we hear little more of Muslim Gaza, except as its being the birthplace of Mohammed ibn Idris ash-Shâfiy, the founder of a Muslim sect, and the Great Doctor of the Law.

About the end of the sixth century, or the beginning of the seventh, Robinson (_Biblical Researches in Palestine_, vol. ii, p. 42) states that "Gaza was visited by Antoninus Martyr, who describes it as splendid and delicious; and its inhabitants as noble, liberal, and friendly to strangers."

A.D. 672.--Gaza was visited by a great earthquake.

A.D. 796.--The city was laid waste during a furious civil war among the various Arab tribes inhabiting the country.

During the many wars between the Muslim rulers of Egypt and Syria, which preceded the Crusades, Gaza again suffered greatly.

A.D. 867.--Bernard the Wise--a Breton monk--describes Gaza as "very rich in all things."

A.D. 1149.--Baldwin III built a fortress at Gaza, in order to cut off the approach to Ascalon from the south.

The defence of the castle was entrusted to the Knights Templars.

The great buildings of Palestine are not to be ascribed to the Jews (for they were not a great building people), but to the Byzantine and Crusading Christian epochs.

A.D. 1170.--The Crusading castle at Dârûm (Deir el Belâh), three hours south of Gaza, was unsuccessfully stormed by Saladin.

A.D. 1170.--On December 20, Saladin made a dash on Gaza, but did not get possession of the citadel. He entered the city, and killed several of the inhabitants.

A.D. 1177.---At this date there were many Knights Templars in Gaza.

A.D. 1187.--Gaza passed into the hands of Saladin, after the Battle of Hattin on July 5.

A.D. 1192.--During the Third Crusade King Richard destroyed the Castle of Dârûm at Whitsuntide.

The walls of Gaza were dismantled after Richard Cœur de Lion's peace with Saladin in 1193.

A.D. 1238.--Defeat of the Crusaders at Gaza.

A.D. 1239.--Muslims were surprised in the neighbourhood of Gaza by Theobald, Count of Champagne and King of Navarre.

A.D. 1242.--During May, the Knights Templars and their Muslim allies defeated the Egyptian army, who were driven back to Gaza.

A.D. 1244.--The Christian and Saracen armies were annihilated by the Kharezmians in the valley of Gaza.

A.D. 1250.--King Louis IX and the Mameluke Emirs released their prisoners at Gaza.

A.D. 1260.--A garrison was stationed in Gaza by the Turkish invaders.

A.D. 1332.--Sir John Maundeville, a native of St. Albans, speaks of Gaza as "a gay and rich city; and it is very fair, and full of people, and is but a little distance from the sea." Like other cities of old, it was, for fear of pirates, built at some distance, about two and a half miles, from the sea.

A.D. 1370.--The Franciscan friar, John of Naples, martyred at Gaza.

A.D. 1432.--Bertrandon de la Brocguière, a knight in the service of the Duke of Burgundy, speaks of pilgrims being harshly treated in Gaza.

A.D. 1516.--The Turks crushed the Mamelukes at Gaza. This victory opened Egypt to Selim I of Constantinople. Egypt thus became a Pashalik of the Turkish Empire, and remained so until its conquest by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799, when its Jewish inhabitants fled from the city.

A.D. 1584.--Samaritans are known to have lived in Gaza at this date, and possessed a synagogue. Two large baths in the city belonged to them. One of them still bears the name of "the Bath of the Samaritans." In 1907 an inscription was found at Gaza with a Biblical text, in Samaritan characters. The writing is not ancient, and it is still in the possession of the Muslim finder. During the occupancy of the Pashas of Gaza, one of them (of the fourth family Ridwan) desired to procure the inn and bath belonging to the Samaritan community. The owner objected, and gave them to the Muslims for the benefit of the Great Mosque. The Pasha consequently was indignant, and hanged the Samaritan at the gate of the inn. From the end of the sixteenth century we hear nothing more of the Samaritans at Gaza. (For additional information see also Chapter VI.)

A.D. 1771.--Ali Bey, a slave, obtained great power in Egypt, and occupied Gaza.

A.D. 1796.--Arabs destroyed Gaza during a civil war.

A.D. 1799.--Napoleon Bonaparte took Gaza in February, having crossed the desert with about 13,000 men.

"Napoleon has emphasised the indispensableness of Gaza, whether in the invasion or the defence of the Nile valley."--_G. A. Smith._

A.D. 1831.--Mohammed Ali, a native of Roumelia, attacked Gaza in November, without being resisted.

A.D. 1839.--A great plague broke out in Gaza, and carried off large numbers of its inhabitants.

A.D. 1878.--The Church Missionary Society commenced work at Gaza.

FOOTNOTES:

[10] Some of these events in the first section are not referred to either in the Old Testament or the Books of the Maccabees.

[11] Perhaps the earliest notice of Gaza is contained in the Tel-el-Amarna tablets in a letter from a local Governor, who then held it for Egypt.

[12] _Ant._, XIV. iv. 4; _Bell. Jud._, I. vii. 7.

[13] _Bell. Jud._, I. xx. 3, and II. vi. 3.

[14] Paul was a native of Tarsus. He became a monk or abbot of the famous Upper Egyptian Rule of Tabenna, founded by St. Pachomius, _c._ A.D. 340.