Archaeologists, who have been working on a 2,000-year-old Roman-era cemetery in Gaza, recently discovered at least 125 tombs inside the cemetery. The Palestinian Ministry of Antiquities has confirmed the news, stating that most of the skeletons, kept in those tombs, are still largely intact. The condition of two rare lead sarcophaguses is also fine. Sarcophagus is basically a stone coffin, typically adorned with a sculpture or inscription and associated with the ancient civilisations of Egypt, Rome and Greece. Ignoring the soaring heat, around 25 engineers and technicians dug the site on July 23 (2023), cleared the dirt and preserved the skeletons. They also pieced together clay jars found inside some of the graves.

In a statement, the Palestinian Ministry has mentioned that this impoverished territory used to serve as an important trading hub for ancient Egyptians, Romans, Greeks and the Philistines. It is also depicted in the Bible. Although local archaeologists reburied findings for lack of funding in the past, some French organisations have helped them excavate this site, discovered in February 2022, again. It may be noted that a construction crew, working on an Egyptian-funded housing project, discovered the site in 2022.

Talking to the media, Fadel Al-A’utul, an expert at the French School of Biblical and Archaeological Research, stressed: “It is the first time in Palestine we have discovered a cemetery that has 125 tombs, and it is the first time in Gaza we have discovered two sarcophaguses made of lead.” He claimed that one of the two sarcophaguses was decorated with images of grapes, while the other with dolphins. A’utul further said: “We need funds to preserve this archaeological site so that history does not get washed away.” Meanwhile, he thanked French aid agency Premiere Urgance International for helping the French School of Biblical and Archaeological Research carry out this project.

A’utul believes that the site would become a tourist destination, as the concerned Palestinian authorities decided to build a museum for displaying these findings. “We need funds to preserve this archaeological site so that history does not get washed away,” he added. For his part, Jamal Abu Reida, the General-Director of the Palestinian Antiquities Ministry, stressed: “This is unprecedented. It deepens Palestinian roots on this land and shows they date back thousands of years.“

It may be noted that Gaza has been under an Israel-Egyptian economic blockade since 2007 when the Palestinian outfit Hamas opposed peace talks with Israel. Since then, 2.3 million Palestinian living in this narrow coastal territory have experienced several wars. Meanwhile, the US-brokered peace talks, aimed at establishing a Palestinian State in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, collapsed in 2014.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das