Did you know that in the 1970s & 1980s, Israel looted one of the most important Canaanite sites in Gaza, which also was linked to ancient Egypt? The following thread tells the story of how Israeli archaeologists and military looted historical treasures from Deir el-Balah. 1/15
In 1982, National Geographic reported the uncovering of an ancient Canaanite settlement, fortress, and cemetery west of Deir el-Balah City, in the middle of the Gaza Strip. The site, which dates back to more than three millennia, was discovered by archaeologist Trude Dothan.2/15
The discovery happened by coincidence after Israel the 1967 occupation when Dothan saw a coffin lid in a souvenir store in Jerusalem, which she traced to Gaza’s sands. After months of searching, the lid was traced to a farm in Deir el-Balah, and the excavation started. 3/15
To conduct the excavation, Dothan relied on Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Dayan, who provided her with logistical and security support, especially during the early years of the occupation following the Six-Day War, as Gaza was fighting an insurgency against Israel. 4/15
As Dothan's team was digging, the scale of the discovery was beyond anything they anticipated. The site included tombs, artifacts, & anthropoid coffins. The site, which dates back to the Bronze Age, offered an account of life on the Palestinian shore, especially spiritual, cultural, & social practices such as burial and culinary habits. 5/15
But most importantly, the site sheds light on the complex interactions between the Egyptian Empire & local Canaanites, suggesting a blending of cultures and perhaps even the presence of Egyptian officials or military in the region. 6/15
During ten years of excavation in the cemetery of Deir el-Balah, Dothan's team found several clay coffins varying in style and external shape. As the excavation continued, an important question emerged: Who lived in Deir el-Balah 3,300 years ago? 7/15
One of the key theories is that the population was a mix of local Canaanites who were influenced by and coexisted with Egyptians officials and soldiers securing the ancient "Way of Horus" which was of strategic value to the Egyptian Empire then. 8/15
In addition to the cemetery, Dothan’s team unearthed a 55-meter-long palace with 15 rooms and thick outer walls. They found a clay seal with hieroglyphic inscriptions like those at Tell el-Amarna, confirming the site's dating to the 14th century BC. 9/15
A fortress was also discovered. According to Dothan, the discovered Deir el-Balah fortress closely resembles the fortresses engraved on the walls of the Karnak temple, specifically those documenting the campaign of King Seti I in the land of Canaan. 10/15
The semi-final conclusions of Dothan's team indicate that the fortress was built during a period when the ties btwn Canaan & Egypt were strong. According to estimates, the fortress dates back to the reign of King Seti I, who ruled the "New Kingdom" between 1318 & 1304 BC. 11/15
But rather than celebrate discovery as reflective of Egypt and Palestine's rich history and interaction, Dothan and her team's main focus was on proving how their discovery in Deir el-Balah could provide evidence for the Exodus narrative. This is still the case today: 10/15
They believed that the presence of a fortress on the Way of Horus, as indicated by their findings, could explain why the Children of Israel took the longer desert route to Canaan instead of the shorter Way of Horus. 11/15
According to Dothan, the fortress suggested that the Israelites deliberately avoided the shorter route to Palestine to evade Egyptian garrisons stationed along it, aligning with the biblical account. 12/15
The obsession of proving "Exodus" reflected the commitment of archeologists to a Zionist narrative that prioritizes Old Testament history over tangible archaeological evidence, thus overshadowing the broader historical significance of their discoveries in Deir el-Balah. 13/15
With the coffins now displayed in "The Israel Museum" in Jerusalem, the fate of the archaeological site and its findings remain elusive, requiring answers from Israeli archaeologists and the military who emptied it of anything that could be carried to the museum. 14/15
Today, as Israel’s genocide continues to ravage Gaza, the fate of this site is unknown, and no one knows whether, assuming it’s still there, would survive, especially after Israel destroyed more than 200 heritage sites in Gaza with no regard to their value or importance. 15/15
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Fascinating document! It was published in New York in 1937. It’s a shame that page 30 is obscured, as it seems to be one of the most important parts of this letter. If anyone has information about the author, I would really appreciate learning more about him.
في عام 1956، نشرت مجلة "كوليرز" الأميركية مقالة مصورة من 12 صفحة بعنوان "قطاع غزة: 12 صفحة من الصور الملونة الحصرية في صندوق الشرر في الشرق الأوسط" للصحفي ديفيد دوجلاس دانكن. انقسمت المقالة المصورة إلى خمسة أجزاء: الأرض، البحر، اللاجئين، الجبهة، والجيش. تقدم المقالة المصورة نافذة غير مسبوقة للحياة في قطاع غزة، وتناقش واقع ومستقبل قطاع غزة بمصطلحات وأطر لم تختلف كثيراً عن مصطلحات وأطر اليوم. في الثريد أدناه، وضعت المقالة كاملة، مع التركيز على بعض الصور منها، وقمت بترجمة النص كاملاً إلى العربية، عسى أن تكون هذه مساهمة صغيرة في صيانة ذاكرة لطالما تعرضت للتدمير والمحو والإبادة.
⚠️ ملاحظات هامة قبل قراءة النص أدناه:
- قمت بالترجمة بتصرف أحياناً مع المحافظة على النص الأصلي.
- لم أشتبك مع النص تعليقاً أو تحليلاً، وهذا لا يعني أني أتفق مع بعض التأطيرات والصور النمطية والتخيلات التي وردت في النص. في نهاية المطاف، تعكس هذه الكتابات فهم الكاتب لنا في مرحلة تاريخية معينة، ولكن يجب دائماً أن نقرأ هذه الأمور بعين ناقدة.
المصور دنكان مع الجندي السوداني الرقيب سليمان صالح أحمد، في قطاع غزة؛ وهو جندي شجاع يظهر أيضاً على غلاف مجلتنا.
After Israel's occupation of Gaza in 1967, one of its initial actions was the destruction of the Gaza (Shuja’iyya) train station. This station connected Gaza to the broader Levant region, and after the 1948 Nakba, it still served as a link between Gaza and Egypt.
Israel dismantled the railway and repurposed its iron tracks in the construction of the Bar-Lev Line, a defense barrier on the eastern bank of the Suez, that the Egyptian army crushed during the Liberation War of October 6, 1973.
This train operated on a route from El Qantara el-Sharqîya, on the eastern side of the Suez, and extended its journey to Jerusalem and beyond. The journey from El Qantara to Jerusalem, via Gaza, spanned 9 hours, while the trip from Gaza to Haifa was completed in just 2 hours.
This thread highlights Gaza's most significant religious, cultural, and archaeological sites. While serving as an educational resource, it also serves as a record of these sites, aiming to raise awareness about their existence and to caution against any efforts to damage them.
The Great Omari Mosque is the largest and oldest mosque in the Gaza Strip, located in Gaza's old city. Believed to stand on the site of an ancient Philistine temple, Gaza's Muslim population have been worshipping there since the seventh century.
The Church of Saint Porphyrius, constructed as early as AD 425, is situated in the Zaytun Quarter of the Old City of Gaza. It takes its name from Saint Porphyrius, the 5th-century bishop of Gaza. The Church was damaged after Israel bombed an adjacent building and killed dozens.
Over the past decade, my wife and I, alongside family and friends, have devoted ourselves to discussing and writing about Gaza, in the United States and beyond. I've delved into topics like the wars, the blockade, and the daily experiences of Palestinians living there.
Most of my time went into not just educating but also emphasizing how the situation was teetering on the edge, warning that a collapse was on the horizon, asserting that Gaza's current state was untenable, and highlighting that we were just moments away from an eruption.
I traveled across more than 15 states and cities, engaging with members from Christian and Jewish communities, politicians, journalists, congress members, academics, and activists.
After Zionist militias seized Palestinians' homes in al-Ramleh, they separated the men from women and children, and held men behind barbed wire detention camps without basic human rights. Government reports documented incidents of rape and looting in al-Ramleh.
📷Beno Rothenberg
The men in al-Ramleh, confined behind barbed wire, endured hunger & thirst in July's scorching heat, sleeping on the ground without blankets. The Zionist militias occasionally provided water rations, which were distributed by the younger children & siblings of the imprisoned men.