One man鈥檚 fight to save Gaza鈥檚 ancient heritage
Print Edition
Walid al-Aqqad鈥檚 Gaza home would be the envy of many an antiquities collector. Pieces of Corinthian columns greet visitors in the backyard. Inside, hundreds of ancient pots and other artifacts hang on the walls or are arranged helter-skelter on shelves.
They are remnants of five millennia of Gaza鈥檚 history, from the Bronze Age to the Islamic caliphates and on down to the years of Ottoman and British rule in the 20th century.
A sliver of land on the Mediterranean, Gaza was a major trade route between Egypt and the Levant going back to ancient times.
But decades of uprisings, war and political turmoil have inflicted a heavy toll on its rich archeological heritage, exposing it to looting and destruction.
The Islamic militant group Hamas seized Gaza in 2007. In response, Egypt and Israel imposed a blockade that has left the territory isolated and increasingly impoverished.
The Palestinians said the closures had also hindered excavations and restricted experts鈥 access to new discoveries.
Hamas has done little to protect Gaza鈥檚 antiquities and in some cases actively destroys them. In 2017, Hamas authorities leveled large parts of Tel Es-Sakan, the remains of a 4,500-year-old Bronze Age city, to make way for construction projects.
Antiquities plundering and trafficking also remains a problem, said Heyam al-Bitar, an archeologist from Gaza鈥檚 ministry of tourism and antiquities.
鈥淚t鈥檚 difficult to track down the trafficking because everything happens in the dark,鈥 she said.
Al-Aqqad is one of few trying to save antiquities in Gaza.
He began in 1975, buying from collectors or searching the beach and new construction sites.
Now his house in the southern city of Khan Younis is a museum, welcoming school trips and history students.
鈥淭his museum was established by personal efforts and at the expense of my children鈥檚 bread ... to protect the pieces,鈥 al-Aqqad said.
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