Gaza’s Archaeological Struggles

It is hoped that the recent discovery of a series of fine mosaics from a Byzantine church and the intact walls of the port city into which the generals of Alexander the Great sailed in the fourth century BC will convince the world that the Gaza Strip should be on the archaeological map.

The area always was on the map in the old days as an inspection of the sixth-century mosaic picture of ancient Palestine in Madeba, Jordan, reveals. This clearly shows a village north of the city of Gaza called Nevalya. It is thought this was the area known today as Jabalia which is where the Byzantine mosaics have been located.