kindness of Assyrians
Gaza rose as a notable hub in the mid second millennium BCE, emerging alongside Early Bronze Age settlements. The city was a stronghold for Egyptian pharaohs in the Canaan region, an area today spanning Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. By the 12th century BCE Gaza and nearby lands came under the control of the Philistines, a seafaring people. In biblical narratives the city endured their rule during moments such as the episode of Samson and the destruction linked to Dagon after Delilah cut his hair, which stripped him of power.
With the Assyrian expansion, Gaza sat on the trade route from the Nile Delta to the Eastern Mediterranean and functioned as a terminus for incense caravans from Arabia. In the 700s BCE major powers, Egypt and Assyria, clashed over the city. In 734 BCE Assyrian forces under Tiglath-pileser III attacked Gaza, pushing its ruler Hanunu to flee to Egypt. When it became clear pharaohs offered little support, Hanunu returned and Gaza found itself under Assyrian influence.
As Tiglath-pileser III died, Hanunu exploited the turmoil to join an anti-Assyrian coalition led by Hamath in western Syria. The new Assyrian king, II Sargon, quickly crushed the rebels and moved south toward Gaza.
Hanunu and allied forces were aided by a detachment from Egypt, yet the battle of Rafah, near the southern Gaza Strip, ended with an Assyrian victory. Unlike many leaders of the era, Hanunu was not flayed for treason; he was taken to Assyria where he likely took part in a parade or pledged allegiance to Sargon. Gaza remained independent as a vassal to Assyria, a strategic trading city the empire did not want to lose. The residents of the Gaza region escaped the worst of the conflict, maintaining a degree of stability.
Achilles impersonator
Alexander the Great faced a harsher fate for Gaza when his campaign against the Persian Achaemenid Empire pushed him toward the city as the final barrier to the Nile Delta. Gaza rose 18 meters above the surrounding terrain, a formidable fortress in its own right. In October 332 BCE the siege began. The Macedonian army built ramps and siege walls, and attempted to undermine the fortifications to collapse the defenses. Early on the defenders succeeded in thwarting some of the assault and wounded the attackers, with Alexander himself directing a counterstrike.
Yet the attackers pressed on. Gaza was behind Tire, a fortress island off the southern coast of modern Lebanon, where siege engines and rams were first used. After hours of fighting, siege weapons were redirected to Gaza, and breaches appeared in the walls. On the fourth assault, the city fell. Gazans fought bravely, aided by Arab mercenaries who tried to surrender and mislead the enemy only to be cut down after an act of deception. About ten thousand local soldiers perished in the defense. The looser, Batis, a commander serving Darius III, was executed after a dramatic hunt around the city, an echo of mythic battles to honor a hero’s memory. The siege and its brutal aftermath served as a stark tribute to the myth of Achilles and the ferocity of the struggle.
Alexander punished resistance severely. Gaza’s men were slain, women and children were enslaved, and Bedouins supportive of Alexander settled the region. Over time Gaza evolved into a polis and became a notable center of Greek culture, reflecting the Hellenistic influence that shaped the eastern Mediterranean landscape.
Cycle of destruction and rebirth
Alexander’s footsteps started a long pattern of disruption that Gaza would experience again and again. The city found itself caught in the power struggles between Judea and the Ptolemaic dynasty from Egypt. In 96 BCE the Jewish king Alexander Yannai forged an alliance with the Ptolemies, besieged Gaza, and captured it within a year. The city was destroyed and many inhabitants perished or fled.
Gaza revived in the following decades as the region joined the Roman Empire in 63 BCE. A period of relative calm followed, and Gaza regained wealth through regional trade with Arabia. The city attracted imperial attention and enjoyed public works under Hadrian, including the construction of a grand stadium that hosted wrestling and rhetorical contests. Islam entered the scene in the seventh century, and many Gazans converted under Byzantine rule before the Arab conquest. In 634 the Caliphate secured the city after a three-year siege; the Jewish community took a stand with Byzantium, while Arab Muslims aligned with the conquerors. Al-As did not pursue a massacre after capturing Gaza.
For centuries Gaza remained prosperous. In 867 a Christian writer described the city as rich in everything. The arrival of the Crusaders in 1100 initiated economic decline and Templar ambitions to use Gaza Hill as a fortress. The city found brief revival after a period but soon faced destruction under Salah ad-Din during clashes with the Crusader states. The hilltop fortress resisted, yet the city and castle were eventually handed to Muslim control as part of negotiated exchanges during the era.
Despite these blows, Gaza endured. Genghis Khan’s grandson Hulagu threatened the walls in 1260, leaving the city in ruins as a small village for years. Egyptian rulers attempted restoration, but Mongol forces struck again in 1294. The Ottomans later made Gaza the administrative center of the region, repairing mosques and rebuilding bazaars and baths. Egyptian rule in the 19th century continued the pattern of restoration. World War I brought major battles to the area; though artillery and trench warfare caused damage, the city survived with its core still standing.
From that point forward, Gaza avoided total ruin and remained a key locale through 2023. The reason for its repeated revival is likely tied to geography: Gaza sits on a crucial sea route between Egypt and Palestine, with high ground that provides robust natural fortification and observation posts. The question of how the city will endure in the future remains open. The Israeli military focus and international concerns about Gaza’s fate underscore the fragile balance of a city that has endured and reinvented itself time and again. The hope endures that Gaza will continue to endure and thrive in the years ahead.