The closest most archaeologists have come to an examination of the bronze Apollo that re-emerged in the Gaza strip in August 2013 is to squint at the few blurry photographs of the god lying incongruously on a smurf duvet. For the millennia-old statue, which was taken into protective custody by the Hamas police in 2014 after a brief spell on eBay, has since disappeared from public view.
Experts are understandably frustrated by the illusiveness of the statue, which the Gaza authorities insisted would remain hidden while they investigate the circumstances surrounding its rediscovery. The disappearance of the figure has raised all kinds of questions around its authenticity and who owns it. However, perhaps Gaza’s authorities are justified in their approach- especially considering the broader context of Gaza’s threatened ancient heritage.
From Gaza to eBay: The Apollo Re-emerges
In August 2013, Gaza fisherman Joudat Ghrab was out in his boat near the Egyptian-Gaza border when he spotted something in the sea 100 meters offshore. As Ghrab grew closer, he discovered the object was not a corpse but a life-sized, 1,100lb male statue, made of discolored metal. Unaware of the statue’s significance, Ghrab transported it back to the family home where its nudity offended his mother, leading him to wrap it in a smurf duvet. He and another family member then removed two fingers to discover what type of metal the statue was made of- and how much it might be worth.
Shortly afterward, the statue appeared on eBay, underpriced at $500,000 (£300,00)-a move which did not attract a potential buyer but did catch the eye of the Police of Hamas, the ruling Islamic group in Gaza. They immediately seized the statue and impounded it pending their investigations. However, from the blurred photographs revealed to the world, the Apollo appears to be of a type made between the 5thand 1stcentury BC. Covered in a green patina, the statue is of a young, athletic male with tightly curled hair and one eye, which inlaid with what is possibly an indigo stone.
Gaza: A Land Rich in History
Such a rare, classical statue may seem a strange thing to find in war-torn Palestine. However, Gaza’s recent history is just part of a rich and varied heritage that stretches back at least 3,500 years and probably beyond. Gaza itself is possibly one of the world’s oldest living cities. Placed on the Salah-al-Din Road, it formed a crossroads between North Africa, Asia, and the Levant. That position made it vitally significant for trade, culture, and war and explained why, in its time Gaza had played host to the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Persians, and Saracens -all who left their mark.
Fully excavated archaeological sites in the area are, however, rare. Tell Es-sakan is the only early Bronze Age site found to date, a 12-hectare site showing signs of continuous inhabitation from 3,300-2,200BC. Anthedon, once a major Hellenistic port, was rediscovered in the 1990s on the location of the beach refugee camp and has revealed tantalizing evidence of Gaza’s past as a cosmopolitan center of trade, with traces of warehouses and mud brick houses with frescoed plaster walls. Of the later eras, Tel Rafah on the Egyptian border has Roman remains while St Hilarion represents the Christian period.
These sites are just the tip of the iceberg. “According to specialists, what is underground and under the sea is more, much more, than what has been discovered to date,” said Mr. Abdul Shafi, head of the United Nations development programme in an interview with the BBC. This tantalizing fact makes the Apollo potentially a part of Gaza’s undiscovered past.
The Importance of the Apollo
In itself, the Apollo is valuable for its rarity alone. “It’s unique. In some ways I would say it is priceless,” said Jean-Michel de Tarragon, a historian with the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem, in an interview with Reuters television, “It’s very, very rare to find a statue which is not in marble or in stone, but in metal,”
Even more important is what the statue signifies regarding Gaza’s wider history. “A statue at that time was [put] in a complex, in a temple or a palace. If it was in a temple, you should have all the other artifacts of the cult [at the site],” said de Tarragon, “There is a feeling that they could find more and more [items] linked to the statue, more and more artifacts, so this is very sensitive,”
So where would the archaeologists begin their search for this temple or palace? For at present, the context of the Apollo is lost. The condition of the statue suggests it was not found at sea but on land which means that its finder has been less than honest about where he discovered it. For by claiming he found the Apollo at sea, Mr. Ghrab could be more confident of establishing ownership than if he admitted he dug the Apollo up from someone else’s land. However, the fisherman’s admission that he hoped to sell the statue to end his family’s poverty has a ring of truth. For, in a land as unsettled and impoverished as Gaza, Joudat Ghrab can be forgiven for his lack of a sense of history.
“Pillaging the Past.”
The illegal trade in antiquities is typical in Gaza. According to a study by the Institute for Palestine Studies “Looting and Salvaging the Heritage of Palestine,” there are 184 known archaeological sites in Gaza, all targets for impoverished inhabitants, who just like Joudat Ghrab are willing to sell off their cultural heritage to foreign buyers to stave off their families poverty.
In an interview in 2013 with Al-Monitor, a spokesman for the Gaza police described one of the most recent attempts at smuggling when a man was stopped trying to pass into Egypt with an alabaster head of Alexander the Great. This lucky find was no doubt only one of many others that have disappeared into foreign collections.
The Threats to Gaza’s Ancient Past
Pillaging, however, is not the only threat to the remains of Gaza’s past. For modern Gaza is developing rapidly to meet the needs of the population, meaning many archaeological sites have already been built over and lost. Those previously excavated also stand under threat because of Gaza’s isolation. “We lack the capability, the support, and the proper materials,” said Nabila Maliha, an archaeologist at Gaza’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in an interview for Yahoo News. The reason? Because border blockades make it near impossible for staff to train abroad and gain much-needed experience.
Gaza’s troubled situation also makes funding to preserve sites hard to obtain. Although UNESCO has contributed some money, at least $47,000 a year is needed to protect sites, according to French archaeologist Jean-Baptiste Humbert who excavated in Gaza from 1995-2005. In the meantime, Gaza’s sites are either being eroded or deliberately destroyed. Tel Es-Sakan contained the oldest rampart ever discovered in the Middle East. However, during the years after its excavation, its exposed mud bricks were eroded by the elements, leaving only remnants of the ancient rampart. In 2017, the site was bulldozed to make way for military installations- despite the pleas of local Gazans.
Hope on the Horizon?
To date, the Apollo of Gaza has remained hidden from view. Considering the continuing tenuous state of Gaza’s archaeology, this is perhaps understandable. Never the less, the seizure of the Apollo is in itself a good sign. It shows the Gaza authorities are fighting back against the erosion of their ancient heritage- to a certain extent. Police are acting more frequently to prevent looting, and the Palestinian Authority has recently approved a plan to build a national archaeological museum in Gaza, with aid from the United Nations. This means that Gaza’s archaeological treasures will soon have their own safe home.
“There is an opportunity to discover things and put them in a place like a national museum, and this is what we’re aiming for, “said the head of the United Nations Development Programme in Gaza, Khalid Abdul Shafi.
Perhaps, one day, the Apollo of Gaza will be one of them.
Sources
Fisherman nets centuries-old statue of Greek god Apollo in Gaza Strip, Nidal al-Mughrabi, The Independent, February 10, 2014
Al-Monitor Pillaging of Gaza Antiquities an Archaeological Tragedy, Asmaa al-Ghoul, Al-Monitor, February 12, 2013
Archaeologists race to save Gaza’s ancient ruins, Daniela Berretta and Ibrahim Barzak, Yahoo News, August 20, 2013
Focus: Cultural Heritage (PDF) UNDP Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People. 2004.
“Gaza’s ancient history uncovered,” Alan Johnston, BBC News, October 22, 2005
‘Looting and ‘salvaging ‘ the heritage of Palestine”, Adel H Yahya, Past Presents, 2010
Gazans protest the destruction of archaeological site by Hamas: they are trying to wipe out Palestinian identity. MEMRI (Arabic TV), October 17, 2017
