Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 6.djvu/458

 GAZA

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GAZA

Minoa) the city of Gaza was a colony from Crete (cf. Soph., ii, 5). This statement is in accordance with the Biblical narrative which tells of reprisals made by the "Cerethi" (Cretans), a Philistine tribe. Philis- tines were established in the vicinity of Gaza as early as the time of Abraham; their leader, Abimelech, who bore the title of king, resided at Gerara (Gen., xxi, 33; xxvi, 1). Some critics, however, hold that the title of " King of the Philistines" was given to Abimelech, not because he was himself a Philistine, but because he dwelt in the country afterwards inhabited by that people. In any case the Philistines certainly possessed Gaza when Moses and the Hebrews arrived in the Holy Land. Though it was assigned to the tribe of Juda, the city could never be conquered by Josue on account of its high wall (Gen., xv, 18; Jos. xv, 47; Amos, i, 7). The tribe of Juda possessed the city by right but not in fact.

Gaza appears to have been the metropolis of the five satrapies which formed the territory of the Philistines; and like the four other cities, Ascalon,Accaron,Azotus, and Geth, it had a king whose power extended to all the cities and villages of the region. Samson, to escape from the hands of the Philistines, bore the gates of the city away on his shoulders during the night to the neighbouring mountain (Judges xvi, 3) ; it was at Gaza i^hat, blind and a prisoner of the Philis- tines, he pulled down the temple of Dagon on himself and his enemies (Judges xvi, 21-30). Dagon was not the special deity of Gaza. He is to be met with also at Ascalon, Azotus, and the other Philistine cities to which the term "Beth-dagon" is applied. To a cer- tain extent the Philistines had transformed into a national deity this god of Assyrian origin, a monster having in part the shape of a fish, in part also the form of a man. The Israelites, who had captured Gaza shortly before the time of Samson (Judges i, 18), were still in possession of it in the time of Solomon (III Kings, iv, 24). It is probable, however, that at this later date the city merely paid tribute, retaining its autonomy.

The people of Gaza continued to manifest their hatred for the Jews, and carried on a brisk commerce in Jewish slaves (Amos, i, 6), which drew upon them the terrible maledictions of the prophets of Israel (Amos, i, 6-7; Zach., ix, 5; Jer., xxv, 20; xlvii, 5). The evils foretold began when the rulers of Egypt and tho.se of Assyria or Chaldea engaged in their long and eventful struggle for the domination of Asia and world-supremacy. Being on the great highway of the conquering armies, Gaza was destined to special suf- fering. .\bout 734 B. c, Theglathphalasar III num- bered among his vassals Hanon, the King of Gaza, who had joined Rasin and Phacee, Kings of Syria and Israel, in revolt against the Assyrian monarch. On the approach of the Assyrian army Hanon fled to Egypt and the city was taken and sacked. But the victors had scarcely departed when Hanon returned to Gaza; and in 720 we find him on the battlefield of Raphia, among the allies of Pharao Shabaka, where he was defeated and taken prisoner. Shortly after this the Philistines of Gaza were defeated by Ezechias, King of Juda (IV Kings, xviii, 8), and were forced to revolt with him against the Assyrians; the latter, however, returned and again compelled the Philis- tines to submit. Asarhaddon and Assurbanipal num- bered among their tributaries Tsilbel, King of Gaza. When the Assyrian empire had been destroyed Egypt sought to enrich itself from the spoils, and Pharao Necho II captured Gaza (Jer., xlvii, 1; Herodotus II, clix) on his way towards C'archemish, where he was defeated by the Babylonians, who, under the leader- ship of Nabuchodonosor (Nebuchadnezzar), took the offensive and recaptured Gaza. The city was espe- cially ill-treated, and had afterwards to pay tribute to King Nabonides for the building of the great temple of Sm at Haran. Later the Babylonians gave way to

the Persians. Cambyses, on the occasion of his ex- pedition to Egypt in 525, besieged Gaza, which alone dared to resist his march (Polybius, XVI, 40). It submitted, nevertheless, and under the Persian do- minion, according to Herodotus (III, xv), who com- pares it to Sardis, one of the most beautiful cities of Asia, it enjoyed great prosperity. The people of Gaza, who seem to have been very courageous and very loyal to their masters, whoever they might be, refused to open the gates to the army of Alexander the Great (332). He was forced to begin a regular siege, which lasted two months and cost him many men. After storming the city, Alexander laid w^aste to Gaza, put the men to the sword, and sold the women and children into slavery. He afterwards allowed the place to be re-colonized; but the new-comers were of a different stock from the old inhabitants. The Philistine strong- hold made way for an Hellenic city (Diodorus Siculus, XVII, xlviii, 7; Arrian, II, xxxvi; QuintusCurtius, IV, xxxiii). Henceforth there is little peace for Gaza. For several centuries it was the battlefield for Egyp- tian, Syrian, and Jewish armies. It was taken three times by Ptolemy I, King of Egypt (320, 312, and 302 B. c.), and twice by Antigonus (315 and 306). Finally it fell to the Lagidae, who retained it for al- most a century. In 219 Antiochus of Syria took possession of it, and organized there the invasion of Egj'pt; but he was defeated at Raphia in 217, and compelled to abandon his conquest to the Egyptians. In 198 he again took Gaza, routed the Egyptians in the following year, and this time was able to retain his conquest Jonathan Machabeus appeared with his army before Gaza, which refused to open its gates, so the suburbs were burnt, and the inhabitants com- pelled to give hostages, 145-143 b. c. (I Mach., xi, 60-62).

Alexander Jannseus besieged the city for a whole year (98) and finally captured it through treachery, sacked it and slew a large number of the inhabitants (Josephus, " Ant. Jud.", XIII, xiii, 3 ; " Bel. Jud.", I, iv, 2). It was rebuilt later by Pompey and by Gabinius (Josephus, "Ant. Jud.", XIV, iv, 4; Appian, "Syr.", 51). Anthony ceded to Cleopatra the whole of the Mediterranean coast between Egypt and Phoenicia, and Augustus gave Gaza to Herod the Great (30 B. c). At Herod's death it became subject to the governor of Syria. In a. d. 66 the revolted Jews sacked the city, which was of course soon recaptured by the Romans (Josephus, " Bel. Jud.", II, xviii, 1). The era of Gaza, found on its coins and on numerous pagan and Chris- tian inscriptions, dates from a journey of Pompey through Palestine, 28 October, 61 B. c. Gaza is mentioned only once in the New Testament (Acts, viii, 26), in connexion with the route followed by the eunuch of Queen Candace. The Hellenistic city had transformed its Oriental deities into Graeco-Roman gods, and was long hostile to Christianity, which as late as the first quarter of the fourth century had scarcely secured a foothold there. It is true that Philemon, to whom St. Paul addressed an epistle, is spoken of as its first bishop; but this is merely an unreliable tradition. St. Sylvanus, its first bishop, martyred (310) at the mines of Phajno, is called "bishop of the churches about Gaza" (Eusebius, " Hist. Eccl.", VIII, xiii; " De Mart. Pala?st.", xiii, iv) ; Asclepas, his successor, is also called "bishop of the churches about Gaza". He assisted at the Council of Nicaea in 325, and was one of the Catholic bishops most feared by the Arians. He is always found among those who suffered the most severely in the Arian conflict, with men like St. Athanasius, Marcellus of Ancyra, and others of that type.

Constantine the Great forcibly introduced Chris- tianity into Gaza, but such was the hostility of the pagan population that Bishop Asclepas deemed it prudent to build the church outside the city. Near the church, but likewise without the walls, arose later