Gaza: A History in Eight Coins

It is a place of great beauty, and even greater historical significance. It has been fought over for millennia. Over the centuries, it has changed hands numerous times: the Greeks, Romans, Jews, Nabateans, Arabs, Crusaders, Ayyubids, Mamluks, and Ottomans all laid claim to this 140-square-mile strip of land on the Eastern Mediterranean coast, before it fell under British control as part of Mandatory Palestine after the First World War. This is Gaza.–These eight ancient and historical coins trace the history of Gaza from the 4th century BC to the mid-20th century:–1/ Seleucid Kingdom, bronze unit-After its initial conquest by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, Gaza fell to his heirs, the Seleucid kings. The Hellenistic period lasted for almost 300 years.–2/ Aretas IV, Nabatea, bronze unit-From the first century BC, Gaza became the port city of the Nabateans. Their king, Aretas IV, surrendered the besieged city to the Jewish king John Hyrcanus.–3/ Herod I, Judaea, bronze prutah-Gaza was granted to Herod the Great, a Roman client king and a key figure in the New Testament, by Caesar Augustus in 30 BC.–4/ Arcadius, Roman Empire, bronze follis-Rome held Gaza for centuries. Under Arcadius, a devout Christian, paganism was eradicated from the region around the turn of the fifth century.–5/ Abbasid Caliphate, bronze fals-The Arabs conquered Gaza in 634. The Cathedral of John the Baptist was converted into the Great Mosque of Gaza. In 750, the Abbasids assumed control from the Umayyads, establishing Gaza as a center of learning.–6/ Mamluk Dynasty, copper fals-In 1260, the Mongols under Hulagu Khan threw out the Arabs and razed Gaza City. Gaza was saved by the Mamluks, the Islamic ”slave kings“ of Egypt, in 1277.–7/ Mahmud II, Ottoman Empire, 20 para-In 1516, Gaza—by now a small town with an inactive port, ruined buildings and reduced trade—was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire, which rebuilt the city.–8/ Mandatory Palestine, 2 mils-At the end of the First World War, Great Britain acquired quasi-colonial authority under Gaza, which was part of the Mandate of Palestine. British rule ended in 1948.