Gaza: Anthedon (Blakhiyah) and the Roman Necropolis
The excavated harbor town north of Gaza and the 2022 cemetery with lead sarcophagi
Found 1995 — Jean-Baptiste Humbert (École Biblique) with the Palestinian Department of Antiquities, 1995–2005; necropolis found 2022, excavated 2023 by René Elter with Première Urgence Internationale
Where Tell Blakhiyah (Anthedon) and Ard al-Moharbeen, north of Gaza City (Palestinian territories (Gaza))
Dates from c. 800 BCE – 600 CE · Iron Age – Byzantine (necropolis Roman, 1st–3rd c. CE) · Philip on the Gaza road; Roman-era Gaza
Now at In situ; finds in Gaza stores (status unknown after 2023). Anthedon is on Palestine's UNESCO tentative list (2012).
How Gaza: Anthedon (Blakhiyah) and the Roman Necropolis was found
A Franco-Palestinian team dug Tell Blakhiyah on the shore 2 km north of Gaza's port, exposing an Iron Age mudbrick rampart, Persian-period walls, Hellenistic houses and a Roman harbor quarter. In 2022 builders in nearby Jabaliya hit a Roman cemetery ('Ard al-Moharbeen'); excavation in 2023 recorded 135 graves and the first two lead sarcophagi ever found in Gaza. Both sites were reported largely destroyed during the 2023–2024 war.
What it is
Anthedon was the Greek-named port city beside Gaza. Its mound preserved a thick Iron Age mudbrick wall, Persian-period ramparts, and Roman streets and houses running down to a harbor. The necropolis a short distance inland held ordinary pit graves, built tombs with grave goods and coins for the dead, and two decorated lead coffins of the 2nd–3rd centuries CE.
Why it matters for the Bible
Gaza is named some twenty times in Scripture, but its Philistine and Roman city lies under the modern town. Anthedon and the necropolis are the only large, scientifically dug windows onto the Gaza of the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman periods — the world of the 'desert road' to Gaza in Acts 8 — and the Iron Age rampart shows a fortified coastal town in the age of the prophets. Their wartime destruction makes the excavation records all the more important.
The Hebrew word: ah-ZAH
עַזָּה
עַזָּה is pronounced ah-ZAH and means Gaza (Strong's H5804).
People this discovery connects to
- Philip the Evangelist — פִילִיפּוֹס (fee-lee-POS) — Greek Philippos, 'lover of horses'
Places
- Gaza — עַזָּה (ah-ZAH) — strong
Events
Philip and the Ethiopian official on the road to Gaza · Prophecies against Gaza
Gaza: Anthedon (Blakhiyah) and the Roman Necropolis in Scripture
Genesis 10:19 First mention of Gaza in Scripture.
Amos 1:6-7 Amos's oracle against Gaza and its walls; the Iron Age rampart at Blakhiyah belongs to this fortified coastal city.
Acts 8:26 The road 'from Jerusalem to Gaza' was a desert route; Anthedon and its cemetery show what Roman-era Gaza looked like at the road's end.
Questions people ask
What is Gaza: Anthedon (Blakhiyah) and the Roman Necropolis?
Anthedon was the Greek-named port city beside Gaza. Its mound preserved a thick Iron Age mudbrick wall, Persian-period ramparts, and Roman streets and houses running down to a harbor. The necropolis a short distance inland held ordinary pit graves, built tombs with grave goods and coins for the dead, and two decorated lead coffins of the 2nd–3rd centuries CE.
When was Gaza: Anthedon (Blakhiyah) and the Roman Necropolis discovered?
It was found in 1995 by Jean-Baptiste Humbert (École Biblique) with the Palestinian Department of Antiquities, 1995–2005; necropolis found 2022, excavated 2023 by René Elter with Première Urgence Internationale, at Tell Blakhiyah (Anthedon) and Ard al-Moharbeen, north of Gaza City.
Where is Gaza: Anthedon (Blakhiyah) and the Roman Necropolis today?
In situ; finds in Gaza stores (status unknown after 2023). Anthedon is on Palestine's UNESCO tentative list (2012)..
Which Bible verses does Gaza: Anthedon (Blakhiyah) and the Roman Necropolis relate to?
Genesis 10:19, Amos 1:6-7, Acts 8:26.
Related discoveries
- עַזָּהGaza: Tell el-Ajjul and Its Gold HoardsPetrie's Bronze Age city at the mouth of Wadi Ghazzeh, the richest gold find in Canaan
- כִּנּוֹרGaza Synagogue and the 'King David' MosaicA 6th-century synagogue floor showing David with a lyre, found by chance in 1965
- הַר הַבַּיִתRoman Theater under Wilson's ArchAn unfinished 200-seat odeon built against the Western Wall after the Temple's fall
- תָּלָהYehohanan's Crucified Heel BoneThe only physical remains of a Roman crucifixion victim from Judea, with the iron nail still in place
- לֹדLod (Lydda) MosaicA stunning Roman floor found under a street in the town where Peter healed Aeneas
- קְהִלָּהColossae: First Excavations and the Rock-Cut NecropolisThe last unexcavated city of the New Testament finally opened in 2025
Sources
- Wikipedia, 'Anthedon (Palestine)'
- Wikipedia, 'Ard-al-Moharbeen necropolis'
- Première Urgence Internationale, 'Discovery of a leaden sarcophagus in Gaza'
- ARTnews, 'More Than 125 Tombs Uncovered at an Intact Roman Necropolis in the Gaza Strip' (2023)
Open Gaza: Anthedon (Blakhiyah) and the Roman Necropolis in Hebrew Explorer →