GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories — Researchers in
the northern
Gaza Strip have unearthed dozens of Roman-era tombs at a site
discovered earlier this year during construction work, the enclave’s government
announced Monday.
اضافة اعلان
Construction workers had uncovered 31 tombs near the town of
Beit Lahia as work began in early 2022 on an Egyptian-funded residential
project, part of reconstruction efforts after the 11-day Israeli war on the
blockaded strip in May 2021.
The project has been partially suspended following the
discovery, and a team from the local antiquities ministry visited the site to
catalogue the findings and look for more, Fazl Al-Atal, head of the excavation
team, told AFP on Monday.
"So far, 51 Roman tombs dating from the first century
AD have been found," including the 31 initially found by the construction
workers, he said.
"We expect to find 75 to 80 tombs in total," Atal
added, hailing the discovery of the "first complete Roman-era cemetery
found in Gaza".
The 2,000-year-old burial site is located near the ruins of
the Greek port of Anthedon, on the road leading to ancient Ascalon.
The antiquity ministry team has been focusing on
"documentation, research, and protection of the site," Atal said.
"Our aim is to ascertain ... the causes of death."
Jamal Abu Reda, in charge of antiquities at the ministry,
said the site is "of great importance and believed to be an extension of
the site" of ancient Anthedon.
Archaeology is a highly political subject in Israel and the
Palestinian territories, and some discoveries have been used to justify the
territorial claims of each people.
In Gaza, both research and tourism to archaeological sites
are limited due to an Israeli blockade imposed since 2007.
Israel and
Egypt, which shares a border with Gaza, tightly
restrict the flow of people in and out of the impoverished enclave, which is
home to about 2.3 million Palestinians.
Researchers in the strip unveiled in September Byzantine
mosaics dating from the 5th to 7th centuries, and in April a 4,500-year-old
stone statuette depicting the face of an ancient goddess.
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