ii. 1). It soon recovered again ; and was one of the chief cities of Syria during the reigns of Titus and Adrian (Reland, p. 797 ; Robinson's B. R., ii. 41).
In the N. T. there is only one reference to Gaza, and it has given rise to much controversy. The angel said to Philip : Arise, and go toward the south, unto the way which goeth down from Jeru salem unto Gaza, which is- desert' — atirn epwcos (Acts viii. 26). The pronoun ai37-71 may either relate to 66ov (zvay) or to Gaza. If the for mer, then it is the way which is desert ;' if the latter, it is the city. If we apply it to the city it is difficult to reconcile the statement with the facts of history ; except we regard the phrase which is desert' as a parenthetic explanation of Luke's, writ ten soon after the destruction of Gaza by the Jews in A.D. 65. Some refer l'pv.tos to the ancient city destroyed by Alexander, and affirm that the new city occupied a different site. This, however, affords no real solution of the difficulty, for the two sites could not have been so far apart that it bc came necessary for the angel to specify which was meant (See Alford, in /oc.) Whatever may be said about the removal of the city from one site to another, there can be little doubt that the words afirn gpnyos were intended to describe the road on which Philip should find the eunuch. There were then, as now, several roads leading froin Jerusalem to Gaza. Two traversed the rich plain of Philistia ; but one ran to Beit Jibrin, and thence direct through an uninhabited waste to Gaza. The note of Dr. Robinson on the point is most important :—` When we were at Tell-el-Hasy, and saw the water standing along the bottom of the adjacent wady, we could not but remark the coincidence of several circumstances with the ac count of the eunuch's baptism. This water is on the most direct route from Belt Jebrin to Gaza, on the most southern road from Jerusalem, and in the midst of the country now 'desert,' i.e., with out villages or fixed habitations' (B. R.ii. 515).
Though Christianity was early introduced to Gaza, the city long remained a stronghold of idola try. In the beginning of the 5th century its bishop received authority to demolish its temples, and build a large Christian Church (Sozomon, II. E. ii. 5). In A.D. 634, Gaza was taken by the Muslems ; its splendid church turned into a mosque (Elmakin, Hist. Saracen. cap. ii. p. 2o). From this period it gradually declined under the blight of Islamism ; and the Crusaders found it deserted. They built a
castle on the hill, which became the nucleus of a new town ( William of 7),re, xvii. 12).
The modern town is called Ghuzzeh, and contains about 15,000 inhabitants. It resembles a cluster of large villages. The principal one stands on the flat top of a low hill, and has some good stone houses, though now much dilapidated. The others lie on the plain below ; their houses are mean mud hovels, and their lanes narrow and filthy. The hill appears to be composed in a great measure of the acccumu lated ruins of successive cities. We can see frag ments of massive walls, and pieces of columns cropping up everywhere from the rubbish. The great mosque crowns the hill ; and can be distin• guished in the distance by its tall minaret and pointed roof. The town has no walls or defences of any kind. Its inhabitants have been long known as a fierce and lawless set of fanatics. Between Gaza and the sea there is a broad belt completely covered with mounds of drifting sand. A mile east of the town a long ridge of low hills runs parallel to the coast line. Between the sand and the hills the ground is very fertile, and supplies the town with abundance of the choicest fruit and vegetables. A large olive grove covers the section to the northward ; while orchards of fruit and palm trees encompass the suburbs.
Some have affirmed that ancient Gaza stood nearer the sea than the modem town, and that the site was changed after the destruction of the city by Alexander. Traces of ruins have been discovered at various places among thc sandhills to the west, which are supposed to be those of primeval Gaza. There is nothing improbable in this theory; though the proofs of it are not conclusive, and it is not necessary to a sound interpretation of any prophecy or statement in Scripture. The ruins among the sand-hills may be accounted for by the fact that Gaza bad a harbour, at which a town called Ma junta stood ; and there would be buildings of vari ous kinds on the road between the two. Sce, however, Keith 071 the Prophecies (1. c.) The stu dent may consult the following works : Reland, Pala,stina, 7S7 -Soo ; Le Quien, Oriens Christ. iii.; Raumer's Pahartina; Ritter's PaliestinaundSyrien, iii. 45, sq. ; Van de Velde, 179-1SS ; Thomson, The .Lancl and the Book, 549, sq.—J. L. P.