The historical encounter on the sea- shore
of Gaza is as much a surprise to the visitor as are the new high rising
buildings which are beginning to characterize the inner city. The ancient
sea harbor city of Anthedon, the place of flowers in Greek, is located
in the north-west corner of the Beach Refugee camp. Anthedon was the first
known sea harbor of Gaza. This port was also called Agrippas after Marcus
Agrippa, Augustus' commander-in-chief. The harbor of Gaza is referred to
in the work of some Islamic historians as Tida. It is most probably a variation
on the name Anthedon. To the south of the seaport of Anthedon lies the
Maioumas Harbor which was continuously populated and became, during the
Roman period, a flourishing and well-developed port-city known as Maiumas.
In AD 335 Constantine the Great rewarded its inhabitants for their unanimous
adoption of Christianity by renaming their town "The City of Constantia"
and elevated it to the status of a Polis, an independent city with its
own Bishop.
In 1965, The Egyptian department of Antiquities
excavated a Byzantine mosaic pavement dated by its Greek inscription to
the year 569 of the Gaza calendar (AD508/9). The site is approximately
300 m south of the present day harbor. The dimensions of the mosaic indicate
that it be- longed to a large building of 30X26 m, most probably a church.
The mosaic pavement is made of small cubes of colored stone, marble and
glass. It is divided by floral motifs into medallions in which representations
of various animals are enclosed. In one of the medallions a Greek inscription
commemorates the names of the donors and the date of the mosaic. The excavators
noted that the mosaic pavement has a representation of the Orpheus playing
a lyre. This image can be seen in several churches of the Byzantine period.
A border of geometric patterns surrounds the whole mosaic.
Source: PACE tour guide of the West Bank
and the Gaza Strip