INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
While workers labored on a large construction site in the Gaza Strip, a security guard noticed a strange piece of stone sticking out of the
earth.I thought it was a tunnel,& said Ahmad, the young guard, referring to secret passages dug by Hamas to help it battle Israel.In the
Gaza Strip, ruled by Hamas and repeatedly ravaged by war, people are more familiar with burying the dead than digging up their heritage.But
what Ahmad found in January was part of a Roman necropolis dating from about 2,000 years ago — representative of the impoverished
Palestinian territory&s rich, if under-developed, archaeological treasures, phys.org reported Sunday.After the last war between Israel and
Hamas in May 2021 left a trail of damage in Gaza, Egypt began a reconstruction initiative worth $500 million.As part of that project in
Jabaliya, in the north of the coastal enclave, bulldozers were digging up the sandy soil in order to build new concrete buildings when Ahmad
made his discovery.I notified the Egyptian foremen, who immediately contacted local authorities and asked the workers to stop,& said Ahmad,
a Palestinian who preferred not to give his full name.With rumors on social media of a big discovery, Gaza&s antiquities service called in
the French non-governmental group Premiere Urgence Internationale and the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem to evaluate
the site&s importance and mark off the area, phys.org reported.The first excavations permitted the identification of about 40 tombs dating
from the ancient Roman period between the first and second centuries AD,& said French archaeologist Rene Elter, who led the team dispatched
to Jabaliya.The necropolis is larger than these 40 tombs and should have between 80 and 100,& he said.One of the burial sites found so far
is decorated with multi-colored paintings representing crowns and garlands of bay leaves, as well as jars for funereal drinks, the
archaeologist added.Stakes and fences have been erected around the Roman necropolis, which is watched over constantly by guards as new
buildings go up nearby, phys.org reported.Gaza is a tiny, overcrowded strip of land whose population in 15 years has ballooned from 1.4
As a result, building construction has accelerated.Some people avoid telling authorities if there is an archaeological discovery on a
construction site out of fear of not being compensated& for the resulting work stoppage, Abu Hassan said.We lose archaeological sites every
day,& which shows the need for a strategy to defend the enclave&s heritage, including training local archaeologists, he said.The post Rich
heritage buried under impoverished Gaza Strip first appeared on Ariana News.
