“The current destruction in Gaza is more thorough than any ancient siege”
BACK IN THE MID-NINETIES, I WENT ON A journey following in the footsteps of Alexander the Great, travelling down through Lebanon to Egypt, and I stayed in Gaza. Alexander had waged a brutal siege of the city, which ended with the vindictive killing of the heroic governor, Batis, who was dragged around the walls behind Alexander's chariot, as Achilles had done with Hector. War is a horrible business. And Gaza has known more than most.
My photos show the old Great Mosque, with its huge circular window; originally a temple to Marnas, the chief Gazan deity, then a Byzantine church, it's now destroyed. The Greek church of St Porphyrius, perhaps the thirdoldest in the world, has been wrecked. The souk,…
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Bbc History (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2024