The History of Gaza... on a Wooden Shelf in a Tent!

With a paintbrush, a young woman, wearing surgical gloves, carefully brushes away dust and debris from a stone mosaic fragment inside a tent in southern Gaza Strip, as part of efforts by volunteers to preserve cultural heritage damaged by the Israeli war.

More than 160 historical and cultural sites were damaged during the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, according to the United Nations. Many of these archaeological sites date back thousands of years.

Visual artist Muhammad Abu Lahieh, one of the volunteers in a heritage preservation campaign, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) in an interview published today that the war had led to “the loss of many paintings and mosaics, which were either completely or partially destroyed.”

The losses were not limited to archaeological treasures; contemporary artifacts were also threatened by Israeli artillery shelling and air raids.

More than 90 percent of Gaza Strip buildings suffered partial damage or total destruction during the war, according to the United Nations.

Volunteers are collecting archaeological artifacts, documenting them, and storing them on wooden shelves in plastic containers inside a tent set up in Khan Younis city in the southern part of the Strip.

Inside the tent, Muneer Abu Lahieh, a cultural heritage guide at Mi’asem Association for Culture and Arts, a non-governmental organization leading the heritage preservation efforts, points to a stone fragment and says, “This stone is called a mortar, and it was used for grinding grains and herbs. It is approximately 5,000 years old.”