Despite a plethora of challenges The Gaza Strip faces today, its inhabitants strive to save and preserve its long and rich history. There are twelve museums in Gaza (many of them private) which allow one to familiarise themselves with its cultural heritage. Today’s article is about three of them.
Mathaf-al-Funduq
Situated in Gaza City, Mathaf-al-Funduq (The Hotel’s Museum), a small archaeological museum founded by famous Palestinian businessman Jawdat al-Khudari, is part of Al Mat’haf, a privately owned hotel, hence the name. The hotel and the museum opened to the public in 2008. Mathaf-al-Funduq displays numerous ancient artefacts discovered in the Gaza Strip, some dating back to the Bronze Age (3500 BCE). On view are tools, columns, motifs, coins, glass, and pottery from different historical periods. One can see items from the Roman and Byzantine periods, the Islamic period, and the Crusader periods. Some of the exhibits belong to the modern era spanning up to the period of the Egyptian administration of the Gaza Strip, which ended in 1967. Apart from exhibiting the collection of artefacts, Mathaf-al-Funduq also holds various cultural events for children and adults.
Damaged in 2023.
Qasr al-Basha Palace
Qasr al-Basha (Pasha’s Palace Museum), a historical palace in the Old City of Gaza, is considered an important record of the evolution of Islamic architecture in Palestine. It was a residence for Mamluk and Ottoman governors. The first floor was built by Zahir Baibars, a Mamluk sultan, in the mid-13th century (between 1260 and 1277). The façade boasts Baibars’ landmark: a relief sculpture of two lions which face each other. The second floor was constructed mostly in the Ottoman era. In the 17th century, the palace served as the fortress home of the Radwan dynasty and later the pashas of Gaza. It was provided with arrow slits and underground passages as means of defence.
In the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte used Qasr al-Basha during the French campaign that ended at Acre in 1799. In the 20th century, during the British Mandate of Palestine period, the palace served as a police station; after that, it became the Princess Ferial School for Girls (al-Zahra Secondary School for Girls later). Eventually, in the 21st century, Qasr al-Basha was turned into a museum.
Damaged in 2023.
Al-Qarara Cultural Museum
Al-Qarara Cultural Museum (Khan Younes Museum) in Southern Gaza was founded by two archaeology and culture enthusiasts: couple Najla and Mohamed Abu Lehya. This small museum features ancient relics from six millennia (pottery, coins, mosaics, swords, etc.) and comprises several rooms, each dedicated to a particular theme.
The museum’s collection begins with the Copper Age from 4000 BC It is followed by the period of Canaanites, the Bronze Age civilisation that lived in the Levant (modern Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon) in the 2nd century BC. Visitors can also look at artefacts from the Roman, Byzantine, early Islamic, and Ottoman empires. One of the rooms in the museum displays a collection of modern-day items, such as ploughs, horse saddles, baskets, wooden and copper cookware (plates, pitchers, and pots), and farming tools.
Destroyed in 2023.
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