city state · Anatolia and the Levant
Gaza
Origins
Gaza was the main Egyptian administrative base in Canaan during the Late Bronze Age. In the 12th century BCE Philistines settled there, and it became one of the cities of the Philistine Pentapolis, controlling the coastal road to Egypt.
Rule and society
Its kings grew rich as the terminus of caravan routes from Arabia carrying frankincense and myrrh. The Bible sets the death of Samson in its temple of Dagon. In 734 BCE King Hanunu fled to Egypt before Tiglath-Pileser III of the Assyrian Empire, who made Gaza a trading post.
Decline and legacy
Under the Achaemenid Empire Gaza was a flourishing frontier city. In 332 BCE its commander Batis held out against Alexander of the Macedonian Empire for two months; the city was stormed and its people killed or enslaved.
On the connections map
Open the full map →Connections (4)
- Gaza was part of Philistine Pentapolis1175 BCE – 604 BCE
- Gaza was a vassal of Assyrian Empire734 BCE – 630 BCE
- Gaza was a vassal of Achaemenid Empire539 BCE – 332 BCE
- Gaza was conquered by Macedonian Empire332 BCE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Gaza. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gaza
- MLA
- “Gaza.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gaza. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Gaza.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gaza.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Gaza’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/gaza (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻