History of Gaza

The known history of Gaza spans 4,000 years. Gaza was ruled, destroyed and repopulated by various dynasties, empires, and peoples. Originally a Canaanite settlement, it came under the control of the ancient Egyptians for roughly 350 years before being conquered and becoming one of the Philistines' principal cities. Gaza fell to the Israelites in about 1000 BCE but became part of the Assyrian Empire around 730 BCE. Alexander the Great besieged and captured the city in 332 BCE. Most of the inhabitants were killed during the assault, and the city, which became a center for Hellenistic learning and philosophy, was resettled by nearby Bedouins. The area changed hands regularly between two Greek successor-kingdoms, the Seleucids of Syria and the Ptolemies of Egypt, until it was besieged and taken by the Hasmoneans in 96 BCE.

Gaza was rebuilt by Roman General Pompey Magnus, and granted to Herod the Great thirty years later. Throughout the Roman period, Gaza maintained its prosperity, receiving grants from several different emperors. A 500-member senate governed the city, which had a diverse population of Greeks, Romans, Jews, Egyptians, Persians and Nabateans. Conversion to Christianity in the city was spearheaded and completed under Saint Porphyrius, who destroyed its eight pagan temples between 396 and 420 CE. Gaza was conquered by the Muslim general Amr ibn al-'As in 637 CE, and most Gazans adopted Islam during early Muslim rule. Thereafter, the city went through periods of prosperity and decline. The Crusaders wrested control of Gaza from the Fatimids in 1100, but were driven out by Saladin. Gaza was in Mamluk hands by the late 13th-century, and became the capital of a province that stretched from the Sinai Peninsula to Caesarea. It witnessed a golden age under the Ottoman-appointed Ridwan dynasty in the 16th century.

Gaza

Gaza may refer to:

Places

Palestine

USA

Australia

Africa

Ethnic groups

People

The West Wing (season 5)

The fifth season of the American political drama television series The West Wing aired in the United States on NBC from September 24, 2003, to May 19, 2004, and consisted of 22 episodes. This was the first season with executive producer John Wells as showrunner after series creator Aaron Sorkin departed the series after the conclusion of the previous season.

Cast

The fifth season had star billing for nine major roles, all nine of these were filled by returning main cast members from the fourth season. Martin Sheen receives the "and" credit for his role as President Josiah Bartlet. The rest of the ensemble are credited alphabetically, while Channing is only credited for the episodes in which she appears

Main cast

Gaza Empire

The Gaza Empire (1824–1895) was an African empire established by the powerful general Soshangane and was located in southeastern Africa in the area of southern Mozambique and southeastern Zimbabwe, as well as parts of South Africa (sections of Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces). The Gaza Empire, at its height in the 1860s, covered all of Mozambique between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers.

History

In the 1820s, during a period of severe drought, after the abolition of slavery caused the Great Trek, Nguni armies, Southern (Xhosa) and especially Northern Nguni (Zulu, Swazi, Shangani, Gaza, Matabele or Ndebele, and Ngoni) people who speak related Bantu languages and inhabit southeast Africa from Cape Province to southern Mozambique, began to migrate to Mozambique from what is now South Africa. One Nguni chief, Nxaba, established a short-lived kingdom inland from Sofala, but in 1837 he was defeated by Soshangane, a powerful Nguni rival. Eventually Soshangane established his capital in the highlands of the middle Sabi River in what is present day Zimbabwe. Soshangane named his empire "Gaza" after his grandfather.