Notes from “Gaza a History” by Jean-Pierre Filiu Part 3

Battle of the Gods

Notes from “Gaza a History” by Jean-Pierre Filiu

Part 3

“…everything changed with the arrival of Constantine as Roman emperor. In AD 313, Constantine placed Christianity on an equal footing with Rome’s former religions, and, on his deathbed, in 337, he was himself baptized. The Hellenized aristocracy of Gaza were intensely prejudiced against the teachings of Christianity and had supported the persecution launched by Constantine’s predecessor, Diocletian. On the other hand, the merchants and tradesmen of Maiumas, many of whom were of Egyptian origin and therefore relegated to an inferior legal status, used the new creed to challenge the domination that Gaza exercised by appealing to the emperor for recognition as an independent city. Their request was approved, and Maiumas was authorized to name itself Constantia.”

“The ensuing confrontation between Christian Constantia and Gaza, which remained faithful to Zeus Marnas, continued for the remainder of the fourth century. Above and beyond the issue of religion, the elite of Gaza were determined to recover the city’s outlet to the sea. They finally achieved their goal during the reign of Emperor Flavius Claudius Julianus (AD 361-3), known as Julian the Apostate, who reintroduced Rome’s former pagan religion while purporting to reform it. Julian also released those who had been responsible for anti-Christian riots in Gaza. As a result of these measures Julian endorsed a kind of exemption from official Christianity in the city of Gaza, one which it continued to enjoy under his successors, though these were more disapproving of the worship of the pagan Roman deities. The growth of Maiumas’s population did not present a challenge to Gaza’s official commitment to the pagan gods. However, by rejecting reunification with Gaza, the Christians perpetrated a painful separation between the relatively prosperous church in Maiumas and that in Gaza, which was isolated and represented only a tiny minority.”[1]

“Bishop Porphyrius (Saint Porphyry of Gaza) assumed his post as bishop of Gaza in AD 395, the very year the Roman Empire split in two, dividing itself into the Empire of the East and the Empire of the West. The new bishop quickly took stock of the limited size of his small congregation of 280 members. He was later able to increase it by making several dozen conversions when, after a night of fervent prayer, the appearance of rain put an end to a crushing drought. The Christians of Gaza were nevertheless harassed by their fellow citizens and continued to be excluded for the Council (the Boulè). Porphyry persuaded his superior, the archbishop of Caesarea, to accompany him to Constantinople, where Empress Eudoxia, a pious Christian, put their case for the suppression of the pagan religions to her husband, Emperor Arcadius. But the emperor was reluctant to risk the significant contributions from the worshippers of the pagan deities in Gaza, whom he referred to as ‘such good taxpayers’, and refused to consider even dismissing the pagans from their civic positions unless they were accused of financial malpractice.”

“Porphyry would not admit defeat and contrived, together with the empress, an ingenious legal ploy. The newborn son of Arcadius and Eudoxia, the future Emperor Theodosius II, had been accorded the imperial title of Augustus, and the bishop of Gaza was authorized to present his petition to him, which was deemed to have been approved when the infant gave a nod of his head. Arcadius thus endorsed the suppression of the worship of pagan deities in Gaza by the future emperor, who was not in fact to succeed him for a further six years. Porphyry returned to Maiumas in triumph before entering Gaza at the head of a mob of Christians bent on vengeance, while the imperial officials immediately proceeded to demolish the shrine of Zeus Marnas and the other temples in the city. Ten days of looting and maltreatment of the pagans followed, which was vindicated as a purge of the city and its buildings of all trace of the pagan deities. Conversions abounded, though the bishop had few illusions as to their sincerity.”

“To mark the inauguration of the new era a monumental new church on a cruciform plan was built on the ruins of the Temple of Zeus Marnias. The church, which was consecrated on 14 April 407, Easter Sunday, was named Eudoxiana in honour of the patroness of Bishop Porphyry…”[2]

In October 2023, it was reported:

“The Greek Orthodox Church of St. Porphyrius, thought to be the third-oldest church in the world, was damaged in an overnight air strike as hundreds of Palestinians sheltered inside. According to Palestinian officials, some five hundred Christians and Muslims had taken refuge inside the church compound located in the Zaytun Quarter of Gaza’s Old City; the Gaza-based Palestinian Ministry of Health reports that sixteen Christian Palestinians were killed in the blast. The Washington Post heard from a community member that twenty people had been injured; the paper published geolocated video of people searching the rubble for survivors early this morning.”

“The affiliated Order of Saint George confirmed the bombing and placed the estimate of the dead at up to two hundred. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) acknowledged that its fighter jets had struck a nearby militant center that was used to stage attacks on Israel but denied that the church had been their target. “As a result of the IDF strike, a wall of a church in the area was damaged,” said the IDF in a statement. “We are aware of reports on casualties. The incident is under review.” The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem condemned the air strike, for which they blamed Israel, vowing that it would “not abandon its religious and humanitarian duty, rooted in its Christian values, to provide all that is necessary in times of war and peace alike.” According to Reuters, more than 4,100 Gaza residents have died during Israel’s relentless pounding of the region in the wake of the October 7 attack on that country by Hamas, the political and military organization governing Gaza, which killed 1,400 Israelis.”

“There are roughly one thousand Christians, many of them Greek Orthodox, in Gaza, making up just 1 percent of its population of 2.3 million. The church has historically sheltered Muslims as well, for example during the July 2014 bombings conducted by the IDF during Ramadan. Constructed in the fifth century on the site where Saint Porphyrius, a former bishop of Gaza, is believed to have died in AD 420, the church was converted into a mosque in the seventh century. Crusaders built a new church on the site in the twelfth century; the structure, which was most recently renovated in the mid-1800s and is known for its thick walls and ornate interior decorations, contains the tomb of Saint Porphyrius in its northeastern corner.”[3]

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[1] pp.11-12 Gaza a History, Jean-Pierre Filiu

[2] pp.12-13 Ibid

[3] https://www.artforum.com/news/worlds-third-oldest-church-damaged-deadly-gaza-rocket-strike-518096/