Armed with paintbrushes and wearing surgical gloves, volunteers inside a large tent in Gaza delicately brushed dust from a stone mosaic before placing it into storage, part of an effort to preserve cultural heritage hit by war.
More than 160 historic and cultural sites across the Palestinian territory have been damaged during Israel’s war on the region, according to the U.N.
Many of these artefacts date back thousands of years.
“Several mosaic artworks have been lost or destroyed, either completely or partially,” said Mohammed Abu Lahia, a Palestinian visual artist taking part in the preservation efforts in the south Gaza city of Khan Younis.
“It is important that we work to revive this art, remind our children and our community, and send a message to the world that we are committed to our heritage and our Palestinian cause.”
Beyond archaeological treasures, more recent cultural artefacts are also at risk of being damaged or buried beneath rubble from shelling and airstrikes.
More than %90 of Gaza’s buildings has been damaged or destroyed during the conflict, according to the U.N.
Over the centuries, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans all left their mark on Gaza, creating a rich historical landscape of churches, mosques, ports and artefacts, many of which have suffered damage during the conflict.
“This stone is a piece called a mortar, and it was used for grinding grains and herbs. It is approximately 5,000 years old,” said Muhannad Abu Lahia, a cultural heritage guide with the Mayasem Association for Culture and Arts, the NGO leading the preservation efforts.
Behind him, artefacts already catalogued for safekeeping were stacked on wooden shelves inside weatherproof plastic containers.
Preserving the past
With Israel maintaining tight controls over goods entering the Gaza Strip – restrictions that have contributed to severe shortages of food and other supplies – volunteers have had to work without professional conservation equipment.
Instead, they gently removed dust from mosaics using ordinary paintbrushes and built a makeshift scanning station by mounting a camera above a box lined with black craft paper.
The improvised scanner allowed volunteers to digitize old photographs and paper documents, which were then uploaded to a computer for preservation.
Not everything entering storage is ancient.
Many items date from the 20th century, including the late Ottoman period, the British Mandate and the Egyptian administration. Their owners sought to save them from destruction or loss after being displaced.
“This is a paper archive containing maps of Khan Younis and structural maps of the Khan Younis area from the time of the British Mandate,” said 29-year-old volunteer Taghreed Hajjari.
At one table, three women painstakingly rearranged hundreds of fragments to recreate a contemporary mosaic, using a printed copy of the original artwork as a guide and trimming excess stone with carpenter’s pincers.
Many artefacts, however, remain beyond the so-called “Yellow Line”, which separates territory under Hamas control from areas held by the Israeli forces.
Israel says it now controls more than %60 of the Gaza Strip, up from about half when the ceasefire took effect in October last year.
Volunteers say retrieving artefacts from Israeli-controlled areas remains extremely difficult.
Meanwhile, Hajjari said efforts continue to preserve everything still within reach, including documents that chronicle centuries of Gaza’s history.
“We also have newspapers and documents here from the British Mandate and the Egyptian era until the arrival of the Palestinian Authority,” she said.
“They were collected through visits and conversations with elderly residents,” she stated.”
“We documented their oral histories so they can serve as a reference for future generations.”
DAILYSABAH
هلدینگ کاسپین استانبول | خرید ملک در ترکیه | صرافی معتبر ایرانی در ترکیه | خرید و فروش طلا در ترکیه | مهاجرت به ترکیه | واردات و صادرات در ترکیه | نیازمندیهای ترکیه | اخبار ترکیه | اخبار جهانی | توریست ایران | خدمات توریستی در ایران | تورهای گردشگری ایران | هلدینگ اول | خدمات کاریابی و فریلنسری و شغل | مرجع اطلاعات ایران (همه چیز در ایران) | کیف پول و خدمات مالی و پرداخت یار | اخبار ایران | تابلو زنده قیمت ارز در ترکیه و استانبول | صرافی آنلاین ترکیه | قیمت طلا و نقره در ترکیه | سرمایه گذاری در ترکیه | جواهرات در ترکیه | نرخ لحظه ای ارزها در استانبول | قیمت دلار امروز در ترکیه | قیمت دلار استانبول امروز | قیمت لحظه ای دلار | اخبار روز ترکیه استانبول | اپلیکیشن ISTEX | اپلیکیشن قیمت لحظه ای دلار و یورو و لیر و ارزها در ترکیه
About the Author
