Al Mat'haf (Arabic: المتحف, al-Mathaf, "The Museum")[1] is a small, private museum in Gaza City, Palestine, focused on archaeology of the Gaza Strip.[2] The museum is part of a privately owned hotel, also named Al Mat'haf, that includes a restaurant and conference center; both the hotel and its small museum opened to the public in the fall of 2008. The privately owned museum houses antiquities discovered in the Gaza Strip from various historical periods.[3]

Museum

The museum claims to hold a collection of 350 artifacts,[3] dating as far back as the Bronze Age (3500 BCE). Tools, columns, motifs, coins, glass and pottery from the Roman and Byzantine periods, the Islamic period, the Crusader periods, continuing through the modern era to the time of the Egyptian administration of the Gaza Strip, which ended in 1967. Each display features explanations of the artifacts in several languages, designed for specialists and laymen alike, although none of the artifacts featured on the museum's website is identified or dated. Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine

According to Al-Mathaf's owner, Jawdat N. Khoudary, "The idea is to show our deep roots from many cultures in Gaza. … It’s important that people realize we had a good civilization in the past. Israel has legitimacy from its history. We do, too."[4]

Gaza does not have a law requiring rescue archaeology when construction crews happen on archaeological artifacts. As a construction company owner, Khoudary instructs his employees to save whatever they dig up so that he can search it for treasures for the museums. He also pays fishermen who bring him archaeologically interesting objects.[4] The New York Times describes the museum building, made partly of stones recovered from old houses, old railroad ties and marble columns discovered by Gazan fishermen and construction workers, as "stunning".[4]

The museum has received scientific and technical support from the Museums Division of the city of Geneva.[5]

Al-Mathaf's owner Khoudary noting "Hamas’s rule and the conservative piety of the population" has chosen not to display some of the objects he owns – such as a statue of Aphrodite whose gown is too revealing, images of other ancient deities and oil lamps featuring menorahs.[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Almat'haf Hotel". almathaf.ps. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-03-11. Retrieved 2010-08-10.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. 1 2 "Al-Mathaf a Proud Tribute to Gaza’s Past and Future," Sami Abdel-Shafi, August 2010, This Week in Palestine.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Museum Offers Gray Gaza a View of Its Dazzling Past, Ethan Bronner, New York Times, July 25, 2008.
  5. ↑ Gaza at the Crossroad of Civilizations Archived 2015-09-07 at the Wayback Machine.

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