__NOTOC__ Anthedon ( grc, Ἀνθηδών) was a

Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

city near Gaza.Ascalon, Gaza, Negev and Sinai
, the Madaba Mosaic Map

Site and archeology

Ancient Anthedon is located in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

, at Tell Blakhiyah, north of the port of Gaza. It has been identified with Tida or Theda, a site near Beit Lahiya known from medieval Arab sources. Immediately to the north of it there is a hill still called Teda; the name seems to be a corruption of "Anthedon". Some parts of the city wall are still standing, and port structures are visible: they were explored by a Franco-Palestinian archaeological expedition between 1995 and 2005, under the direction of Father

Jean-Baptiste Humbert Jean-Baptiste Humbert (born 8 December 1940) is a French archaeologist who has excavated in Jordan, Palestine, Iran and Israel. He is of the order of the Dominicans and is director of the Archaeology Laboratory of the École Biblique in Jerusale ...

. Potsherds have also been found in the dunes. On April 2, 2012, the ancient city was listed as a tentative World Heritage Site by Palestine. In 2013, the

Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades ( ar, كتائب الشهيد عز الدين القسام, , Battalions of martyr Izz ad-Din al-Qassam; also spelt Izzedine or Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades; often shortened to Al-Qassam Brigades, IQB

, the military wing of

Hamas Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam ...

, bulldozed part of the harbour to expand its military training zone. The Deputy Minister of Tourism in Gaza, Muhammad Khela, said the site would not be damaged by the expansion, despite criticism from local activists and the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

office in Gaza.

History

Located between Gaza and Ascalon, the city served as the port of Gaza. It was inhabited from the

Mycenaean era Mycenaean Greece (or the Mycenaean civilization) was the last phase of the Bronze Age in Ancient Greece, spanning the period from approximately 1750 to 1050 BC.. It represents the first advanced and distinctively Greek civilization in mainland ...

to the early

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

age, but it was during the

Hellenistic period In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...

that the port northwest of Gaza, populated by immigrants from Anthedon,

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its ...

, became an independent city under the name Anthedon. As a Greek city, it had an agora and temples. The citizens' life was chiefly dedicated to fishing and shipbuilding. The city was governed by a Council of 500 members and had its own army commanded by a '' strategos''. Anthedon is first mentioned by

Flavius Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...

in ''Jewish Antiquities'',''JA'' 13.13.3 dealing with the period when it was conquered by the Jewish leader

Alexander Jannaeus Alexander Jannaeus ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξανδρος Ἰανναῖος ; he, ''Yannaʾy''; born Jonathan ) was the second king of the Hasmonean dynasty, who ruled over an expanding kingdom of Judea from 103 to 76 BCE. A son of John Hyrcanus, ...

and destroyed. In 64 BC, it was liberated by

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

and subsequently rebuilt by his successor Gabinius. Later, Anthedon along with coastal Province Judea passed into the hands of Cleopatra and then to

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

, who assigned it to Herod. Herod renamed the city ''Agrippias'' in honor of

Agrippa Agrippa may refer to: People Antiquity * Agrippa (mythology), semi-mythological king of Alba Longa * Agrippa (astronomer), Greek astronomer from the late 1st century * Agrippa the Skeptic, Skeptic philosopher at the end of the 1st century * Agri ...

, a Roman general and son-in-law of Octavian Augustus. During the " Jewish War" (66–70 AD), the religious faction of the

Zealots The Zealots were a political movement in 1st-century Second Temple Judaism which sought to incite the people of Judea Province to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Holy Land by force of arms, most notably during the First Jew ...

attacked Anthedon, but the attack was successfully repelled and the city remained Hellenistic. It was important enough in the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

of Palestina Prima to become a suffragan bishopric of its capital's Metropolitan Archbishop of Caesarea in Palestina, but later faded.

Ecclesiastical history

In the 4th century AD, the city became an

episcopal seat A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral ...

, though traditional multitheism, particularly the worship of

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

and

Astarte Astarte (; , ) is the Hellenized form of the Ancient Near Eastern goddess Ashtart or Athtart ( Northwest Semitic), a deity closely related to Ishtar ( East Semitic), who was worshipped from the Bronze Age through classical antiquity. The name ...

, survived there until the 5th century according to

Sozomenus Salamanes Hermias Sozomenos ( grc-gre, Σαλαμάνης Ἑρμείας Σωζομενός; la, Sozomenus; c. 400 – c. 450 AD), also known as Sozomen, was a Roman lawyer and historian of the Christian Church. Family and home He was born arou ...

. The latter informs us about one Zenon, brother of the martyrs Nestabus and Eusebius - who were martyred in 362 AD as a result of prosecution by Julian the Apostate - who fled to Anthedon. The pagan townsfolk, upon learning that he was a Christian, beat him and drove him out of town. Later on, this Zenon went on to become bishop of Maiuma of Gaza. A celebrated Christian figure was Aurelius the Anthedonian who was known to be pious and helped spread Christianity in the area. The first known bishop of Anthedon was Paul, who took part in the Councils of Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451). Bishop Eustathius took part in the Council of Jerusalem (518), and Bishop Dorotheus in the

Council of Jerusalem (536) The Council of Jerusalem of 536 was a meeting of Chalcedonian representatives of the church of the Three Palestines ( Prima, Secunda, Tertia) to condemn certain persons accused of the Monophysite heresy. It was convoked at the initiative the Roma ...

Titular see

Anthedon is no longer a residential bishopric and is listed by the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

as a

titular bishopric A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbish ...

.''Annuario Pontificio 2013'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ), p. 834 It has been vacant for decades. Notable incumbents, all of the lowest (episcopal) rank, include: * Marcel-François Lefebvre, Holy Ghost Fathers (C.S.Sp.) (1947.06.12 – 1948.09.22),

Apostolic Vicar Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Chur ...

of the then

Dakar Dakar ( ; ; wo, Ndakaaru) (from :wo:daqaar, daqaar ''tamarind''), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The city of Dakar proper has a population of 1,030,594, whereas the population of the Dakar ...

(Senegal) (1947.06.12 – 1955.09.14), later

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic adm ...

of Saint-Louis du Sénégal (Senegal) (1948 – 1955.09.14),

Titular Archbishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Arcadiopolis in Europa (1948.09.22 – 1955.09.14),

Apostolic Delegate An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international o ...

(papal diplomatic envoy) to all of

French Africa French Africa includes all the historic holdings of France on the African continent. Françafrique French North Africa * Egypt (1798-1801) * French Algeria (1830–1962) * Protectorate of Tunisia (1881–1956) * Protectorate in Morocco (1 ...

(1948.09.22 – 1959.07.09), Metropolitan Archbishop of

(Senegal) (1955.09.14 – 1962.01.23),

Archbishop-Bishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Tulle Tulle (; ) is a commune in central France. It is the third-largest town in the former region of Limousin and is the capital of the department of Corrèze, in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Tulle is also the episcopal see of the Roman Cat ...

(France) (1962.01.23 – 1962.08.11), Superior General of

Congregation of the Holy Spirit , image = Holy Ghost Fathers seal.png , size = 175px , caption = The seal of the Congregation depicting the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Trinity. , abbreviation ...

(Spiritans, Holy Ghost Fathers) (1962.07.26 – 1968.09), Titular Archbishop of

Synnada in Phrygia Synnada ( gr, τὰ Σύνναδα) was an ancient town of Phrygia Salutaris in Asia Minor. Its site is now occupied by the modern Turkish town of Şuhut, in Afyonkarahisar Province. Situation Synnada was situated in the south-eastern part of ...

(1962.08.11 – 1970.12.10), Founder of

Society of Saint Pius X The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) ( la, Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Pii X; FSSPX) is an international fraternity of traditionalist Catholic priests founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a leading traditionalist voice at the Sec ...

(1970.11.01) and its first Superior General (1970.11.01 – 1982), thus is disputed communion with the Holy See

References

Sources and external links