Qasr al-Basha (), also known as Pasha's Palace Museum, Radwan Castle, and Napoleon's Fort, is a historic building in the Old City of

Gaza Gaza may refer to: Places Palestine * Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea ** Gaza City, a city in the Gaza Strip ** Gaza Governorate, a governorate in the Gaza Strip Mandatory Palestine * Gaza Sub ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

, now housing a museum. It served as a seat of power in the

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

and Ottoman periods and as a police station during the British Mandate. It was destroyed in the

Israeli invasion of Gaza The Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip is a major part of the Gaza war. Starting on 7 October 2023, immediately after the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Hamas-led attack on Israel, Israel began bombing of the Gaza Strip, bombing the Ga ...

in 2024.

History

Mamluk period

The first floor of Qasr al-Basha was built by the

sultan Zahir Baibars in the mid-

13th century The 13th century was the century which lasted from January 1, 1201 (represented by the Roman numerals MCCI) through December 31, 1300 (MCCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan, which stretched ...

. The façade bears the symbol of Baibars which is a

relief sculpture Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

of two lions facing each other. The geometrical patterns and domes, fan and cross vaults are typical

Mamluk architecture Mamluk architecture was the architectural style that developed under the Mamluk Sultanate (1250–1517), which ruled over Egypt, the Levant, and the Hijaz from their capital, Cairo. Despite their often tumultuous internal politics, the Mamluk su ...

under Bahri rule. According to local legend, in the 13th century CE, when Baibars was still a general fighting the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

and

Mongols Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China ( Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family o ...

throughout the

Levant The Levant ( ) is the subregion that borders the Eastern Mediterranean, Eastern Mediterranean sea to the west, and forms the core of West Asia and the political term, Middle East, ''Middle East''. In its narrowest sense, which is in use toda ...

, he passed through Gaza on several occasions. During one of his visits, Baibars is believed to have married in Gaza and built a grand mansion for his Gazan wife and children. It is said that Qasr al-Basha is what remains of this home.Qasr Al-Basha - Gaza
''This Week in Palestine''. October 2006.

Ottoman period

The second floor of the building is largely of Ottoman-era construction. In the 17th century, Qasr al-Basha served as the fortress home of the ruling Radwan dynasty (hence the name "Radwan Castle") and later ''

pasha Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...

s'' of Gaza, who were governors appointed by the Ottoman governor of the Damascus Province. During this era, the fortress was provided with arrow slits and underground passages as means of defense. Within the complex were soldier's lodgings, a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

, granary, an armory, and cannons. The height of the structure made Qasr al-Basha a strategic point in Gaza. This, along with its fortifications, was the probable reason

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

spent three nights at the palace during his

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

that ended at

Acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

in 1799, hence the name "Napoleon's Fort".

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

traveller

Evliya Çelebi Dervish Mehmed Zillî (25 March 1611 – 1682), known as Evliya Çelebi (), was an Ottoman Empire, Ottoman explorer who travelled through his home country during its cultural zenith as well as neighboring lands. He travelled for over 40 years, rec ...

wrote of Qasr al-Basha in 1649, saying "the Citadel was built in ancient times and destroyed by

Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar II, also Nebuchadrezzar II, meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir", was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from the death of his father Nabopolassar in 605 BC to his own death in 562 BC. Often titled Nebuchadnezzar ...

. The present citadel derives from a later time. It is small and rectangular and lies one hour distant, east of the sea. Its walls are twenty yards high. It has a metal door which opens in the direction of the ''

qibla The qibla () is the direction towards the Kaaba in the Great Mosque of Mecca, Sacred Mosque in Mecca, which is used by Muslims in various religious contexts, particularly the direction of prayer for the salah. In Islam, the Kaaba is believed to ...

''. The commander and the garrison must always be present here to fulfill their guard duties because it is in a dangerous place, here the Arab tribes and the enemy are numerous."

20th century

During the British Mandate of Palestine it served as a police station. During the administration of Gaza by Egypt, Qasr al-Basha served as a school, Princess Farial School for Girls. After

Farouk of Egypt Farouk I (; ''Fārūq al-Awwal''; 11 February 1920 – 18 March 1965) was the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and the Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1936 and reigning until his ...

was deposed, the school was renamed al-Zahra Secondary School for Girls.

Modern era

Funded by a German Development Bank (KfW) grant, the

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

(UNDP) converted Qasr al-Basha into a museum. After building new facilities for the girls school, restoration began under the supervision of the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian Authority (PA), officially known as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), is the Fatah-controlled government body that exercises partial civil control over the Palestinian enclaves in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, ...

Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage. During the first phase of the project, workers landscaped the museum grounds, installed new doors, windows and gates, and restored the

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

of the palace. The Pasha's Palace Museum (Gaza)
. Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People. 2004, Volume I. In the second phase of the project, display cases were installed and exhibitions were held of

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

Ancient Egyptian Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

, and

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

artifacts. The smaller building in front of the palace became a gateway to the museum. Qasr al-Basha was heavily damaged after Israeli bombardment attacks during the

as of March 2024. In 2024 a group of French researchers convened an enterprise to build an inventory of Palestinian artefacts, so that in the widespread destruction of cultural sites, an archive of some of them could remain. "As Israeli bombardments wipe Gaza off the map and our sense of powerlessness grows, what can we do as researchers?" asked Fabrice Virgili, Director of Research at

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 eng ...

(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique).

Collections

The museum's collection includes artefacts discovered at archaeological sites in Gaza, spanning prehistory to recent history. A 4,500 year old statue of

Anat Anat (, ), Anatu, classically Anath (; ''ʿnt''; ''ʿĂnāṯ''; ; ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:ꜥntjt, ꜥntjt'') was a goddess associated with warfare and hunting, best known from the Ugaritic texts. Most researchers assume tha ...

, the Canaanite goddess of beauty, love and war, was recently on display. The museum made global headlines when a farmer in Khan Younis, Nidal Abu Eid, found the stone statue in his field in 2022. The building and objects in the collection are detailed in archaeological academia around the world. On 12 February 2014 the museum opened a large exhibition of manuscripts, coins and photography, mostly pre-1948. There were written records of social events like marriage certificates, property sales, as well as government legislation; postal stamps and instruments from the British Mandate and Ottoman periods; stone carvings from shrines and graves; ancient manuscripts of the Psalms of David and the Uthmani Qur'an. One of two Roman sarcophagi discovered at the Ard-al-Moharbeen necropolis in 2023 was exhibited at Qasr al-Basha. The Palestinian archaeologist Fadel al-Otol describes rooms full of Byzantine artefacts and sarcophagi.

New Museum Practice

In recent years, artefacts from Qasr al-Basha have been touring to different countries around the world. The desire to keep artefacts safe during the widespread destruction of Gaza by the Israeli army has prompted major touring programmes, as well as the construction of global museum digital archiving practices. At the

Arab World Institute The Institut du Monde Arabe (, ''Arab World Institute''; abbr. IMA) is an organisation founded in Paris in 1980 by France with 18 Arab countries to research and disseminate information about the Arab world and its cultural and spiritual values. ...

in Paris, an exhibition in 2023 imagined, "the creation of a “virtual museum” designed to safeguard the heritage of a stateless, blockaded and war-ravaged land". Elodie Bouffard, the curator of the exhibition, spoke of the curation in diaspora as a form of “cultural resistance” to counter the erasure of Palestinian culture and presence. This is a practice that has been taken up by groups of researchers in France, Museum of Art and History in Switzerland and organisations like

Forensic Architecture Forensic Architecture is a multidisciplinary research group based at Goldsmiths, University of London that uses architectural techniques and technologies to investigate cases of state violence and violations of human rights around the world. The ...

in England.

References

External links

Palais du Pacha
(in French), part of the Gaza, inventaire d’un patrimoine bombardé {{coord, 31, 30, 15.90, N, 34, 27, 57.48, E, region:PS_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures completed in the 13th century Mamluk architecture in Palestine Buildings and structures in Gaza City Museums in the Gaza Strip Palaces in the Gaza Strip Schools in the Gaza Strip Old City (Gaza City) Buildings and structures destroyed during the Israel–Hamas war