Saving Gaza's cultural heritage, one artifact at a time

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — 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 conflict.

More than 160 historical and cultural sites across the Palestinian territory have been damaged during the Palestine-Israel conflict, according to the United Nations.

Many of these artifacts 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 southern 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 artifacts are also at risk of being damaged or buried beneath rubble from shelling and airstrikes.

More than 90 percent of Gaza's buildings have been damaged or destroyed during the conflict, according to the UN.

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 artifacts, 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," said Muhannad Abu Lahia, a cultural heritage guide with the Mayasem Association for Culture and Arts, the NGO leading the preservation efforts. "It is approximately 5,000 years old."

Behind him, artifacts already cataloged for safekeeping were stacked on wooden shelves inside weatherproof plastic containers.

With Israel maintaining tight controls over goods entering the Gaza Strip, 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 League of Nations-established British Mandate (1920-48). 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 artifacts, however, remain beyond the "Yellow Line", which separates territory under Hamas control from areas held by the Israeli forces. Volunteers say retrieving artifacts from Israeli-controlled areas remains extremely difficult.

AGENCIES VIA XINHUA