PALESTINE.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 January 1918, Page 5

PALESTINE.

«aj£S'i. " PATHOL ACTIONS-Kcct-ived .lan. 1J.43 p.m. Uindon, Jan. 2S?. Palestine ollicial: .Successful pntrol M» tions liuve taken pluce in the cobcjtal area, and brought in prisoners. Our aeroplanes raided caiups and stores near the- railway station two miles west of Samaria. ROUND ABOUT ANCIENT GAZA'. A PALMERSTON SOLDIER'S LETTS®. An interesting and descriptive lbttoiconcerning the city of Gaza, whicli fell to the British forces some time ago, has been received by Mrs. Sampson, of Palmerston, from her husband, Trooper \V. .1. Sampson, of the Fifteenth Mounted Reinforcements, and formerly of the Sixth Manawatu Mounted Rifle*. The I'ifteenth MounteJs are operating with the British forces in Palestine. TroDpcr Sampson touches on the ancient associations of Gaza, when it was always l an important centre, first in one and then another of those early empires of the ■Biblical days. The writer savs:—"Gaza lies on the ira- ' portar.t t.*ade routes from Egypt to * Babylonia, which were joint-d Here by trading routes from Elah and Arabia. From this you can see that it-hag always Been an important place. The oldWrt was called Majumas, which was raised by . Constantine the Great to the dignii/of an independent town which' he named Constantia. According to the Old Testament, Gaza was one of the ffve allied Philistine cities, and it was here tiiat Samson performed gome of his retnarkable exploits. (Judges xvi.). The Israelites held possession of the town only during the most prosperous period of their empire. Tilgath Pileser, of Assyria, captured the town in 734 8.C., atad it thereafter remained a part of the Assyrian Babylonian and Persian empires. Alexander the Great" took- it'after .a siege of two months, and it walg long an object of discord between Ptolemies. Ir. 96 8.C., it was again retaken' and destroyed by Alexander Jannieus. Under Gallienus new Gaza was 'built soi.no distance to tlie south of the former' toWn. It was presented by the Empgror Allanstins to Herod, after whose' jlath it reverted to the Roman province of Syria, Under the Romans, Gaza developed its resources. Philemon, to whom the opistle of that name was addressed, \tua traditionally the first bishop of Gate. Down "to the time of Constantine the town was one of tho chief strongholds of. paganism, adhering to a' god tfey called Mamas, whose statue-; and tehipleß stood until the year 400, wlifin tJie emperor ordered them to be dstrowd. On the site of the principal temple alarge cruciform church was erected by yne Endoxia, wife of the Empi-ror Areadiiis. In 634 the town was taken by the Arabs under Omar, and was regarded as an important place by the Moslems because Mohamet's grandfather died and Was buried there. In 1799 it was taken bjf ' Napoleon. "But enotigh of its history. The town iies in the midst of orchards, and owing to an abundance of water carried by the soil, the vegetation is Wry rich indeed. The towri wells are lOQft- to 160 ft deep, and the water brackish,'lt is semi-Egyp-tion in character, and the veils of 'the Moslem; women cloeely\ resemble the Egyptians. The trade in dalles, figs, olives, lentils, wheat, parley, and tho industries are the making of pottery and the weaving of' yarn, the value of » £IO,OOO being exported aiinually. There is a population of 40,000. The hill Sampson was supposed to carry the gaijes to, is, on the south-east Bide, and Arabs call it El Muntar. It is covered with tom'bs (trenches), and I have stdod there and enjoyed the magnificent vfew one g«ta of the town" and surroundings. There are one or two fine mosques there, built in the twelfth century, which were origin* ally Christian churches. I believe there records that trace Gaza's hisWnt back to 4000 years, but I can't verify this; yet it is commonly known as the oldest city in Egypt, or rather Palestine. I suppose you know of the magnificence of the wild, flowers here in the spririgi They are really glorious. The whole Of the plant life may be classed as Mediterranean flora, and is therefore similar to that of Spain, Cieily, and Algeria. There, are numerous evergreen shrubs with nW-i row leathery leaves and short-lived spring flowers. Further south the .Jordan Valley gives rise to' sub-tropical flora, and on the south-west side of the Jordan near the Doaijl Sea grows that wonderful plant which the natives revere' and which is known as the Flow Hose/ 1 Jericho."