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Saved Treasures of Gaza: 5000 Years of History

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Saved Treasures of Gaza: 5000 Years of History
The exhibition in 2025
Date3 April – 5 November 2025 (2025-04-03 – 2025-11-05)[1]
VenueInstitut du Monde Arabe, Paris
TypeExhibition
ThemeArchaeology of Gaza
CuratorElodie Bouffard[2]
Websiteimarabe.org/fr/agenda/expositions-musee/tresors-sauves-gaza-5000-ans-histoire

Saved Treasures of Gaza: 5000 Years of History (French: Trésors sauvés de Gaza: 5000 ans d'histoire) was an exhibition held at the Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA) in Paris from 3 April to 5 November 2025. It was organised to highlight Gaza's history and the heritage under threat due to the Gaza war along with the damage already caused to heritage sites.

Background

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The Palestinian Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage was established in 1994, taking responsibility for archaeological investigations in Palestine. The department collaborated internationally to undertake excavations, including work in the Gaza Strip at Tell es-Sakan, Tell el-Ajjul, Tell Umm el-'Amr, Blakhiya Byzantine cemetery, and Anthedon. Numerous rescue excavations were also carried out at sites such as the Byzantine Church of Jabalia.[3]

In 2000, the IMA hosted Mediterranean Gaza, an exhibition of 221 artefacts discovered in Gaza. The items were selected by Moain Sadeq and Jean-Baptiste Humbert who led excavations in the Gaza Strip. The exhibition was touring France when the Second Intifada broke out. The exhibition was put into storage in Paris until it was moved to the Musée d'Art et d'Histoire (MAH) in Geneva where it was again presented to the public.[4][5] Over half of the items came from Jawdat Khoudary's private collection.[1] The artefacts remained in storage in Geneva until 2024 when the MAH held an exhibition, Patrimony in Peril, to mark the 70th anniversary of the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict.[6] Since the beginning of the Gaza war on 7 October 2023, the Israeli invasion has caused damage to hundreds of heritage sites in Gaza.[7] The parts of Jawdat Khoudary's collection that remained in Gaza are presumed lost in the destruction.[1]

Preparation and launch

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The IMA had previously held exhibitions related to Palestine including What Palestine Brings to the World in 2023, showing the work of Palestinian artists. In 2024, the IMA were preparing for a planned exhibition on Byblos in Lebanon. Escalations in the Israel–Hezbollah conflict prevented artefacts from Lebanon being moved outside the country, meaning the exhibition could no longer go ahead. Instead the IMA chose to create an exhibition using artefacts from Gaza that had previously been displayed at the IMA and in 2024 were in storage in Geneva.[1]

Curator Elodie Bouffard said "we also wanted to show that Gaza was, for millennia, the culmination of the caravan route, a port that minted its currency and that had developed because it was at the meeting point of water and sand."[8] The exhibition's arrangement was designed by Elias Anastas and Youssef Anastas.[8]

Content

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The exhibition was divided into two parts: one presenting artefacts from Gaza and the other a collection of photographs that document the destruction of heritage sites caused by the Gaza war, highlighting sites such as Qasr al-Basha.[9] The historic images are from the collection of the École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem.[8]

The exhibition consists of 130 archaeological artefacts;[8] which span 5,000 years with the most recent items dating from the 19th century.[1] They include a 6th-century mosaic from Deir el-Balah, architectural fragments, and portable material culture such including lamps and amphorae.[8]

  • Artefacts on display
  • A statuette of Aphrodite or Hecate
    A statuette of Aphrodite or Hecate
  • The head of a Greek statue
    The head of a Greek statue
  • 6th-century camel flagon
    6th-century camel flagon
  • A funerary stele, dated to the 17th to 19th centuries
    A funerary stele, dated to the 17th to 19th centuries

Reception

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Jack Lang, the IMA's president, described the exhibition as an act of resistance.[8] French President Emmanuel Macron visited the exhibition in April 2025. During the visit he commented to the press reiterating his support of recognising Palestine as a sovereign state.[10]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Dodman 2025.
  2. ^ Trésors sauvés de Gaza - 5000 ans d'histoire (in French), Institut du Monde Arabe
  3. ^ Taha 2010, pp. 16–17, 20–21.
  4. ^ Armaly 2008, pp. 53–54.
  5. ^ Taha 2010, p. 22.
  6. ^ RFI 2024.
  7. ^ Ahmed 2024. "A recent report by the Palestinian culture ministry into Israeli damage to Palestinian heritage said Israel’s bombardment of Gaza had destroyed 207 buildings of cultural or historical significance, including 144 in the old city and 25 religious sites."
  8. ^ a b c d e f Makarem 2025.
  9. ^ Brunton 2025.
  10. ^ Le Parisien 2025.

Bibliography

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Further reading

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