Gaza, situated on a narrow stretch of land along the Mediterranean, was founded during the Canaanite age (3000 BCE), and is considered as one of the oldest cities in the world.   Its historical significance lies in serving as a vital trade route connecting which has connected Egypt and the Levant since ancient times and which traced its origins back to the third millennium BCE. 

Throughout its rich history, the area has been at a cultural crossroad, nurturing various civilisations, enduring through the Byzantine and Christian epochs, and progressing into the Islamic era, including subsequent periods like the Mamluk and Ottoman eras.  During the Ayyubid era, the core of the old city expanded beyond the limits of its surrounding wall forming four neighbourhoods: The Tuffah (Apple), The Zaitoun (Olives), Al-Shuja’iyya (Braves) and Al-Daraj ( Steps).  Unfortunately, the area has been frequently plagued by conflicts, many of which have impacted archaeological and historical sites with tragic regularity. 

Alongside the thousands of dead persons on both sides of the cataclysmic 2023 war, which also has displaced citizens of the region, dozens of heritage sites in Gaza have been damaged and destroyed, including the Qasr al-Basha Palace (قصر الباشا), which was a testament to the region’s past and its rich cultural heritage and the history of  civilisations and diverse political rulers, over the centuries.  

History of the Qasr al-Basha Palace

Built c. 1260 and 1277

Built in the Haraat al-Daraj district, the once densely populated northwestern quarter of Gaza's Old City, it is not recorded exactly when Qasr al-Basha Palace (قصر الباشا) was first constructed, but the style of the entrance, along with the construction of the interior, suggest it was sometime during the Mamluk period.

The first floor of the palace is believed to have been built under the orders of Mamluk Sultan al-Zahir Baybars, in the middle of the thirteenth century CE.  The building's prominent sculpture of two lions, facing each other, are one of the most important landmarks during Baybars’ rule and were represented in all important works, constructed during his reign.  The building also utilises geometric patterns, domes, and intersecting vaults, all typical features found within Mamluk-period  architecture. 

1530-1681 CE

According to records referencing the endowment of Musa Pasha Al Radwan, the Qasr al-Basha Palace became known as Al-Redwan Palace in the 17th century in reference to the “Al Radwan” family that ruled Gaza and most of Palestine specifically between 1530-1681 CE. 

1649 CE

A Turkish traveler, Evliya Celebi, wrote about Qasr al-Basha Palace saying: “The castle was built in ancient times. It is small and rectangular, and is located one hour east of the sea. Its walls are twenty yards high, and it has an iron door that opens in the direction of the Qiblah.."

17th century CE

A second floor is added to the Qasr al-Basha Palace under the orders of governor Jamal al-Din Aqosh, appointed by the Ottoman governor from the Damascus Governorate. 

During this era, the castle is fitted with protective openings and underground passages to be used as a fortress when enemies attacked and as a means of defending the city.  Inside the castle there were rooms and housing for soldiers, a mosque, a silo, and an arsenal of weapons, cannons, and arrows. 

1649 CE

A Turkish traveler, Evliya Celebi, wrote about Qasr al-Basha Palace saying: “The castle was built in ancient times. It is small and rectangular, and is located one hour east of the sea. Its walls are twenty yards high, and it has an iron door that opens in the direction of the Qiblah.."

Lithograph, 1819

Napoleon conquered Egypt in July and August of 1798, and by February of the following year had embarked on his campaigns laying siege to Palestine.  Some say that before the French general's forced retreat Bonaparte may have stayed in, or attacked the Qasr al-Basha Palace which is why it is sometimes called Napoleon’s Castle. 

Over time, it would become one of the few historical structures from that period which withstood time in the city, and is believed to be the oldest representative of Islamic architecture in Palestine. 

By on/around 1918

Following the First World War and during the period of the British Mandate, when the British controlled Palestine for almost three decades, overseeing a succession of protests, riots and revolts between the Jewish and Palestinian Arab communities, the Qasr al-Basha Palace was renamed Al-Saraya and converted into a police station, with two small rooms allocated under its floor for detention purposes.  

1956 and Later

The Qasr al-Basha Palace became the administration building for Princess Firyal (daughter of King Farouk) School in 1956, when Egypt ruled the Gaza Strip and is later renamed  the Fatimah Al-Zahra School for Girls during the era of President Gamal Abdel Nasser.

1967 through 2005 

By 1967, the Palestinian territory – encompassing the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem was occupied by Israel with much of Gaza's Old City was affected by conflict, including the Qasr al-Basha Palace, which is eventually abandoned. 

1998

By 1998, and now falling under the control of the Palestinian National Authority, that exercised partial civil control over West Bank areas "A" and "B," it is decided to relocate the girl's school from The Qasr al-Basha Palace and to converted the historic structure into a museum which will be overseen by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, to be renamed as the Pasha’s Palace. 

By 2005

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities conduct a restoration project for the Qasr al-Basha/ Pasha’s Palace. The United Nations Development Programme's Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (UNDP/PAPP) and KfW Development Bank of the German government built new facilities for the girls school, and the historic building's restoration begin under the supervision of the Palestinian Authority Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage to become the first museum in the Gaza Strip. 

During the first phase of the project, landscaping is added, as well as new doors, windows, and gates were installed.  The facade of the palace is also restored. In the second phase of the project, appropriate furniture was placed for the museum, in addition to installing glass halls designed to house historical antiquities. 

Pasha’s palace (Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, 2013).

A smaller building in front of the palace is also renovated to be used as an access gate to the museum.

The museum centres on five rooms dedicated to displaying the museum’s modest collection of antiquities which includes Neolithic, Ancient Egyptian, Phoenician, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman and Islamic artefacts.

The first room displayed antiquities predominantly from the Roman era, the second from the Byzantine era, and the third room displays women’s adornments during all eras. The fourth room displayed architectural elements including  stones, columns, and capitals for all eras and the last gallery room, was allocated to artefacts from the Islamic era.

11 December 2023

While the information we have regarding antiquities and cultural assets in Gaza is limited and fragmented, Al Jazeera provided video footage of bombardments on Omar Al-Mukhtar Street which also depicted damages to the historic Pasha Palace Museum although the building remained standing. 

Video and still footage from media and social media sites show the almost complete destruction of the Pasha Palace Museum, leaving only partial walls of the primary structure still standing and the second building in front of the palace completely destroyed. 

ARCA would like to thank and cite the documentary work and photographs used in this article outlining the repurposing of this building found in the academic paper: The Role of Heritage Tourism in Preserving Historical Buildings in Palestine (Case Study of the Pasha’s Palace, Gaza) by author Hammouda Aldohdar.

ARCA's Statement on War Damage

This war has led to calls on heritage professionals and cultural institutions to release statements in support of either Israel or Palestine, something ARCA will not do.  Instead, our reporting will remain as it has always been, focused on cultural property protection, as the significance of the humanitarian consequences of war is outside of the scope of our research. 

Both Israel and Palestine are parties to the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and the Convention’s First (1954) Protocol.  This protocol specifically applies to movable cultural property only, and prohibits the export of movable property from occupied territory and also requires its return to its original territory at the conclusion of hostilities (Article 1).

Palestine has also ratified the Convention’s Second (1999) Protocol which states that Parties to a conflict shall ensure the immunity of cultural property under enhanced protection by refraining from making such property the object of attack or from any use of the property or its immediate surroundings in support of military action.

Under customary international law, Rule 38., each party to the conflict must respect cultural property:

A. Special care must be taken in military operations to avoid damage to buildings dedicated to religion, art, science, education or charitable purposes and historic monuments unless they are military objectives.

B. Property of great importance to the cultural heritage of every people must not be the object of attack unless imperatively required by military necessity.

Image Credit: Archaeology IN - Libya

Following the order of the Central Court of Investigation number 6 of Madrid on 24 November 2023, it was announced last week that Spain had provisionally delivered a grouping of antiquities including four marble sculptures and eight mosaics, recovered during Operación Harmakis to the Libyan authorities at the country's  embassy in Spain.  

Hardly covered in the English speaking press, the pieces were formally transferred at a ceremony held at the Intercontinental Hotel in Madrid, the pieces were delivered to Mohamed Alfaloos, the general director of Museums and Archeology of Libya, and representatives of the ministries of Culture and Foreign Affairs.  Seized during investigations conducted by Spain's law enforcement authorities, each of the artefacts has been earmarked by the Court as having been looted in the North African country, coming from Balagrae (modern day al-Bayda), Apollonia (modern day Marsa-Susa), and the UNESCO World Heritage site of Cyrene (near modern day Shahhat).   They will remain at the Libyan embassy in Madrid, in the custody of the Libyan ambassador to Spain, Walid Abu Abdulla, as per the court's ruling, until the legal case surrounding them has concluded. 

The recovery of these artefacts dates back to late March 2018, when, after three years of investigations involving some fifty law enforcement officers, including the Spanish Policía Nacional, the UDEV Central de la Comisaría General de Policía Judicial and the UCIE de la Comisaría General de Información formal charges were brought against ancient art dealer Jaume Bagot and his partner Oriol Carreras Palomar.  During which, the pair were taken into custody under suspicion for their alleged participation in a crime of financing terrorism, belonging to a criminal organisation, concealment of contraband and use of forgery for their roles in facilitating the sale of illicit antiquities.

During the 2018 Harmakis action, five property searches were conducted, three in Barcelona and two in Argentona, with police inspecting a restoration studio, a deposit/warehouse where the artworks were stored, Bagot's residence and his Barcelona art gallery and the home of Oriol Carreras Palomar.  During the execution of these search warrants, artefacts from multiple countries and circulation documentation were retained by police as evidence in a criminal investigation. 

On March 28th of that same year, the Policía Nacional in Barcelona released a video which depicts part of the searches in which some of the objects sequestered during their investigation can be identified. In this opensource video, some of the mosaics handed over to the Libyan authorities can be seen beginning at 0.38 seconds into the video.  In addition, the marble head of Demeter is depicted from 0.58 until its boxing at 1.11 and the Roman togatus can be seen at 1.19. 

Answering to the charges in Spain, Jaume Bagot and Oriel Carreras appeared before Judicial Magistrate Diego de Egea of the Central Court of Instruction Number 6 of the National Court on March 26, 2018 where each were formally informed of the allegations and charges pending against them.  During the hearing the magistrate granted both men release pending trial, while imposing a financial surety (bond) of €12000 and a series of pretrial release conditions which include the forfeiture of their passports, a mandate to remain within the territory of Spain, and biweekly court appearances as conditions of their release while awaiting trial.

Standing by the all too familiar, I didn't know approach, which has, for so long, contributed to some of the challenges of prosecuting individuals for the illegal trafficking of cultural objects,  Bagot pleaded his innocence in handling blood antiquities in an March 30, 2018 interview with Crónica Global Media.  When asked the carefully-worded question --Do you claim not to have bought any objects from sellers in Iraq, Libya or Syria?  The Spanish dealer responds cleverly:

Never in life. What they intend in the Civil Guard report - to which I have not had access because it is confidential - is to make the judge see that I transported these objects or that I was in charge, through third parties, of moving them from a country. in a conflict zone to another country where there is legality to buy them legally in order to justify the operation.

The police say that I have expressly arranged to buy an object in Libya, take it to Dubai and sell it in Spain. But this is not the case, I don't know any people from Libya, nor do I have any contacts in Libya or anything.

What the Barcelona dealer failed to acknowledge in his interview was that he has bought artefacts coming from conflict and post conflict countries, via intermediary sellers, in multiple countries, who are known for brokering the sales of ancient objects from countries plagued with political and civil upheaval including, in this case, funerary sculptures of Cyrene in Libya.  This demonstartes, once again, that the routes laundered "blood antiquities" travel can be circuitous and that the international flow patterns conflict, and post conflict, antiquities travel often involve intermediary countries with willing middlemen.  This allows bad acting dealers in market country galleries to profess their purchases to these third-parties were made in good faith.  That is, until officers leading investigations gather evidence which proves definitively otherwise. 

Let's not forget that the 10th section of the Rome court in Italy sentenced Jaume Peix Bagot to 4.5 years of incarceration for his handling & laundering of the second-century headless Roman sculpture depicting the Muse Calliope which had been stolen from actor Roberto Benigni's villa in 2010.  That sculpture was identified in Spain with the dealer in April 2019 and was identified as part of a multinational investigation conducted by the Spanish authorities and Italy's Comando Carabinieri per la Tutela del Patrimonio Culturale who also recovered another sculpture in  the posession of another Spanish dealer that had been stolen from Villa Borghese.

ARCA would like to close this blog post with a reminder to its collecting readers that the market for illicit antiquities operates within the framework of basic economic principles, where the scarcity of authentic material and supply and demand dynamics play a pivotal role in incentivising the clandestine trade in ancient artefacts.  As the demand for antiquities by collectors, private investors, and museums increases, this buying power in turn stimulates profiteering individuals to acquire more and more material, sometimes sourcing artefacts through individuals who engage in, or turn a blind eye to, where, or who, a sellable object comes from.

Collectors of ancient art who acquire archaeological material without conducting thorough scrutiny of the sellers, especially when encountering seemingly too-good-to-be-true items like a Hellenistic Greek marble head from a war torn country, inadvertently fuel a perpetuating cycle of illegal activities. Unchecked acquisitions also contribute to the ongoing destruction of archaeological sites, posing a threat to the preservation of our historical record. 

A more conscientious approach involves diligent research into the provenance and legal status of what a collector or museum are purchasing, accompanied by a proactive "Know Your Seller" strategy. This not only shields the purchaser from potential legal complications but also plays a pivotal role in disrupting the demand side of the illicit supply chain for cultural goods, particularly antiquities from conflict-ridden regions. 

Responsible acquisition practices can and does empower collectors to contribute actively to the protection of global cultural heritage. By prioritising the preservation of our shared human history over profit, collectors wield significant influence in fostering an art market characterized by ethical values and a genuine commitment to cultural preservation.

By:  Lynda Albertson

As those who read our earlier article this week have seen, ARCA matched several of the recovered jewellery pieces to exhibitions which displayed 21 pieces of jewellery owned by LLC Rodovid Museum.  This relatively new company is controlled by Ukrainian businessman Igor Didkovsky, who, during the presidency of now deposed Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko, was once the director of the Art Arsenal from 2007 to 2010.  

From August 2007 to June 2009, Didkovsky also headed the Viche political party, which has since changed its name to Aktsent (in 2018).  Didkovsky has described himself as the president of the RODOVID group of companies as well as the Chairman of the supervisory board of ВАТ КУА ІСІ "МИР", which appears to be a closed-end venture investment fund.  

Interviewed in 2012, Didkovsky boasted that he was the owner of the largest collection of Scythian gold in the world. At the time of these statements, it was reported that his collection included 4 pectorals as well as the only belt of a Scythian queen.  All of which the collector claimed to have purchased for "a small amount of money."   

Igor Didkovsky and the belt of a Scythian queen

Didkovsky's collection has been displayed in 2009 in an Art Arsenal exhibition titled “From the Depths”. In 2010 it popped up briefly at a meeting of the "Club of Successful Women", in Kyiv.  And lastly, over three days, the gold was displayed at the International Forum of Investment and Innovation held at the Fairmont Grand Hotel Kyiv from May 15 -17, 2013.  

As has been stated in the Policia Nacional press release, the joint Spanish - Ukrainian investigation was kickstarted in 2021 with the private sale of what was described as a Scythian "gold belt with ram heads that was deposited in a safe in Madrid."   If the object identified in the Spain case is the same belt of a Scythian queen mentioned by Didkovsky, we now have a Facebook social media photo identifying that specific artefact, when it was listed as part of the exhibition held at the Kyiv hotel.

Black Archaeology + wealth + unethical collecting + confllict excavations

At its peak in the Middle Ages, the Slavic kingdom of the Kyivan Rus, as Ukraine was then known, extended north from the Black Sea to encompass most of what is now western Russia.  Rich in history, Ukraine's movable cultural heritage includes material from Paleolithic and Neolithic settlements, the settlements of the Trypillian people, and the rare, but glittery, gold-filled Scythian and Sarmatian burial sites.

Other Scythian sites can be found on either side of the Kerch Straits between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, as well as in the Caucasus Mountains primarily along the Kuban River and in the contested area of Crimea.  

Unfortunately, privately collecting by the country's elite who too often have an odious lack of concern for an object's origins, is all too prevalent.  Following its independence, Ukraine has seen the rise of several private archaeological collections, of which only a few have any footprint in the public domain.  

In addition to Didkovsky's we also have the Feldman collection, which was started by Oleksandr Feldman, and is now part of the Feldman Family Museum project in Kharkiv, the Platar and the Yushchenko collections.

Sergei Platonov died in 2005, leaving his ancient art collection, the Platar, to his heirs and business partners.  While living, he often indicated that he and his colleague, politician Sergey Taruta, bought material specifically to protect Ukraine's heritage from avaricious foreigners.  Like Didkovsky, Platonov didn't shy away from acknowledging to have purchased artefacts sourced via black archaeology -- the looting of archaeological sites, rather than through the ethical purchase of artefacts already in circulation from legitimate sources. 

Recently, in May 2023 Censor.NET journalist Tetyana Nikolayenko published a copy of the letter in which the Security Service of Ukraine confirmed the opening of an investigation after State Customs at the border in the Lviv region detained Chinese objects from the same Platar collection mentioned earlier.  According to statements by this collection's patrons, Sergei Platonov's son Mykola Platonov and Sergey Taruta, the items were being exported to Prague for an exhibition at the Galerie Gema s.r.o, a rather oddly selected venue for historic pieces of that calibre. 

In 2021, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation issued a permit for archaeological work in occupied Crimea specifically at the site of Chersonesus.  Working in an area covering some 400,000 square meters, the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Archaeology of Crimea of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Sevastopol State University began excavating, in some cases using heavy equipment and improper scientific methods as trenches were cleared.

This exploration is openly reported on the Hermitage website, despite the fact that it  violates the 1954 Hague Convention,

According to this report published by the State Hermatage Museum, excavations by their researchers uncovered 70 objects which were then transferred to the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia in contravention of Ukraine's cultural heritage laws.   

These objects included:

"a set of dishes for a funeral meal (jugs, bowls, drinking vessels), clay lamps, glass balsamaria, bone and bronze pyxides, small household items made of non-ferrous and precious metals, jewelry and clothing decorative elements, agate and carnelian beads, pendants from Egyptian faience. Gold eyecups and mouthpieces were discovered in the urns - details of the funeral rites of noble citizens of Roman times."

It should be underscored that the provisions of the Second Protocol to the Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict states as follows:

Article 9 - Protection of cultural property in occupied territory 

1. Without prejudice to the provisions of Articles 4 and 5 of the Convention, a Party in occupation of the whole or part of the territory of another Party shall prohibit and prevent in relation to the occupied territory: 

(a) any illicit export, other removal or transfer of ownership of cultural property; 

(b) any archaeological excavation, save where this is strictly required to safeguard, record or preserve cultural property; 

(c) any alteration to, or change of use of, cultural property which is intended to conceal or destroy cultural, historical or scientific evidence. 

2. Any archaeological excavation of, alteration to, or change of use of, cultural property in occupied territory shall, unless circumstances do not permit, be carried out in close cooperation with the competent national authorities of the occupied territory.

Just my way of saying to those in a position of wealth and/or power the axe forgets, but the tree remembers.

By:  Lynda Albertson