Egyptian Sultan Barquq, and here Napoleon had a remarkable escape from capture by Arabs.
Just beyond kilo. 202, 2⅓ kilos. beyond Rafa (Rephaim), is the frontier between Palestine and Egypt.
Gaza.—Gaza was the southernmost of the five allied cities (the others being Ascalon, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron) of the "Pelishtim" or Philistines, the non-Semitic people inhabiting the country of Peleshet, which was the name given to the low-lying plain between Mt. Carmel and the frontier of Egypt. Through the land of Peleshet lay the only route practicable for armies between Egypt and Babylonia; and Gaza has been the scene in the course of history of innumerable battles. Its affinities in antiquity were generally with Egypt; and although it is now the last outpost of Palestine towards the south (and since 1922 the capital of the Southern Province of Palestine), historically it has rather been the sally-port of Egypt towards the north.
Beside the main transit route from Egypt to Damascus, three other routes reached the sea at Gaza. The first was the frankincense route from Yemen through the Hejaz to Petra, whence a branch ran to Gaza; the second was the sea route from the east, of which one branch led to Egypt and another to Ezion-geber (Akaba), and thence by caravan to Petra and Gaza; the third connected Gaza by way of Petra and Jauf with lower Mesopotamia. This was the most direct route across northern Arabia, and, in as late a period as the Roman Occupation, was thronged with caravans. For Gaza the most important route was the frankincense route. The demand for frankincense and myrrh in ancient worship was immense and could only be met in the one way; when Alexander the Great took Gaza, the booty of the city included vast stores of frankincense in its warehouses. Gaza was then the largest city in Palestine and Syria.
Gaza was famous under the Philistines for the worship of the fish-divinities Dagon (Marnas) and Derketo (Atargatis), who probably had Minoan affinities. The story of
