# Tell Ruqeish

Tell Ruqeish is an Iron Age settlement and archaeological site in the Gaza Strip. It was established in the 8th century BC and continued to be used into the Persian period until the 4th century BC. Tell Ruqeish began as a fortified settlement, but the fortifications were abandoned while habitation continued in the Persian period. The remains include a cemetery, fortification walls, possible warehouses, and structures connected to industrial processes. The site was partially excavated at several points in the 20th century. Part of the settlement has been submerged by rising sea levels.

## History

The Neo-Assyrian Empire conquered Philistine Gaza in 734 BC, during the Iron Age, and became a vassal city state. Along with Iblakhiyya, Tell Ruqeish is one of two sites in the Gaza Strip to have produced significant remains dating to the Neo-Assyrian period. The settlement of Tell Ruqeish was established in the second half of the 8th century BC. It was an important trading hub during the rule of the Neo-Assyrian and Achaemenid Empires in the region. The archaeologists who investigated the site in the 1980s suggested that its distance from Gaza was evidence that it was administratively independent. The discovery of cremation burials was consistent with Phoenicians funerary customs. The fortification wall that formed the boundary of the Iron Age settlement was disused in the Persian period, and Tell Ruqeish was essentially an unfortified settlement at that stage.

## Later history and investigation

In 1940, 30 graves were found at Tell Ruqeish during work on building a police station. Jacob Ory carried out excavations of the cemetery for the British Mandate Department of Antiquities in Palestine. The associated settlement was found later. Avraham Biran of the Israel Department of Antiquities led excavations at Tell Ruqeish in late 1973, ahead of the development of a road in the area. The work investigated two areas about 500 metres (1,600 ft) apart. In the northern area found walls and floors that likely formed part of the settlement connected to the cemetery; the remains were dated to the Iron Age and Persian periods. The southern area investigated focused on the cemetery identified by Ory. Eliezer Oren of the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev led excavations at Tell Ruqeish between 1982 and 1984. Further excavations were carried out in 1993 by Ya'aqov Huster of the Israel Antiquities Authority with the involvement of Palestinian archaeologists to record archaeological remains that had been damaged during the process of mining kurkar (lithified sand dunes). The work investigated part of the northern wall enclosing the settlement, and found further evidence that the fortification went out of use in the Iron Age.
Building works, coastal erosion, and erosion of the sand dunes covering the site all present conservation challenges. In 2022, the Gaza Maritime Archaeology Project (GAZAMAP) involving researchers based in Gaza and the UK conducted a field survey of Tell Ruqeish, recording new features at the site. Tell Ruqeish was affected during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, though to what extent is uncertain.

## Layout

The site covers approximately 8 to 10 hectares (20 to 25 acres), and the fortified settlement is delineated by wall. Tell Ruqeish's coastal location means that it is vulnerable to erosion, and some of the features identified in the 1970s have since been submerged as the coastline retreats. It is located on the coast of Deir el-Balah in the Gaza Strip, 18 kilometres (11 mi) south of Gaza City.
The wall of the fortification is 5.5 metres (18 ft) thick and survives to a height of 5 metres (16 ft) in parts. Occupation layers at Tell Ruqeish are up to 4 metres (13 ft) thick, containing evidence of Iron Age and Persian activity at the site. Buildings identified through excavation include possible warehouses and the remains of a structure used in industrial processes. the north end of the site was elevated and had its own mound, Tel Katif, that has been interpreted as a citadel.
In the Iron Age the settlement extended further to the west, but the sea level has since risen by an estimated 2 metres (6 ft 7 in). The archaeologists involved with the 1980s investigations remarked that Tell Ruqeish's "extensive area ... and the massive system of fortifications that surrounded it put it on a par with the large urban settlements in Palestine during the Iron Age".