Saving Gaza's past

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 8 September 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The history of Gaza dates back more than 5000 years. In antiquity, it was a key port on the Mediterranean coast. Assyrians, Ancient Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and the Ottomans have all left their mark on this small territory. This rich history is seen by Palestinians as central to their identity. Amid the death and destruction of the war, the BBC’s Middle East Correspondent Yolande Knell meets the Palestinians who’ve desperately tried to save what remains of Gaza’s past.

This episode of The Documentary comes to you from Assignment, investigations and journeys into the heart of global events

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to the documentary podcast from the BBC World Service.
0:09.5	The Golden Beach of Gaza City is crammed with makeshift tents.
0:14.9	Thousands of people displaced time and again in nearly two years of war
0:19.6	are now camping out in desperate conditions.
0:22.9	There's mass starvation and thirst,
0:25.8	and there's been a catastrophic loss of life.
0:28.8	But still, that's not all people are mourning.
0:31.8	Many also feel that their history has been erased.
0:38.3	This area is where the antiquities were.
0:40.3	It stretched out from here.
0:42.3	This was all an archaeological area.
0:45.3	It was really something.
0:46.3	How can I describe it to you?
0:49.3	Beautiful things.
0:50.3	We saw the antiquities, the old rooms.
0:53.3	One man, Naiman Abdul Al, in his 60s, remembers the first time he saw the mud-brick walls of the ancient port of Anthodon,
1:02.2	which dates back more than 2,000 years.
1:05.5	They were dug out from under the sand dunes in the 1990s.
1:09.2	And for locals, even then living through tough times,
1:12.7	it was a symbol of Gaza's glorious past.
1:16.3	Now, Naiman feels the indignity of having to live here.
1:23.0	Today, there are no heritage sites left.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.