STORY: 2nd Roman-era sarcophagus uncovered at Gaza's cemetery site
DATELINE: July 17, 2023
LENGTH: 00:03:05
LOCATION: GAZA, Palestine
CATEGORY: CULTURE

SHOTLIST:
1. various of a Roman-era cemetery in Gaza
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): JAMAL ABU RIDA, Director-general of Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
3. various of the Roman-era cemetery in Gaza
4. SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): JAMAL ABU RIDA, Director-general of Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
5. various of Palestinian workers at the Roman-era cemetery in Gaza

STORYLINE:

A second Roman-era sarcophagus made out of lead was recently uncovered at an excavation site of a cemetery located in the northern Gaza Strip, the enclave's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said Sunday.

"The new sarcophagus was found during excavation work inside a cemetery discovered in March 2022 in the northern Gaza Strip," Jamal Abu Rida, director-general of the ministry, told Xinhua.

Several other antiquities, including the first sarcophagus made out of lead, pottery jars, and glass vessels, had been unearthed in the cemetery before this discovery, according to Abu Rida.

SOUNDBITE 1 (Arabic): JAMAL ABU RIDA, Director-general of Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
"This is the second sarcophagus of lead, dating back to the Roman era, as another coffin was found several months ago, and the first sarcophagus was moved to the Ministry's headquarters. In addition, a number of foreign experts were invited to examine these coffins and find out their time periods."

Technical teams from the ministry have been working with foreign experts to analyze the cultural manifestations of the findings, Abu Rida noted.

In March 2022, the ministry discovered a 2,000-year-old cemetery covering an area of 4,000 square meters that was later found to include 125 tombs of different shapes and sizes, according to Abu Rida.

SOUNDBITE 2 (Arabic): JAMAL ABU RIDA, Director-general of Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
"Approximately 125 tombs of different sizes and shapes were found, and each tomb carries a story for the deceased inside, whether individuals or groups. The cemetery extends over an area of 4,000 meters and is 2,000 years old. As we are in the process of building a wall for the cemetery in order to preserve it, to be added to a number of archaeological sites that we are preserving. This cemetery proves the existence of the Palestinian people in this land and denies what the Israelis claim that the land of Palestine is a land without a people."

Home to more than 2 million people, the Israel-blockaded Gaza Strip, run by the Islamist Palestinian armed group Hamas, is one of the oldest regions known to history as a trade nexus for Arab merchants.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Gaza, Palestine.
(XHTV)