Gold Market

This article is about a specific market in Gaza. For the broader concept of buying and selling of gold as a commodity, see commodities market.
Gold Market
Souk ad-Dahab
Qissariya Market
Women strolling through the market
Gold Market is located in Gaza City
Gold Market
Location within Gaza City
Alternative namesCaesarea market[1]
General information
LocationGaza, Palestine
Coordinates31°30′11″N 34°27′50″E / 31.50306°N 34.46389°E / 31.50306; 34.46389

The Gold Market (Arabic: سوق الذهب Souk ad-Dahab; also known as the Qissariya Market, Arabic: سوق القيسارية Souk al-Qissariya) was a narrow covered passageway located in the old quarter of Gaza, Palestine; it was both a center for trading and buying gold, and location for foreign exchange.[2] The market was located along the southern edge of the Great Mosque of Gaza,[3] beside the main Omar Mukhtar Street. The Market was configured with a pointed and vaulted roof above the central road, which was lined on both sides by small shops that are themselves roofed by the cross vaults of the covered central road.[4]

History

A late15th-century document mentions a Qissariya at Gaza that was built on the orders of Sheikh Shams ad-Din al-Himsi, a qadi or judge. The archaeologist Moain Sadeq suggests that this refers to the Gold Market immediately south of the Great Omari Mosque and that it was established during al-Himi's tenure as qadi from 1448/49 to 1476/77 (851–881 AH).[5] The Market originally formed a part of a much larger covered market, but most of the area was destroyed by the British Army during World War I.[6]

It was common for people from Gaza to buy jewellery from the Gold Market to present to brides as a traditional gift as part of Palestinian marriage.[7] The market underwent a conservation programme between 2020 and 2023.[8] The market was destroyed on December 7th, 2023, by an Israeli air strike on the adjacent Great Omari Mosque.[9][10]

See also

  • Destruction of cultural heritage during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip
  • List of archaeological sites in the Gaza Strip

References

  1. ^ "Destruction of the Palestinian cultural heritage of Gaza – in pictures". The Guardian. 11 January 2024. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  2. ^ Jacobs 1998, p. 454.
  3. ^ Sadeq 1991, p. 288.
  4. ^ Travel in Gaza Archived August 23, 2013, at the Wayback Machine MidEastTraveling.
  5. ^ Sadeq 1991, pp. 290–291.
  6. ^ Gold Market Review Lonelyplanet.
  7. ^ Abdulrahim, Raja; Rosales, Helmuth; Shbair, Bilal; Singhvi, Anjali; Solomon, Erika; Abuheweila, Iyad; Bashir, Abu Bakr; Harouda, Ameera; Khurana, Malika; Penney, Veronica (29 October 2024). "Gaza in Ruins After a Year of War". The New York Times. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  8. ^ The Catastrophic state of Gaza’s cultural heritage under the deliberate Israeli bombings: Case of Souk Al-Qaisariyya, ICOMOS Palestine, 27 August 2024, p. 2, retrieved 13 February 2025
  9. ^ Estrin, Daniel (9 December 2023). "Israeli strike leaves Gaza's oldest mosque in ruins". NPR. Archived from the original on 19 March 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  10. ^ "Destruction of the Palestinian cultural heritage of Gaza – in pictures". the Guardian. 11 January 2024. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 5 March 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.

Bibliography

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