Maiuma

Coordinates: 31°31′N 34°27′E / 31.517°N 34.450°E / 31.517; 34.450
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Maioumas" redirects here. For the ancient festival of this name, see May Day.
Maiuma
Place
Maiuma is located in State of Palestine
Maiuma
Maiuma
Location of Maiuma within Palestine
Coordinates: 31°31′N 34°27′E / 31.517°N 34.450°E / 31.517; 34.450
StateState of Palestine
Founded1st century BCE

Maiuma (also Maiumas or Maiouma) was an ancient town and one of the two ports of

Gaza strip
.

History

In antiquity, Maiuma was one of the two

Incense Road's principal port on the Mediterranean. Therefore, it was sometimes simply called "the port of Gaza", for instance Strabo[2] and Ptolemy referred to it as Gazaion limen. However, it was distinct from the city, which was located opposite it,[3] and recognised as an independent city since the early Christian era. The Greek name Neapolis ("the new city") seems to have also been used in reference to it.[4]

Nabataeans and Hasmoneans

The port of Gaza was at the end of the

Hasmonean king.[7]

Roman and Byzantine periods

Maiuma was rebuilt after it was incorporated into the

Pompey Magnus and trade routes were reopened.[8] Although the town grew to a community of no small importance with a population as high as 9,000 and increasingly sought independence of Gaza, it remained a dependent kōme (dependent settlement of a Greek polis).[9]

During the reign of Constantine the Great, who granted Maiuma the status of a separate city, it received the name Konstanteia after the emperor's sister (or son).[10] It has been suggested that Maiuma's residents "collectively opted to convert to Christianity"[11] or that it made some sort of public declaration of its Christianity.[9]

Under

Emperor Julian, known as Julian the Apostate by Christians, it was downgraded and the name was changed to Maioumas ("harbour place"),[3]
or as "the part of Gaza towards the sea".[12] Though it is sometimes associated with a pagan festival also called the Maiuma or Maiouma,[13][14] the similarity of these names may be a coincidence.[15] According to 6th-century scholar John Malalas, "the Mysteries of Dionysus and Aphrodite...is known as the Maioumas because it is celebrated in the month of May-Artemisios."[16] Following emperors did not reverse Julian's decision, though they allowed Maiuma to maintain an independent bishopric.[9]

Christianity in Maiuma

See also: Hilarion

Maiuma seems to have been an early center of the spread of Christianity, which may explain the treatment of its status by Constantine and Julian. Its population was said to have been largely Egyptian in origin.

First Council of Ephesus in 431; Paul, who took part in the Second Council of Ephesus in 449; Peter the Iberian who was reluctant to serve in the office but was elected by the citizens in 452 nevertheless; John Rufus, his successor; and Procopius, chronologically the last known bishop of Maiuma, known to have participated in the Synod of Jerusalem of 581.[19] Mention must also be made of St. Cosmas of Maiuma
.

The city was famous for the fact that the tomb of a Saint Victor was located in it (although it is unclear which Saint Victor this was).[20][21]

coenobium. John Moschus mentions a laura that might be that of Severus in the early seventh century, however, the exact location of the monastery remains unknown.[22]

Bishops of Maiuma

After its independence from the dioceses of Gaza under Constantine, Maiuma was the seat of an independent bishop. An incomplete list of bishops includes:

Remains of Maiuma

Main article: Port of Gaza

Maiuma is identified with al-Mina, about 4 kilometers from Gaza towards the sea. Remarkable archaeological findings from the site include the mosaic floor of the

King David with a lyre, dated to the early 6th century AD and discovered in the mid-1960s. The city appears to have been fortified, but the enclosure wall still seems hard to trace.[24]

Notes

  1. ^
    ISBN 9781405179355
    . Retrieved 9 January 2024. During antiquity, Gaza was prosperous. Located at the point of arrival of caravans from the Arabian Peninsula and Arabian Gulf and connected with the Mediterranean Sea by two ports, Anthedon and Maiuma, the city was an important commercial center, which played a particularly significant role in the incense trade.
  2. ^ E. g. Strabo, Geography, 16. 2. 21
  3. ^ a b The Children of Noah: Jewish Seafaring in Ancient Times, 1999, Raphael Patai
  4. ^ Cart. Mad. 114
  5. ^ Hecht Museum Archived 2018-11-20 at the Wayback Machine The Nabateans in the Negev Curator: Renate Rosenthal-Haginbottom
  6. ^ Israeli MFA
  7. ISBN 0-8028-6285-3
    , pp 117-133
  8. ^ "Gaza - (Gaza, al -'Azzah)". Studium Biblicum Franciscanum - Jerusalem. 2000-12-19. Archived from the original on 2012-07-28. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
  9. ^
    ISBN 9780812292237
    . Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  10. Sozomenus
    , Ecclesiastical History, 5. 3
  11. ISBN 978-0-19-928417-7
    .
  12. Sozomenus
    , Ecclesiastical History, 5. 3; 7. 28
  13. ISBN 1-900269-03-1
    p 9
  14. ISBN 0-674-51173-5
    p 553
  15. ISBN 90-04-13868-4
    p 3
  16. ^ Malalas, Chronicle 284-285
  17. Marcus Diaconus
    , Life of St. Porphyrius, p. 49, 5. 11 ff
  18. ^
    ISBN 978-90-04-27677-2
    . Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  19. ^ a b Madaba Map Centennary page at the Franciscan Christus Rex webpage [dead link]
  20. Antoninus Placentinus
    33; Cart. Mad. 125
  21. ISBN 978-0-19-927753-7
    .
  22. ISBN 9789004138681
    . Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  23. ^ James Strong; John McClintock (1880). "Samonas". Samonas from the McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia. The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. New York: Haper and Brothers. Retrieved 3 December 2023 – via biblicalcyclopedia.com.
  24. Madaba Mosaic Map webpage

Sources
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