Author:
Blakely Jeffrey A.,Czitron Dror
Abstract
A long-overlooked Mamluk bridge spanning the W?d? al-Hasi (Na?al Shiqma) between Gaza andMajdal (Ashqelon) was built at the behest of Sultan Baybars about 1270, as mentioned by ?Izz al-D?n Ibn Shadd?d in his Ta?r?khal-M?lik al-??hir. It was also noted in a variety of travel accountsspanning the 17th through 19th centuries and it was even photographed in the 1880s. Later itbecame a point of interest during the Great War when it was shelled by the British Navy as partof the Third Battle of Gaza, yet it survived to be repaired. Since it was on an important road evenin 1948, it was destroyed by a unit of Palmach in an attempt to impact infrastructure. The bridgeis one of the smallest of the six known Baybars bridges, yet it fully fits with the technologicalcharacteristics of the other examples.