Anthedon is the first known seaport of Gaza and is mentioned in Islamic literature along with Tida. The city was inhabited from 800 BC to 1100 AD. One kilometer south of Anthedon is the ancient harbor of Maiumas, which was once identified as the harbor of Gaza. It has been continuously populated and during the Roman period became a flourishing, well-developed coastal town. Maiumas, which is mentioned only in late classical sources, dates back to an earlier period when Gaza’s trade with Greece began. Maiumas comes from an Egyptian word that means “maritime place.”
The archaeological site of ancient Anthedon has not been precisely identified. There are several heaps of ruins in various neighborhoods of Gaza City, which have been considered to be the old harbor. However, the site of Anthedon is probably a hill located to the north of Gaza known to the locals as Tida. In the Middle Ages, Anthedon was known as Tida or Taida.
The present site consists of the ruins of a Roman temple and a section of a wall, as well as Roman artisan quarters and a series of villas. Mosaic floors, warehouses, and fortified structures were also found in the area. The site’s archaeological remains date from the late Iron Age, as well as from the Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. The excavated site is about five acres in size. It consists of a well-preserved 65-metre mud-brick wall, which once surrounded the old commercial city center. The massive walls stretch 30 meters eastwards at the extraordinary height of 8 meters, with a thickness of 6 meters.