A.D. 1332.--Sir John Maundeville, a native of St. Albans, speaks of Gaza as "a gay and rich city; and it is very fair, and full of people, and is but a little distance from the sea." Like other cities of old, it was, for fear of pirates, built at some distance, about two and a half miles, from the sea. A.D. 1370.--The Franciscan friar, John of Naples, martyred at Gaza. A.D. 1432.--Bertrandon de la Brocguière, a knight in the service of the Duke of Burgundy, speaks of pilgrims being harshly treated in Gaza. A.D. 1516.--The Turks crushed the Mamelukes at Gaza. This victory opened Egypt to Selim I of Constantinople. Egypt thus became a Pashalik of the Turkish Empire, and remained so until its conquest by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799, when its Jewish inhabitants fled from the city. A.D. 1584.--Samaritans are known to have lived in Gaza at this date, and possessed a synagogue. Two large baths in the city belonged to them. One of them still bears the name of "the Bath of the Samaritans." In 1907 an inscription was found at Gaza with a Biblical text, in Samaritan characters. The writing is not ancient, and it is still in the possession of the Muslim finder. During the occupancy of the Pashas of Gaza, one of them (of the fourth family Ridwan) desired to procure the inn and bath belonging to the Samaritan community. The owner objected, and gave them to the Muslims for the benefit of the Great Mosque. The Pasha consequently was indignant, and hanged the Samaritan at the gate of the inn. From the end of the sixteenth century we hear nothing more of the Samaritans at Gaza. (For additional information see also Chapter VI.) A.D. 1771.--Ali Bey, a slave, obtained great power in Egypt, and occupied Gaza. A.D. 1796.--Arabs destroyed Gaza during a civil war. A.D. 1799.--Napoleon Bonaparte took Gaza in February, having crossed the desert with about 13,000 men. "Napoleon has emphasised the indispensableness of Gaza, whether in the invasion or the defence of the Nile valley."--_G. A. Smith._ A.D. 1831.--Mohammed Ali, a native of Roumelia, attacked Gaza in November, without being resisted. A.D. 1839.--A great plague broke out in Gaza, and carried off large numbers of its inhabitants. A.D. 1878.--The Church Missionary Society commenced work at Gaza. FOOTNOTES: [10] Some of these events in the first section are not referred to either in the Old Testament or the Books of the Maccabees. [11] Perhaps the earliest notice of Gaza is contained in the Tel-el-Amarna tablets in a letter from a local Governor, who then held it for Egypt. [12] _Ant._, XIV. iv. 4; _Bell. Jud._, I. vii. 7. [13] _Bell. Jud._, I. xx. 3, and II. vi. 3. [14] Paul was a native of Tarsus. He became a monk or abbot of the famous Upper Egyptian Rule of Tabenna, founded by St. Pachomius, _c._ A.D. 340. CHAPTER III FRANKINCENSE (ARABIAN) AND GAZA