Gaza
- Ancient name
- Gaza
- Modern name
- Gaza, Gaza City
- Modern country
- Israel
- Coordinates
- 31.5, 34.46
- World Historical Gazetteer
- https://whgazetteer.org/places/portal/8364041
The medieval port of Gaza, also written Gazara (Pleiades 687904), sits on the Sfera maps between Larissa and Ascalon, and corresponds roughly with the present-day Gaza City. After some instability in the Middle Ages (involving Fatimid, crusader, and Ayyubid control as well as a Mongol sack of the city in 1260), by the 14th century the city was securely in Mamluk hands, and Ibn Battuta described it as "large and populous, with many mosques." Campbell #1528.
This toponym does not appear in the poem, only on the maps accompanying it.
Map of the location M011
Variant spellings of Gaza in Sfera manuscripts
| Variant | Manuscripts |
|---|---|
| [...]ianza | Ricc17 |
| [sarra]? probably gazara | Urb1 |
| Caza | Clas2 |
| chaza | Fn3, Med3, Vat2, Wie1 |
| chazo | Ashb3 |
| gaezzara | Tre |
| ganza | Cap1 |
| Ganza | Marc2 |
| gaza | Con1, Magl2, Ricc8, Spe |
| Gaza | Cors2, Parm2, Per2 |
| Gazia | Fo, Ricc14, Vat3 |
| gaziara | He1, Par4 |
| Gazza | BL01, Chig1, Cs1, Fn9, Laur3, Pnc4, Ricc6 |
| gazza | Barb3, Barb4, Borg, Con4, He2, NB, NYPL3, New, Ricc11, Ro2 |
| gazzA | Ricc9 |
| gazzara | Marc1, Tre |
| gazzarra | Bal |
| ghaza | ME2, Pad1 |
| ghazza | Fn8, Pnc5, Ricc12, Ricc13 |
| gheza | Ricc15 |
| Gianza | NYPL2 |
| giatta | Fn6 |
| giazara | Par4 |
| giaziara | He1 |
| gietta | Pal5 |
| Zaffa | Con3 |
- Suggested citation
- Beneš, Carrie. “Gaza.” Gregorio Dati’s La sfera = The Globe: A Digital Edition, November 13, 2026. https://la-sfera-staging-a8db029690a6.herokuapp.com/toponyms/gaza/.