Anthedon, on the coast north of Gaza City, was the ancient seaport that served the city through Iron Age, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine periods. Excavations on the dunes uncovered traces of a wide harbour basin, warehouses, public baths, a city wall, and a temple complex — though most of the site lies under sand or under modern construction. The harbour silted up in the early medieval period and was abandoned.
For travellers interested in the deep history of the Mediterranean coast, Anthedon was the most evocative site in the Gaza Strip: a stretch of windswept dunes hiding the layered remains of three thousand years of seafaring. Access was severely restricted in normal times and effectively impossible during the recent war.