Tell es-Sakan

Tell es-Sakan (Arabic: تل السكن, lit. 'Hill of Ash') is a tell (a mound created by accumulation of remains) about 5 kilometres (3 mi) south of Gaza City in the Gaza Strip. It was the site of two separate Early Bronze Age urban settlements: it was initially an administrative centre of the Egyptian colonies in southwestern Palestine, inhabited from about 3300 BCE to 3000 BCE, and after a period of abandonment a Canaanite city was established around 2600 BCE and inhabited until about 2250 BCE.

Tell es-Sakan was positioned along what was probably a palaeochannel of the Wadi Ghazzeh and it functioned as a trading post. It may have been established as a successor to Taur Ikhbeineh, a nearby settlement that was inhabited in the 34th century BCE. After Tell es-Sakan was abandoned for a second time, the settlement of Tell el-Ajjul was established 500 metres (1,600 ft) to the south, and was likely intended as a replacement. Tell es-Sakan is the oldest known Egyptian fortified site, and the only known Egyptian fortification beyond the Nile Valley.

The tell covered around 8–9 hectares (20–22 acres), of which 1,400 square metres (15,000 sq ft) has undergone archaeological excavation though a larger area has been destroyed as a result of construction and conflict. The site was discovered in 1998 during a building project and investigated as part of a joint Palestinian–French archaeological project. Though there were plans for further work, fieldwork halted after the 2000 season due to the start of the Second Intifada. Finds from Tell es-Sakan have been displayed to the public at exhibitions in France and Switzerland. In 2017, Hamas began bulldozing part of the site but halted following opposition from various groups, including the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Islamic University of Gaza. The site was further damaged as a result of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip in 2023–25.