Siege of Gaza (332 BC) 332 BC
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Year | 332 BC | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
|---|---|---|
| Era | Ancient (before 500) | derived from year |
| Location | Palestine | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Asia | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Wars of Alexander the Great | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 31.5167, 34.4500 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The siege of Gaza, as part of the Wars of Alexander the Great, took place in October of 332 BC. Resulting in a victory for Macedon, it ended the 31st Dynasty of Egypt, which functioned as a satrapy under the Achaemenid Persian Empire.
Alexander succeeded in breaching the walls of Gaza by utilizing the engines that he had employed earlier that year, during the siege of Tyre brought by Hephaestion. Following three unsuccessful assaults, the Macedonian army was able to storm and take the Gazan stronghold.
Batis, the military commander of Gaza's fortress, expected to hold the city as well as the rest of Egypt in complete subjection until the raising of another army by Persian king Darius III; confronting Alexander at Gaza was crucial to denying the Macedonians a route into the Egyptian mainland. The fortress was located on an eminence, on the edge of a desert from which the surrounding area could be easily controlled, including the main road from Assyria to Egypt. The city, over 18 metres (60 ft) high, was traditionally employed to control the surrounding area, which, even then, was a hotbed of dissent. Batis was aware that Alexander was leading his army southward after successfully conquering Tyre, and therefore provisioned Gaza for a long siege by the Macedonian army.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Siege of Gaza (332 BC) (revision 1370741433), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Wars of Alexander the Great
- Battle of the Granicus 334 BC
- Siege of Halicarnassus 334 BC
- Siege of Miletus 334 BC
- Battle of Issus 333 BC
- Siege of Tyre (332 BC) 332 BC
- Battle of Gaugamela 331 BC
- Battle of the Uxian Defile 331 BC
- Battle of the Persian Gate 330 BC
- Battle of Jaxartes 329 BC
- Siege of Cyropolis 329 BC
All 12 battles of the Wars of Alexander the Great →
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