Palestine: 4,500-year-old stone statuette of face of goddess found in Gaza

A stone statuette over 4,500 years old depicting the face of an ancient goddess was discovered in the southern Gaza Strip, archaeological authorities in the besieged Palestinian enclave announced on Monday.

Carved out of limestone and 22 centimetres long, the 2500 BCE statuette was found by a farmer working his land in Khan Yunis, according to the ministry of tourism and antiquities, which is run by Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules Gaza.

"The statue represents the Canaanite goddess Anat," Jamal Abu Reda, in charge of antiquities at the ministry, said in a statement.

Anat, one of the best-known Canaanite deities, was the goddess of love and war.

It was uncovered on what was an important "overland trade route for several civilisations" that lived in what is now the Gaza Strip, according to Abu Reda.

The find was the latest in Gaza, where tourism at archaeological sites is limited due to a crushing Israeli blockade of the Palestinian enclave which began after Hamas took control of the Strip in 2007 and has been widely decried an illegal form of collective punishment, including by human rights groups.

In February, workers at a construction site in northern Gaza discovered 31 Roman-era tombs dating to the first century CE.

Israel and Egypt, which shares a border with Gaza, tightly restrict the flow of people in and out of the impoverished territory, causing immense suffering in an area that is home to about 2.3 million Palestinians.

In January, Hamas reopened the remains of a fifth-century Byzantine church following a years-long restoration effort backed by foreign donors.