Apollo of Gaza
ancient Greek sculpture
The Apollo of Gaza is a rare bronze sculpture of Magna Graecia of the Ancient Greek god Apollo found in the Gaza Strip in 2013. It was put for sale on eBay, and subsequently withdrawn and seized by police thanks to the publication of the story along with photographs by the Italian journalist Fabio Scuto on la Repubblica.
Discovery
The statue was claimed to have been recovered from the sea in August 2013 by Joudat Ghrab, a local Palestinian fisherman. Ghrab said that he saw the statue lying in shallow waters near the Gaza border with Egypt, and initially thought the statue was a badly burnt body. It took four hours to get the statue ashore. The statue was later put for sale on the internet auction site eBay for $500,000 by members of Ghrab's family. The sale price is believed to be significantly below its true value. Police appointed by Hamas, the government of the Gaza Strip, subsequently seized the statue and are investigating its provenance.
Design
The statue has not been examined by archaeologists, but a Reuters report published in The Guardian attests to "a few blurred photographs of the intact deity, who is laid out incongruously on a blanket emblazoned with Smurfs". The evidence dates the statue to between the 5th century BC and the 1st century BC. The statue depicts Apollo with curly hair and one eye possibly inlaid with a blue stone iris, standing upright with an outstretched arm, and with his palm held up.
“Apollo of Gaza” enters the record as ancient Greek sculpture. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Apollo, Gaza and ancient can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Apollo of Gaza” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Apollo, Gaza and ancient provides the most credible route into that argument.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 3, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q16741636. The first chronological checks are 2013.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Apollo of Gaza”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Apollo of Gaza primary sources, Apollo of Gaza archive and Apollo research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Apollo of Gaza”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Apollo of Gaza” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.