
What Happened to Gaza’s Apollo Statue? (2014) - diodorus
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2014/04/what-happened-gaza-apollo-statue-palestine-201446121144821249.html
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graeme
Has there been a followup to this? I couldn't find anything past 2014.

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dogma1138
No, this story was also never confirmed, there are no cliffs on the shores of
Gaza, the southern coastline of Israel and the Gaza strip is flat sand dunes
there isn't enough elevation to see deep into the water.

It's also unlikely that a bronze statue would survive submerged for 2000+
years (the Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Greeks circa 400 BCE, but
the Philistines were there earlier and as the Philistines were Hellenic people
this would match it as well), or at least be in such good shape.

Some other reports suggested that it was either a hoax, or more likely that
the statue was smuggled from Syria rather than discovered off the coast of
Gaza.

If it was indeed discovered in Gaza then it's likely been smuggled out and
sold on the black market.

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ramzyo
The article addresses this as well.

"Experts, including Alotol, have questioned Jawdat's story, arguing that the
colour and apparent excellent condition of the statue contradict the story
that it was found in the sea. They speculate it was discovered inland, under
the ground, and that the real story has been stifled either to avoid arguments
of ownership or to avoid revealing that it was found while digging tunnels to
nearby Egypt."

