Location
On the border with Egypt about 30 km south of Gaza Rafah is the southernmost city in the Gaza Strip
Bronze Age
Rafah has a history stretching back thousands of years. It was first recorded in an inscription of Egyptian Pharaoh Seti I, from 1303 BCE as Rph, and as the first stop on Pharaoh Shoshenq I’s campaign to the Levant in 925 BCE. In 720 BCE it was the site of the Assyrian king Sargon II’s victory over the Egyptians.
Iron Age
The diplomatic and military activity of Egypt at the beginning of the Iron Age I shows that the possibility of movement along the “sea route” from station to station was maintained continuously from the Late Bronze Age, at least as long as Egypt was present in the southern land of Canaan (approximately 1133 BCE). Rafah then passed under the control of the Philistines. , on the southern border of their kingdom. In 925 BC, Shishak’s army stopped there on his journey to the Land of Israel.
Hellenistic and Roman periods
In 217 BCE the Battle of Raphia was fought between the victorious Ptolemy IV and Antiochus III. It is said to be one of the largest battles ever fought in the Levant, with over a hundred thousand soldiers and hundreds of elephants.
The town was conquered by Alexander Yannai and held by the Hasmoneans until it was rebuilt in the time of Pompey and Gabinius; the latter seems to have done the actual work of restoration for the era of the town dates from 57 BCE. Rafah is mentioned in Strabo , the Antonine Itinerary, and is depicted on the Map of Madaba.
Byzantine period
During the Byzantine period, it was a dioceseand Byzantine ceramics and coins have been found there. It was represented at the Council of Ephesus 431 CE by Bishop Romanus, but today remains a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church but a small Greek Orthodox presence exists.