Sarcophagi from Deir el Balah, ca. 1300 BC

Deir el Balah, now in the Gaza Strip, was a thriving town in the second millennium BC. It was strongly under the influence of Egyptian civilization and perhaps even an actual outpost of the Pharaoh's empire. So these may have been the coffins of Egyptian officials or soldiers, sent to keep an eye on the client kingdoms of Palestine and the dangerous frontier with the Hittites.