Ashkelon or Ashqelon (Hebrew אַשְׁקְלוֹן; Standard Hebrew Ašqəlon; Tiberian Hebrew ʾAšqəlôn; Arabic عسقلان ʿAsqalān; Latin Ascalon) was an ancient Philistine seaport on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea just north of Gaza. Ashkelon is also the name of a modern city in the western Negev, in the Southern District of Israel in Israel, which was formed out of the Arab town of Al Majdal in the 1950s. Note: This article contains special characters. ... The Modern Hebrew language is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family. ... Tiberian Hebrew is an oral tradition of pronunciation for ancient forms of Hebrew, especially the Hebrew of the Bible, that was given written form by masoretic scholars in the Jewish community at Tiberias in the early middle ages, beginning in the 8th century. ... Arabic (العربية) is a Semitic language, closely related to Hebrew and Aramaic. ... Latin is the language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... The historic Philistines (see note Philistines below) were a people that inhabited the southern coast of Canaan around the time of the arrival of the Israelites, their territory being named Philistia in later contexts. ... Satellite image Map of the Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a part of the Atlantic Ocean almost completely enclosed by land, on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia. ... The city of Gaza is the principal city in the Gaza Strip. ... Ruins in the Negev desert The Negev (Hebrew נֶגֶב, Tiberian Hebrew Néḡeḇ; Arabic النقب an-Naqab) is the desert region of southern Israel. ... The Southern District, or South District, of Israel includes the following towns and cities: Arad ערד Ashdod אשדוד Ashqelon אשקלון Beer Sheva (Beersheba) באר שבע Dimona דימונה Elat אילת Netivot נתיבות Ofaqim אופקים Qiryat Gat קריית גת Qiryat Malakhi קריית מלאכי Rahat Sederot שדרות Yerucham See also List...

modern day Ashkelon

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History of the ancient city

Ashkelon was the oldest and largest seaport in ancient Canaan, one of the "five cities" of the Philistines, north of Gaza. Archeological excavations begun in 1985 led by Lawrence Stager of Harvard University are revealing the site with about 50 feet of accumulated rubble from successive Canaanite, Philistine, Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, and Crusader occupation. Canaan or Knáan (Arabic کنعان, Kanʻān, Hebrew כְּנַעַן / כְּנָעַן, KÉ™náʻan / KÉ™nāʻan; Septuagint Greek Χανααν, Khanaan) is an ancient term for a region roughly corresponding to present-day Israel, the West Bank, western Jordan, southern and coastal Syria and Lebanon continuing up until the border of modern Turkey. ... The historic Philistines (see note Philistines below) were a people that inhabited the southern coast of Canaan around the time of the arrival of the Israelites, their territory being named Philistia in later contexts. ... The city of Gaza is the principal city in the Gaza Strip. ... Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... 1985 is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Lawrence Larry Stager, Dorot Professor of the Archaeology of Israel and head of the Harvard Semitic Museum in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University has overseen excavations under the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon, the great Philistine port city, since 1985. ... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ... Canaan or Knáan (Arabic کنعان, Kanʻān, Hebrew כְּנַעַן / כְּנָעַן, KÉ™náʻan / KÉ™nāʻan; Septuagint Greek Χανααν, Khanaan) is an ancient term for a region roughly corresponding to present-day Israel, the West Bank, western Jordan, southern and coastal Syria and Lebanon continuing up until the border of modern Turkey. ... The historic Philistines (see note Philistines below) were a people that inhabited the southern coast of Canaan around the time of the arrival of the Israelites, their territory being named Philistia in later contexts. ... Phoenicia was an ancient civilization in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal plain of what is now Lebanon and Syria. ... The Hellenistic period of Greek history was the period between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the annexation of the Greek peninsula and islands by Rome in 146 BC. Although the establishment of Roman rule did not break the continuity of Hellenistic society and culture, which... The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Caesar Augustus). ... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centred at its capital in Constantinople. ... Islam   listen? (Arabic: al-islām) the submission to God is a monotheistic faith, one of the Abrahamic religions, and the worlds second largest religion. ... This article is about the medieval Crusades . ...

In the oldest layers are shaft graves of pre-Phoenician Canaanites. The city was originally built on a sandstone outcropping and has a good underground water supply. It was relatively large as an ancient city with as many as 15,000 people living inside walls a mile and a half (2.4 km) long, 50 feet (15 m) high and 150 feet (50 m) thick. Ashkelon was a thriving Middle Bronze Age (2000-1550 BCE) city of more than 150 acres (607,000 m²), with commanding ramparts including the oldest arched city gate in the world, eight feet wide, and even as a ruin still standing two stories high. The thickness of the walls was so great that the mudbrick Bronze Age gate had a stone-lined tunnel-like barrel vault, coated with white plaster, to support the superstructure: it is the oldest such vault ever found. Red Sandstone in Wyoming Sandstone is an arenaceous sedimentary rock composed mainly of feldspar and quartz and varies in colour (in a similar way to sand), through grey, yellow, red, and white. ... The Bronze Age is a period in a civilizations development when the most advanced metalworking has developed the techniques of smelting copper from natural outcroppings and alloys it to cast bronze. ... Rampart may mean: A type of defensive wall consisting of a low earthen embankment topped by a parapet or palisade. ... A typical arch An arch is a curved structure capable of spanning a space while supporting significant weight (e. ... In architecture, a vault is an arched structure of masonry, forming a ceiling or canopy. ...

The Bronze Age ramparts were so capacious that later Roman and Islamic fortifications, faced with stone, followed the same footprint, a vast semi-circle protecting Ashkalon on the landward side. On the sea it was defended by a high natural bluff.

Within the huge ramparts, in the ruins of a sanctuary, a votive silver calf was found in 1991. During the Canaanite period, a roadway more than 20 feet in width ascended the rampart from the harbor and entered a gate at the top. Nearby, in the ruins of a small ceramic tabernacle was found a finely cast bronze statuette of a bull calf, originally silvered, 4 inches (100 mm) long. Images of calves and bulls were associated with the worship of the Canaanite gods El and Baal (the "lord," whose name was translated into Hebrew as "Moloch"). Calf worship was execrated repeatedly by Old Testament prophets, a proscribed Canaanite religious practice that the Hebrews only too easily fell into. Besides the Golden Calf of Exodus, Hosea inveighs against kissing calf-images (Hosea 13:2). EL or El may mean: Electroluminescence, an optical and electrical phenomenon where a material such as a natural blue diamond emits light when an electric current is passed through it. ... Baal (בַּעַל / בָּעַל, Standard Hebrew Báʿal, Tiberian Hebrew Báʿal / Báʿal) is a northwest Semitic word signifying The Lord, master, owner (male), husband cognate with Akkadian Bēl of the same meanings. ... Moloch or Molech or Molekh representing Hebrew מלך mlk is either the name of a god or the name of a particular kind of sacrifice associated historically with Phoenician and related cultures in north Africa and the Levant. ... The Old Testament or the Hebrew Scriptures (also called the Hebrew Bible) constitutes the first major part of the Bible according to Christianity. ... Hebrews (syns. ... This article is about the second book in the Torah. ... See also the Book_of_Hosea, and Hoshea, who has the same name in Biblical Hebrew. ...

The Philistines conquered Canaanite Ashkelon about 1150 BCE. Their earliest pottery is similar to pottery found at Mycenae in mainland Greece, adding weight to the hypothesis that the Mycenaeans and Philistines were among the "Sea Peoples" that upset cultures throughout the eastern Mediterranean at that time. Ashkelon became one of the five Philistine cities that were constantly warring with the Israelites and the kingdom of Judah. According to Herodotus, its temple of Venus was the oldest of its kind, imitated even in Cyprus, and he mentions that this temple was pillaged by marauding "Scythians" during the time of their sway over the Medes (653-625 BC). When this vast seaport, the last of the Philistine cities to hold out against Nebuchadnezzar finally fell in 604 BCE, burnt and destroyed and its people taken into exile, the Philistine era was over. Centuries: 13th century BC - 12th century BC - 11th century BC Decades: 1200s BC 1190s BC 1180s BC 1170s BC 1160s BC - 1150s BC - 1140s BC 1130s BC 1120s BC 1110s BC 1100s BC Events and Trends 1159 BC - Global tree ring event (period of arrested tree growth) lasting for 18... The Lion Gate at Mycenae The Lion Gate (detail) Mycenae (ancient Greek: , IPA , in modern Greek: Μυκήνες ), is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. ... Sea Peoples is the term used in ancient Egyptian records of a race of ship-faring raiders who drifted into the eastern shores of the Mediterranean and attempted to enter Egyptian territory during the late 19th dynasty, and especially year 5 of Rameses III of the 20th Dynasty. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... An Israelite is a member of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, descended from the twelve sons of the Biblical patriarch Jacob who was renamed Israel by God in the book of Genesis, 32:28 The Israelites were a group of Hebrews, as described in the Bible. ... The Kingdom of Judah (Hebrew מַלְכוּת יְהוּדָה, Standard Hebrew Malḫut Yəhuda, Tiberian Hebrew Malḵûṯ Yəhûḏāh) in the times of the Hebrew Bible, was the nation formed from the territories of the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin after the Kingdom of Israel was divided, and was named after... Nebuchadnezzar (or Nebudchadrezzar) II (ca. ... Centuries: 8th century BC - 7th century BC - 6th century BC Decades: 650s BC 640s BC 630s BC 620s BC 610s BC - 600s BC - 590s BC 580s BC 570s BC 560s BC 550s BC Events and Trends Fall of the Assyrian Empire and Rise of Babylon 609 BC _ King Josiah...

Ashkelon national park

Ashkelon was soon rebuilt. It was an important Hellenistic seaport, the birthplace of Herod the Great who rebuilt and enriched the city and it continued to flourish in the Roman and Byzantine periods. During the Crusades, Ashkelon (which was known to the Crusaders as Ascalon) was an important fortress. Although Fatimid forces were defeated at the Battle of Ascalon by the Crusaders in 1099, the city itself was not taken. In 1150 it was fortified with fifty-three towers by its Egyptian Fatimid rulers, to defend it against marauding Crusaders, but to no avail, for it fell three years later, after a months-long siege, to Baldwin III of Jerusalem. It was then added to the County of Jaffa, one of the most important Crusader seigneuries. Saladin retrieved the strategic port for Islam after the Battle of Hittin, July 4, 1187, but with the Third Crusade a few years later, Saladin systematically demolished Ascalon lest it fall once more into the hands of the infidel. Indeed Richard the Lion-Hearted built a fort upon the ruins. Finally in 1270, the Mamluk sultan Baybars demolished Ascalon for the last time, filling in its harbor and leaving it desolate. Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The term Hellenistic (established by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen) in the history of the ancient world is used to refer to the shift from a culture dominated by ethnic Greeks, however scattered geographically, to a culture dominated by Greek-speakers of whatever ethnicity, and from the political dominance... Herod I, also known as Herod the Great was a Roman client-king of Judaea. ... The Fatimid or Fatimid Caliphate is the Ismaili Shiite dynasty that ruled North Africa from A.D. 909 to 1171. ... Battle of Ascalon Conflict First Crusade Date August 12, 1099 Place Ascalon Result Crusader victory The Battle of Ascalon took place on August 12, 1099, and is often considered the last action of the First Crusade. ... Events Siege of Jerusalem during the First Crusade: July 8 - 15,000 starving Christian soldiers march around Jerusalem as its Muslim defenders mock them. ... Events Åhus, Sweden gains city privileges City of Airdrie, Scotland founded King Sverker I of Sweden is deposed and succeeded by Eric IX of Sweden. ... Events January 6 - Henry of Anjou arrives in England. ... Baldwin III (1130-1162) was king of Jerusalem from 1143-1162. ... The double County of Jaffa and Ascalon was one of the four major seigneuries of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, according to 13th-century commentator John of Ibelin. ... This article is about the Muslim general, for the British armoured vehicle named after him, see Alvis Saladin. ... The Battle of Hattin in 1187 was a major setback in the fortunes of the Crusader movement, enabling the Muslims to regain control of Jerusalem from the Christians. ... July 4 is the 185th day of the year (186th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 180 days remaining. ... Events May 1 - Battle of Cresson - Saladin defeats the crusaders July 4 - Saladin defeats Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem, at the Battle of Hattin. ... The Third Crusade (1189 - 1192) was an attempt by European leaders to reconquer the Holy Land from Saladin. ... Richard I (September 8, 1157 – April 6, 1199) was King of England from 1189 to 1199. ... For broader historical context, see 1270s and 13th century. ... An Ottoman Mamluk, from 1810 Mamluks (also Mameluks, Mamelukes) (the Arabic word usually translates as owned, singular: مملوك plural: مماليك) comprised slave soldiers used by the Muslim caliphs and the Ottoman Empire, and who on more than one occasion seized power for themselves. ... al-Malik al-Zahir Ruk al-Din Baibars al-Bunduqdari (also spelled Baybars) (b. ...

History of the modern city

The Arab town of Al Majdal (Majdal, Migdal) was described as a large village in the 16th century. By the time of the [[1948 Arab-Israeli war]], it had grown into a substantial town of about 11,000 residents. It was especially famous for its large weaving industry.

Soon after Israel declared its independence, the Egyptian army occupied a large part of Gaza including Majdal. During the next few months, the town was subject to repeat Israeli attacks including air-raids and shelling. All but about 1000 of the town's residents had fled by the time it was captured by Israeli forces in Operation Yoav on November 4, 1948. General Yigal Allon ordered the expulsion of the remaining Arabs but the local commanders did not do so and the Arab population soon recovered to more than 2000 due mostly to refugees slipping back. During the next year or so, the Arabs were held in a confined area while a secret debate took place about their fate. Some, such as General Moshe Dayan and Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion wanted them expelled, while others, such as the left-wing minority party Mapam and the Israeli labor union Histadrut, wanted them to remain. Finally a definite decision was made to expel them, but for public relation reasons the Arabs' consent was required. A carrot-and-stick campaign was carried out. Positive inducements included favorable currency exchange, and negative inducements included "black propaganda" and harrassment such as night-time raids. Eventually most of the Arabs agreed to leave, though it was alleged that many never gave their consent. The majority were taken on trucks to the Gaza Strip where they joined their fellows in the refugee camps there. By October 1950, only 20 Arab families remained; most of whom later moved to Lydda or Gaza. Operation Yoav (also called Operation Ten Plagues or Operation Yoav) was an Israeli military operation carried out between October 15 - 22, 1948 in the Negev Desert in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. ... Yigal Allon (October 10, 1918- February 29, 1980) was a famous Israeli Labour Party statesman. ... Gen. ... David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion (October 16, 1886 – December 1, 1973; Hebrew: דָּוִד בֶּן גּוּרִיּוֹן) was the first Prime Minister of Israel. ... Mapam - United Workers Party (in Hebrew: מפם - מפלגת פועלים מאוחדת Mifleget Poalim Meuhedet) was initially a Marxist-Zionist party. ... The Histadrut (HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim BEretz Yisrael or ההסתדרות הכללית של העובדים בארץ ישראל General Federation of Laborers in the Land of Israel) is the Israeli trade union congress. ...

The Israeli national master plan of June 1949 designed Al Majdal as the site for a regional urban center of 20,000 people. Mass repopulation of the vacated Arab houses by Jewish immigrants or demobilised soldiers began in July 1949 and by December the Jewish population had increased to 2,500. During 1949, the town was renamed Migdal Gaza, and then Migdal Gad. Soon afterwards it became Migdal Ashkelon. In 1953 the nearby neighborhood of Afrida was incorporated and the current name Ashkelon was adopted. By 1961, Ashkelon ranked 18th amongst Israeli urban centers with a population of 24,000.

Sources

• B. Morris, The transfer of Al Majdal's remaining Arabs to Gaza, 1950, in 1948 and After (Oxford, 1994).
• E. Kafkafi, Segregation or integration of the Israeli Arabs - two concepts in Mapai, International Journal of Middle East Studies, vol. 30 (1998), 347-367.
• A. Golan, Jewish settlement of former Arab towns and their incorporation into the Israeli urban system (1948-1950), Israel Affairs, vol. 9 (2003), 149-164.

External links

• City of Ashkelon web site (in Hebrew)
  • The city English page (Don't miss the "Site Map" button)
• Ashkelon Marina
• National Geographic January 2001, "Ashkelon, ancient city of the sea"
• David Schloen, "Recent discoveries at Ashkelon"
• An Advanced Google search (for Ashkelon and exact phrase Lawrence Stager) returns plenty of interesting hits.