Ascalon or Ashkelon was an ancient Near East port city on the Mediterranean coast of the southern Levant of high historical and archaeological significance. Its remains are located in the archaeological site of Tel Ashkelon, within the city limits of the modern Israeli city of Ashkelon. Traces of settlement exist from the 3rd millennium BCE, with evidence of city fortifications emerging in the Middle Bronze Age. During the Late Bronze Age, it was integrated into the Egyptian Empire, before becoming one of the five cities of the Philistine pentapolis following the migration of the Sea Peoples. The city was later destroyed by the Babylonians but was subsequently rebuilt.
Ascalon remained a major metropolis throughout the classical period, as a Hellenistic city persisting into the Roman period. Christianity began to spread in the city in the 4th century CE. During the Middle Ages it came under Islamic rule, before becoming a highly contested fortified foothold on the coast during the Crusades. Two significant Crusader battles took place in the city: the Battle of Ascalon in 1099, and the Siege of Ascalon in 1153. The Mamluk sultan Baybars ordered the destruction (slighting) of the city fortifications and the harbour in 1270 to prevent any further military use, though structures such as the Shrine of Husayn's Head survived. The nearby town of al-Majdal was established in the same period. The village of Al-Jura existed adjacent to the deserted city until 1948.
Names Ascalon has been known by many variations of the same basic name over the millennia. It is speculated that the name comes from the Northwest Semitic and possibly Canaanitic triliteral root 'to weigh', which is also the triliteral root of the word shekel. The ʔa + root construction, commonly used in Arabic and some other Central and Western Semitic languages (such as Hebrew), and seen in nearby place names like Ashdod and Achziv, could be either an elative (ie. "weightist") or plural (ie. "weights).
The settlement is first mentioned in the Execration texts from the 18th-19th centuries BCE as . Seven of the Amarna letters ( 1350 BCE), are from King Yidya of to Akhenaten, the pharaoh of the New Kingdom of Egypt, with the name showing evidence of the ā to ō Canaanite shift. The shift was not consistently applied, as in the Kadesh inscriptions (c. 1274 BCE), it appears again with its long ā vowel form, . The Merneptah Stele (c. 1208 BCE), recounts that Merneptah, pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty, put down a rebellion there: "Plundered is Israel with every evil; Carried off is Asqaluni". The settlement is also mentioned eleven times in the Hebrew Bible as .
In the Hellenistic period, emerged as the Koine Greek name for the city, persisting through the Roman Empire and later Byzantine Empire.
In the Early Islamic period, the official Arabic form revived the original long ā form. The Crusaders of the Kingdom of Jerusalem called it Ascalon. The Arabic adjectival nisba al-Asqalani is still used to denote those from Ascalon, like Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, or its successor city al-Majdal, Asqalan.
In Modern Hebrew, it is known as . Today, Ascalon is a designated archaeological area known as Tel Ashkelon ("Mound of Ascalon") and administered as Ashkelon National Park.
Geographical setting Ascalon lies on the Mediterranean coast, 16 km. north of Gaza City and 14 km. south of Ashdod and Ashdod-Yam. Around 15 million years ago, a river flowed from inland to the sea here. It was later covered by fossilized sandstone ridges (kurkar), formed by sand that was washed to the shores from the Nile Delta. The river became an underground water source, which was later exploited by Ascalon's residents for the constructions of wells. The oldest well found at Ascalon dates around 1000 BCE.
Neolithic and Chalcolithic Ages
The remains of prehistoric activity and settlement at Ashkelon were revealed in salvage excavations prior to urban development in the Afridar and Marina neighborhoods of modern Ashkelon, some north of Tel Ashkelon. The fieldwork was conducted in the 1950s under the supervision of Jean Perrot and in 1997–1998 under the supervision of Yosef Garfinkel.Garfinkel and Dag, 2008, 3–13
The earliest traces of human activity include some 460 microlithic tools dated to the Epipalaeolithic period ( 23,000 to 10,000 BCE). These come along wide evidence for hunter-gatherer exploitation in the southern coastal plain in that time. This activity came to hiatus during the early periods of sedentation in the Levant, and resumed only during the pre-pottery C phase of the Neolithic ( 7000–6400 BCE). Jean Perrot's excavation revealed eight dwelling pits, along with silos and installations, while Garfinkel's excavations revealed numerous pits, hearths and animal bones.Garfinkel and Dag (2008), pp. 3–13, 43–49.
Bronze Age Early Bronze Age During the Early Bronze Age I period (EB I, 3700–2900 BCE), human settlement thrived in Ashkelon. The central site was in Afridar, situated between two long and wide kurkar ridges. This area had unique ecological conditions, offering an abundance of goundwater, fertile soils and varied flora and fauna. Two other settlements existed at Tel Ashkelon itself, and in the Barnea neighborhood of modern Ashkelon. The site of Afridar is one of the most extensive and most excavated settlements of the EB I period, with over two dozen dig sites, excavated by the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA). The flourishment of EB I Ashkelon has also been linked to trade relations with Prehistoric Egypt. The site of Afridar was abandoned at the start of the EB II period ( 2900 BCE). It was suggested that the cause for the abandonment was a climate change causing increased precipitation, which destroyed the ecological conditions which had served the locals for centuries.
In the EB II–III (2900–2500 BCE), the site of Tel Ashkelon served as an important seaport for the trade route between the Old Kingdom of Egypt and Byblos. Excavations at the northern side of the mound revealed a mudbrick structure and numerous olive-oil jars. This port was abandoned with the deurbanization of Canaan during the second half of the 3rd millennium BCE (Intermediate Bronze Age). At that time, the center of settlement moved to the unwalled rural settlement at Barne'a.
Middle Bronze Age (Canaanite Asqanu)
Ashkelon was resettled in the Middle Bronze Age on the background of country-wide urban renaissance, linked to the immigration of Amorites people from the north, as well as the revival of trade relations between Middle Kingdom of Egypt and Byblos. It soon become the fortified center of a city-kingdom, as evidenced by both historical records and archaeology. Ashkelon first mention in historical records is in the Egyptian Execration Texts from the time of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt (20th–19th centuries BCE). These texts were written on red pots, which were broken as part of a cursing ritual against Egypt's enemies. Ashkelon appears three times under the name Asqanu (ꜥIsqꜥnw), along with three of its rulers ḫꜥykm (or Khalu-Kim), ḫkṯnw and Isinw. These names of Northwest Semitic origin, are identified as Amorites. Scholars have suggested Ashkelon was one of many Levantine city-states established by Amorites in the early second millennium BCE.
Middle Bronze II The most distinctive feature of the site of Ashkelon is its fortifications, consisting of free-standing earthen ramparts which were erected as early as around 1800 BCE. In the excavations of the northern slope of the ramparts, archaeologists detected five phases of construction including city gates, moats, guard towers and in a later phase, a sanctuary right after the entrance to the city. The material culture and especially Egyptian-style pottery showed that Middle Bronze Ashkelon lasted until around 1560 BCE.
Chronology with dates based on pottery chronology.Chapter 7. Cypriot Pottery Found in Middle Bronze Age Ashkelon, pp. 245-265 in: Stager, Lawrence E., Schloen, David and Ross Voss. Ashkelon 5. The Middle Bronze Age Ramparts and Gates of the North Slope and Later Fortifications. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns.Bietak, M., et al. (2008). The Synchronization of Civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Second Millennium B.C Phase 15 (Early MB IIA) | Pre-Rampart occupation. A return of settlers after the site had been largely abandoned seince the EB IIIB.
Phase 14 (Late MB IIA; c. 1770-1740 BCE) | The Arched Gate is a mudbrick gate arguably the oldest known monumental arch in the world. Compare Tell el-Dab'a Stratum G/4. First appearance of Middle Cypriot imports (White Painted III-IV) and Levantine Painted Style pottery. Phase 13 (Final MB IIA; c. 1740-1700 BCE). Compare Tell el-Dab'a Stratum G3/1.
Phase 12 (MB IIB; c. 1700-1650 BCE) Phase 11 (MB IIC; c. 1650-1560 BCE) | The Ramparts with defensive glacis systems reached their maximum scale. Contemporary with the Hyksos period (Tell el-Daba Stratum D/3). Phase 10 (MB IIC/LB IA; c. 1560-1530 BCE)
Late Bronze Age (Egyptian rule)
Early decades of Egyptian rule (15th century BCE) Ashkelon came under the control of the New Kingdom of Egypt in the time of Thutmose III, following the Battle of Megiddo (1457 BCE). During the Late Bronze Age, its territory stretched across the coastal plain, bordering Gaza to the south, Lachish and Gezer to the east and Gezer to the north.
The ties between Ashkelon and Egypt in the late 15h century are documented in Papyrus Hermitage 1116A, which is dated to the time of Amenhotep II (1427–1401 BCE). It includes list compiled by an Egyptian official detailing rations of bread and beer, that were provided to envoys of noble chariot warriors (Maryannu) from 12 Canaanite cities, including Ashkelon. It is believed that these envoys were securing the caravans that carried tribute to the Egyptian king, and that they served as his loyal ambassadors.Morris 2005, 141–142Koch 2021, 33–36
Amarna period (14th century BCE) During the Amarna Period (mid-14th century BCE, mostly during the reign of Akhenaten), Ashkelon maintained its ties to Egypt. Over a dozen letters inscribed in clay that were found in the Amarna letters are linked to Ashkelon. A petrographic analysis of the clay used in five letters sent by a ruler named Shubandu have supported the hypothesis that he ruled Ashkelon.
After Shubandu, Ashkelon was ruled by Yidya. Seven of his letters were identified (letters no. 320–326, 370). In these he expressed his loyalty to the king and assured he will provision the Egyptian troops with bread, beer, oil, grain and cattle. In another letter sent to the king (no. 287) Abdi-Heba, the ruler of Jerusalem, accuses Yidya, as well as the rulers of Lachish and Gezer of provisioning the ʿApiru, who were adversaries of the Egyptian empire. In another letter, Yidya is asked to send glass ingots to Egypt.
Final years of Egyptian rule (late 13th century – 1170 BCE)
At the end of the 19th Dynasty, the Merneptah Stele from 1208 BCE commemorates the victory of Merneptah against the rebellious cities of Ashkelon, Gezer, Yenoam and the Israelites.
The Transitional LBA IIB/IA IA in the early part of the 20th Dynasty of Egypt, saw the Egyptian Empire fall and lose control over parts of the Southern Levant. At Medinet Habu, Ramesses III in his Year 8 had to fight a massive invasion by the "Sea Peoples", including the Peleset (Philistines).
Iron Age Iron Age I In Iron IA, the late 20th Dynasty were mere nominal rulers. In Iron IB, the 21st Dynasty centered at Tanis gained some influence again.
Philistine Ashkelon (1170–604 BCE)