Ashkelon

Ashkelon, city on the coastal plain of Palestine, since 1948 in southwestern Israel. The modern city lies 12 miles (19 km) north of Gaza and 1.25 miles (2 km) east-northeast of the ancient city site. Because of its location on the Mediterranean coast, Ashkelon was traditionally the key to the conquest of southwestern Palestine.

Traces of habitation at the ancient city site extend back to 2000 bce. The city’s name appears in Egyptian texts of about the 19th century bce. It is also mentioned in the Amarna Letters (from the 14th-century-bce pharaonic archives found at Tel el-Amarna); about 150 years later it was taken by the Egyptian pharaoh Merneptah II after a revolt. After Egyptian control waned in the mid-12th century bce, Ashkelon became a Philistine city and was a member of the Philistine pentapolis (five cities) throughout the period of the Judges and the early Israelite monarchy until it was subjected to Assyrian rule by Tiglath-pileser III about 735 bce. It subsequently revolted and was recaptured by Sennacherib in 701 bce. It remained tributary to Assyria until captured by Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon (reigned 605–562 bce), who deported many of its inhabitants to Babylon.

The city was conquered by Alexander the Great in 332 bce. After Alexander’s death (323) it was fought over by his successors, the Ptolemaic and Seleucid dynasties. During that period it became known by its Hellenized name of Ascalon, which it retained throughout the era of the Crusades. The tradition that Herod the Great, king of Judaea under Roman suzerainty (reigned 37–4 bce), was born there is probably untrue; he did, however, adorn the city with fine public buildings, some of which have been excavated. Ashkelon was conquered by the Arabs in 636 ce. Captured by the Crusaders after a 50-year struggle (1153), it became one of their principal ports and strongholds. It was eventually taken by Saladin, who destroyed its walls in 1191. A century later the city lay in ruins, and its site remained uninhabited until the mid-20th century. The first systematic excavations of the ruins—now known as Tel Ashkelon—were carried out by the Palestine Exploration Fund in 1920–22. The Leon Levy expedition, an extensive multi-decade excavation administered by the Harvard Semitic Museum, was begun in 1985.

Modern Ashkelon was originally an Arab settlement named Al-Majḍal. After the Arab-Israeli war of 1948–49, the Arabs left the site, which was resettled with Jewish immigrants and renamed Migdal Gad, later Migdal Ashkelon. The heart of the planned modern city was built to the west of the Arab settlement, near the seacoast, beginning in 1950. Features include a tall central clock tower and shaded business malls. Manufactures include textiles, plastics, and wristwatches. An industrial zone north of the city has plants that make automobile parts and process agricultural products. The trans-Negev oil pipeline from the Red Sea port of Eilat reaches the Mediterranean at Ashkelon. The city has also been developed as a resort center, with hotels and campgrounds along the fine beaches. Pop. (2022 est.) 153,138.