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ASHKELON

(Heb. ʾašqĕlôn)

A large seaport of ancient Palestine, one of the cities of Philistia. The name, possibly related to Heb. šql, “to weigh,” could refer to the city’s economic role (“Place of Weights”?).

Located on the southern coast of Israel, Ashkelon (107119) occupied a strategic position along the coastal highway, the Via Maris (“Way of the Sea”). A national park outside modern Ashkelon, 16 km. (10 mi.) N of Gaza, 64 km. (40 mi.) S of Tel Aviv, marks the site of the ancient city. Populated successively from at least ca. 3000 b.c.e. until 1270 c.e. by Canaanites, Philistines, Phoenicians, Jews, Greeks, Romans, Byzantine Christians, Muslims, and Crusaders, Ashkelon witnessed and participated in the parade of oriental and occidental history.

In the Bible Ashkelon is listed as one of the five major Philistine cities, the Philistine Pentapolis (Josh. 13:3; 1 Sam. 6:17). According to Judg. 1:18 Judah took but could not hold Ashkelon. At Ashkelon Samson killed and stripped the corpses of 30 men in order to make good on a wager (Judg. 14:12, 19). In his elegy for Absalom and Saul David refers to Ashkelon (2 Sam. 1:20). The majority of biblical references to Ashkelon are in prophetic oracles against Philistia (e.g., Jer. 25:20).

The Philistine era in Ashkelon began in the early 12th century. Nearly 600 years later, in 604, it ended when the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar conquered the city and took its elite into exile (Jer. 47:5); 20 years later a similar fate befell Jerusalem.

For centuries pilgrims, adventurers, and archaeologists have visited, plundered, and studied Ashkelon, where Roman columns and Fatimid ramparts still stand. Among the finds of the current excavation, led by Lawrence E. Stager, is a small silver-plated statue of a bull calf, dating from the 16th century. This physical evidence for the use of bovine iconography in Canaanite religion sheds light on the background of a number of biblical passages which mention the cultic use of bull or calf images (Exod. 32; 1 Kgs. 12:28; Hos. 8:5).

Throughout its history, Ashkelon’s status as the major port of the southern Palestinian coast lent the city a cosmopolitan and diverse character. Ashkelon was famous in antiquity for its sweet onions; the word “scallion” comes from the Latin name of the city.

Bibliography. L. E. Stager, “Ashkelon,” NEAEHL 1:103-12; Ashkelon Discovered: From Canaanites and Philistines to Romans and Moslems (Washington, 1991).

Gregory Mobley

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

ASHKELON

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)