Ashkelon
אַשְׁקְלוֹן (Ascalon) · Tell Ashkelon · Ashqelon · Askelon
Early Bronze to Crusader 1191 CE·Canaanite → Philistine → Phoenician → Roman·🇮🇱 Southern District, Coastal Plain, Israel
About
About Ashkelon
Five-period tells (Canaanite vaulted mudbrick gate — oldest arch in the world c.1850 BCE, 4 m high; Philistine emporium of titans with 15,000 sq m market; Phoenician Tyrian-purple, Greek, Roman, Crusader). Leon Levy Expedition (Stager) exposed Middle Bronze arched gate with reused Egyptian inscriptions, Philistine dog cemetery (800 dogs), and Roman basilica. Sand-engulfed multi-period coastal city.
Why it mattersOldest arch; Philistine culture; dog burials; Roman Baths.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Philistine dog cemetery meaning
- 02Egyptian gate reuse
Theories
- 01Sea Peoples settlement wave vs migration
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.3500 BCE; MB arch gate c.1850 BCE
- Period
- Early Bronze to Crusader 1191 CE
- Culture
- Canaanite → Philistine → Phoenician → Roman
- Builders
- Canaanites / Sea Peoples Philistines
- Purpose
- Port city; purple dye and wine trade; Dagon cult
- Abandoned
- 1270 CE (Sultan Baibars dismantles)
- Rediscovered
- 1815 Lady Hester Stanhope; 1985 Stager
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
c.1850 BCE
Canaanite rammed-earth arch gate
c.1170 BCE
Philistine arrival
604 BCE
Nebuchadrezzar sacks Ashkelon
On the ground
Structures & features
31.6610° N · 34.5470° E · 45 m · 3 mapped features
Middle Bronze arched gate (oldest arch)
gateCorbelled mudbrick arch gate 1850 BCE
31.6620° N · 34.5480° EPhilistine dog cemetery
cemetery800+ dog burials
31.6605° N · 34.5465° ERoman basilica and bouleuterion
basilicaHerodian/Roman civic center
31.6615° N · 34.5475° E
Gallery