Ascalon

Ascalon

𐤀𐤔𐤒𐤋𐤍 אַשְׁקְלוֹן Ἀσκάλων عَسْقَلَان
Remains of the Church of Santa Maria Viridis
Ascalon Shown within Israel
Location	Southern District, Israel
Region	Southern Levant, Middle East
Coordinates	31°39′43″N 34°32′46″E / 31.66194°N 34.54611°E / 31.66194; 34.54611
Type	Settlement
History
Founded	c. 2000 BC
Abandoned	1270 AD
Periods	Bronze Age to Crusades
Cultures	Canaanite, Philistine, Phoenician, Crusaders
Site notes
Excavation dates	1815, 1920-1922, 1985-2016
Archaeologists	Lady Hester Stanhope, John Garstang, W. J. Phythian-Adams, Lawrence Stager, Daniel Master

Ascalon (Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤒𐤋𐤍, romanized: *ʾAšqalōn;^[1] Hebrew: אַשְׁקְלוֹן, romanized: ʾAšqəlōn; Koinē Greek: Ἀσκάλων, romanized: Askálōn; Latin: Ascalon; Arabic: عَسْقَلَان, romanized: ʿAsqalān) was an ancient Near East port city on the Mediterranean coast of the southern Levant of high historical significance, including early on as a major Philistine city, and later as a much contested stronghold during the Crusades. Its importance diminished after the Mamluks destroyed its fortifications and port in 1270 in order to prevent any future military and logistical use by the Crusaders.

Traces of settlement in the area around Ascalon exist from the 3rd millennium BC, with evidence of city fortifications emerging in the Middle Bronze Age. During the Late Bronze Age, Ashkelon 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 antiquity and the early Middle Ages, before becoming a highly contested fortified foothold on the coast during the Crusades, when it became the site of two significant Crusader battles: 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.

Ottoman tax records attest the existence of the village of Al-Jura adjacent to citadel walls from at least 1596.^[2] That residual settlement survived until its depopulation in 1948. The modern Israeli city of Ashkelon takes its name from the ancient city.