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(Heb. Ashkelon', àִùְׁ÷ְìåֹï , prob. migration [the usual form would be àִùְׁ÷ָì , Ashkal; Rodiger (in Gesenius, Thes. p. 1476) suggests that the uncommon termination is a Philistine form]; Sept. and Josephus, çÁ῾᾿óêÜëùí ; Auth. Vers. "Askelon," in Jdg_1:18; 1Sa_6:17; 2Sa_1:20; the Ascalon of the Greeks and Romans and mediaeval writers), a city of the Philistines, and the seat of one of their five states (Jdg_14:19; 1Sa_6:17; 2Sa_1:20), but less often mentioned, and apparently less known to the Jews than the other four. This, doubtless, arose from its remote situation, alone, of all the Philistine towns, on the extreme edge of the shore of the Mediterranean (Jer_47:7), and also well down to the south. Gaza, indeed, was still farther south, but then it was on the main road from Egypt to the centre and north of Palestine, while Ashkelon lay considerably to the left. The site fully bears out the above inference; but some indications of the fact may be traced, even in the scanty notices of Ashkelon which occur in the Bible. Thus, the name is omitted from the list in Joshua 15 of the Philistine towns falling to the lot of Judah (but comp. Joseph. Ant. v, 1, 22, where it is specified), although Ekron, Ashdod, and Gaza are all named; and considerable uncertainty rests over its mention in Judges i, 18'(see Bertheau in Exeg. Handb. in loc.). Samson went down from Timnath to Ashkelon, when he slew the thirty men and took their spoil, as if to a remote place whence his exploit was not likely to be heard of; and the only other mention of it in the historical books is in the formulistic passages, Jos_13:3, and 1Sa_6:17, and in the casual notices of Judges 2:28; 1Ma_10:86; 1Ma_11:60; 1Ma_12:33. The other Philistine cities are each distinguished by some special occurrence or fact connected with it, but except the one exploit of Samson, Ashkelon is to us no more than a name. In the poetical passage 2Sa_1:20, it is named among heathen foes. The inhabitants were called Ashkelonites (Heb. Ash. keloni', àִùְׁ÷ְìåֹðִé , Sept. Á᾿óêáëùíßôçò , Auth. Vers. "Eshkalonites," Jos_13:3).
It was a port on the Mediterranean coast between Gaza and Jamnia (Joseph. War, 4:11, 5), 12 geogr. miles N. of the former, 10 S. by W. from Ashdod, and 37 W.S.W. from Jerusalem (comp. Reland, Palest. p. 443). Ashkelon was assigned to the tribe of Judah (Jos_13:13; comp. Jdg_1:18); but it was never for any length of time in possession of the Israelites (comp. 1Ki_4:24). It is farther mentioned in the denunciations of the prophets (Jer_25:20; Jer_47:5; Jer_47:7; Amo_1:8; Zep_2:4; Zep_2:7; Zec_9:5). The part of the country in which it stood abounded in aromatic plants (Plin. 12:51), and especially onions (shallots, ascalonice, Plin. 19:32; Strabo, 16:759; Athen. ii, 68; Theophr. Plant. 7:4; Dioscor. i, 124; Colum. 12:10), and vines (Alex. Trall. 8:3). The soil around the town was remarkable for its fertility; the wine of Ashkelon was celebrated, and the Al-henna plant flourished better than in any other place except Canopus (Kenrick, p. 28). It was also celebrated for its cypresses, for figs, olives, and pomegranates, and for its bees, which gave their name to a valley in the neighborhood (Ibn Batuta in Ritter, Palastina, 88). It was well fortified (Joseph. War, iii, 21; comp. Mela, i, 11), and early became the seat of the worship of Derceto (Diod. Sic. ii, 4), the Syrian Venus, whose temple was plundered by the Scythians (Herod. i, 105). She represented the passive principle of nature, and was worshipped under the. form of a fish with a woman's head (comp. Ovid, Fast. ii, 406). SEE ATERGATIS. "
The sacred doves of Venus still fill with their cooings the luxuriant gardens which grow in the sandy hollow within the ruined walls" (Stanley, p. 257). After the time of Alexander, Ashkelon shared the lot of Phoenicia and Judaea, being tributary sometimes to Egypt (Joseph. Ant. 12:4, 5), and at other times to Syria (1Ma_10:86; 1Ma_11:60; 1Ma_12:33). Herod the Great was born at Ashkelon, and although the city did not belong to his dominion, he adorned it with fountains, baths, and colonnades (War, i, 21, 11); and after his death Salome, his sister, resided in a palace at Ashkelon which Caesar bestowed upon her (Ant. 17:11, 5). It suffered much in the Jewish war with the Romans (War, ii, 18, 5; iii, 2, 1-3); for its inhabitants were noted for their dislike of the Jews, of whom they slew 2500 who dwelt there (ii, 18, 5; iii, 2, 1). After this Ashkelon again revived, and in the Middle Ages was noted not only as a stronghold, but as a wealthy and important town (Will. Tyr. 17:21). In the fourth century it was the see of a bishop, but in the seventh century it fell into the hands of the Saracens. Abulfeda (Tab. Syr.) speaks of it as one of the famous strongholds of Mohammedanism; and the Orientals call it the Bride of Syria (Schultens, Index Geogr. s.v.; Edrisi, ed. Jaubert, i, 340). It shared with Gaza an infamous reputation for the steadfastness of its heathenism and for the cruelties there practised on Christians by Julian (Reland, p. 588, 590). As a sea-port merely it never could have enjoyed much advantage, the coast being sandy and difficult of access. There is no bay or shelter for ships, but a small harbor toward the east advanced a little way into the town, and anciently bore, like that of Gaza, the name of Majumas (Kenrick, p. 28). In the time of Origen some wells of remarkable shape were shown near the town which were believed to be those dug by Isaac, or, at any rate, to be of the time of the patriarchs.
In connection with this tradition may be mentioned the fact that in the Samaritan version of Gen_20:1-2; Gen_26:1, Ashkelon ( òñ÷ìåï ) is put for the "Gerar" of the Hebrew text. The town bears a prominent part in the history of the Crusades (see Ibn Ferath, in Reinand's Extracts, p. 525). After being several times dismantled and re-fortified in the times of Saladin and Richard, its fortifications were at length totally destroyed by the Sultan Bibars A.D. 1270, and the port filled up with stones, for. fear of future attempts on the part of the Crusaders (Wilkin, Gesch. d. Kreuzziige, 7:586). This, no doubt, sealed the ruin of the place (see Cellar. Notit. ii, 600 sq.; Rosenmuller, Alterth. II, ii, 377 sq.). Sandys (Travailes, p. 151. A.D. 1610) describes it as "now a place of no note, more than that the Turke doth keep there a garrison." Fifty years after (A.D. 1660), Von Troilo found it still partially inhabited. But its desolation has long been complete, and little now remains of it but the walls, with numerous fragments of granite pillars (Arvieux, ii, 59; Joliffe, p. 270). The situation is described as strong; the thick walls, flanked with towers, were built on the top of a ridge of rock that encircles the town, and terminates at each end .in the sea (Robinson's Researches, ii, 368 note). The ground within sinks in the manner of an amphitheatre (Richardson, ii, 202204; Eli Smith, in Missionary Herald for 1827, p. 341). The place still bears the name of Askulan, and is inhabited by Arabs and Christians (Schwarz, Palest. p. 120). The modern village is a little north of the old site, and the houses are built of the fragments of the ancient city. It is situated in a cove formed by a lofty ridge rising abruptly near the shore, running up eastward, then, bending to the south, next to the west, and finally to the north-west again. The position, now surrounded with desolate ruins of its former grandeur, is still beautiful, the whole interior being planted with orchards (Thomson, Land and Book, ii, 327 sq.). SEE CUNEIFORM INSCRIPTIONS.
Ashkelon
The present site, called Asskulan, is thus described by Porter (Handbook for Syria, p. 276; comp. Conder, Tent Work, ii, 164 sq.):
"The ruins of this ancient city occupy a splendid site facing the Mediterranean. Along the shore runs a line of cliffs nearly a mile in length, and varying from fifty to eighty feet in height. The ends of the cliffs are connected by a ridge of rock-which sweeps round inland in the form of a semicircle. Within the space thus enclosed stood Ashkelon, and along: the top of the ridge ran its walls. The ground sinks gradually for some two hundred or three hundred yards towards the centre, and then rises again as gradually. into a broad mound, culminating at the sea. The walls are strangely, shattered, and one wonders what mighty agency has been employed in their destruction. Huge masses of solid masonry, ten, fifteen, twenty feet in diameter, are thrown from their plates and lie on the sides and at the base of the rocky bank. The cement that binds the stones together seems as firm as the stones themselves; and the old battlements, instead of having crumbled to pieces as most buildings do, rest in immense disjointed fragments, which, had we power enough to move them, we might almost. arrange in their places again. On the eastern side of the semicircle, at its apex, was the principal gate; and here is stilt the most convenient entrance. The path winds up through heaps of stones and rubbish, among which are great numbers of marble and granite columns: on the left are the shattered walls of a large tower, still of considerable height, and affording from the top the best general view of the ruins. Clambering up the brocken battlements, we have Ashkelon spread out before us not Ashkelon, only the place where it once stood. The northern and larger section of the site is now covered with gardens, divided by rough stone fences, and filled with vines, pomegranates, figs, and apricots, in addition to luxuriant beds of onions and melons. Scarcely a fragment of a ruin can be seen from this spot except the broken wall. As I sat here one morning I counted five yokes of oxen ploughing, two drawing water for irrigation, and twenty-eight men and women engaged in agricultural work! Such is one section of Ashkelon. The remaining portion is even more terribly desolate. The white sand has drifted over its southern wall, almost covering its highest fragments, and now lies in deep wreaths upon the ground within. The scene presents such an aspect of utter desolation that it is painful to look upon it-old foundations of houses, palaces perhaps, and the little vines that men still living had planted over them being alike swallowed up by sand. And the sand is fast advancing; so that probably ere half a century has passed the very site of Ashkelon will have disappeared. How true are the words of Zephaniah spoken. twenty-five centuries ago, Ashkelon shall be desolation (2:4); and the words of Zechariah too, Ashkelon shall not be inhabited (9:5)!
"A walk through the gardens and orchards that cover the site still shows us something of the former magnificence of the city. Proceeding from the gate towards the top of the central mound, now crowned with a ruinous wely, we observe traces of a street once lined with columns. At about two hundred yards we have on the left a low area partially excavated, round which are from twenty to thirty large granite shafts and several smaller ones of marble,' some of them nearly covered with soil and stones. Not a solitary column stands upright, and not a building can be traced even in outline, though 'a few stones of a wall are here and there seen in their places. Deep wells are frequently met with, with curbstones of marble or granite; columns, mostly of granite, exist in vast numbers-scores of them may be. seen .projecting from the ruinous wall along the cliff over the sea, and some lie half buried in the sands below. Hewn stones are not so plentiful as one would expect. But this is explained by the fact that Ashkelon formed the chief quarry from which the materials were taken to build the ramparts and adorn the mosques of Acre., The houses and walls of Yafa have also made large draughts on this place. And poor Lady Hester Stanhope, strangely enough, contributed to. the work. of ruin. Having heard or dreamt of some vast treasure buried beneath the old city, she got a firman from the sultan, assembled a band of workmen, and made extensive excavations; but :the only treasure discovered was .a portion of a theatre. Thus a variety of agencies have combined to render Ashkelon a desolation. There is a little village beside it, but not a human habitation within its walls.'
The following additional particulars are from Badeker's Palestine, p. 316 sq.:
"On the hill, in the Wely Mohammed, which is shaded by sycamores [the sycamore fig, which flourishes here], are seen the still totally preserved towers which defended the principal gate, that, of Jerusalem; but the remains are deeply buried in the sand. The outlet to the road is closed by a thorn hedge. The north side of the ramparts is not easily visited, as they are concealed by luxuriant orchards, both outside and inside the walls. Among the orchards are found remains of Christian churches, and other relics of uncertain date. The orchards, enclosed by prickly-cactus hedges and thorn- bushes, belong to the people of Jora, a village of three hundred inhabitants, situated to the east of the ancient Ashkelon. Sycamores abound, and vines, olives, many fruit-trees, and an excellent kind of onion thrive in this favored district. This last was called by the Romans ascalonia, whence the French chalotte and our shalot are derived." For further details, see the Zeitschr. d. Paldst. Vereins, 1879, p. 164 sq., where a plan is given, of which the one here exhibited is a reduction.