Ashkelon - City of Israel

Ashkelon or Ashqelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Bronze Age. In the course of its history, it has been ruled by the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Babylonians, the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Muslims and the Crusaders. It was destroyed by the Mamluks in 1270 and fell into disuse, but was rebuilt by the Arabs and by 1576 had become the 6th largest city in Palestine with a population of 2,795. By 1948, the population had grown to 11,000, when the 1948 Arab-Israeli War began and the city became the forward position of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force based in Gaza.After intense Israeli attacks, most of the population was forced to flee to Gaza along with the retreating Egyptian Army, and the city was occupied by Israeli forces on November 5, 1948.

Ashkelon was the oldest and largest seaport in Canaan, one of the "five cities" of the Philistines, north of Gaza and south of Jaffa . Archaeological excavations begun in 1985 led by Lawrence Stager of Harvard University are revealing the site with about 50 feet of accumulated rubble from successive Canaanite, Philistine, Phoenician, Iranian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, and Crusader occupation.

Within the huge ramparts, in the ruins of a sanctuary, a votive silver calf was found in 1991. During the Canaanite period, a roadway more than 20 feet in width ascended the rampart from the harbor and entered a gate at the top. Nearby, in the ruins of a small ceramic tabernacle was found a finely cast bronze statuette of a bull calf, originally silvered, 4 inches long. Images of calves and bulls were associated with the worship of the Canaanite gods El and Baal.

The Amarna letters correspondence of Ashkelon, of 1350 BC, contains seven letters to the Egyptian pharaoh, from its 'King'/mayor: Yidya. Yidya was the only ruler of Ašqaluna during the 15-20 year time period. One letter from the pharaoh to Yidya, was subsequently discovered in the early 1900s.

The Arab town of al-Majdal was described as a large village in the 16th century. In 1596 it was the 6th largest city in Palestine, with a population of 2,795. By the time of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, it had grown into a substantial town of about 11,000 residents. It was especially famous for its large weaving industry.

On 1-2 March 2008, rockets fired by Hamas from the Gaza Strip hit Ashkelon, wounding seven, and causing property damage, marking the first time that Hamas had been able to reliably strike Ashkelon. The mayor, Roni Mahatzri has stated that, "This is a state of war, I know no other definition for it. If it lasts a week or two, we can handle that, but we have no intention of allowing this to become part of our daily routine.

The city has 19 elementary schools, 9 junior high and high schools. The Ashkelon Academic College opened in 1998, and now hosts thousands of students.