ASHKELON: traces of civilizations and many religions

The city of Ashkelon keeps traces of many civilizations and many religions.

For those who are interested in the ancient times of human history, this is the place through which people who left Africa passed before settling all the continents.

For those who are interested in the ancient history of seafaring, this is the oldest port in the world.

For the Jews, Ashkelon begins with a confrontation between the heroic judge Samson and the pagan Philistines.

For Christians, Ashkelon is a city where many luxurious churches were built during the Byzantine period.

Two Byzantine churches were excavated in the present-day "Barnea" microdistrict. In the vicinity of Ashkelon, 35 Byzantine settlements of the 4th-7th centuries AD were discovered. They served as the agricultural rear of the city.

It was under the Christians that Ashkelon became a tourist area. Among the tourist attractions of the city during the Byzantine Empire were wells, which, according to tradition, were dug in the time of Abraham.

The Jews at that time were the only minority in the city who were allowed to keep the precepts of their religion and have a synagogue. From the synagogues, fragments of a decorated lattice with a relief of a menorah, a shofar and an etrog, as well as inscriptions in Hebrew, remained.

With the Muslim conquest in the seventh century AD, the city gained great importance in the Muslim tradition, among other things, due to the belief that 70,000 people will be resurrected in the city of Ashkelon – those who will be freed from responsibility for their earthly actions - sins committed while alive...

In 1153, the Muslim city fell to the crusaders, who saw Ashkelon as one of the central seaports on the way to Jerusalem.

Crusader rule did not last long, and the Muslims, led by the Mamluk Sultan Baibars, retook it in 1270. Fearing that the Crusaders would find refuge within its walls and be able to rebuild the city, the fortress and the port, the Muslims destroyed the city.

Over the following centuries, the city was abandoned, and only with the establishment of the State of Israel, Ashkelon was restored and re-populated. And it turned into a flourishing city that learns its history and designs tomorrow.