ASHKELON
One of the five royal cities of the Philistines fell to Judah, who took Ashkelon and its coasts (Judges 1:18), but without really subduing it, because it was still in the hands of the Philistines when Samson killed thirty men. of the city (Judges 14:19).
He continued to belong to the Philistines (1 Sam. 6:17; 2 Sam. 1:20). This city was the object of divine threats (Jer. 25:20; 47:5, 7; Am. 1:8; Zech. 9:5), and the remnant of Judah will dwell there (Zeph. 2:4, 7).
In more recent times, this city was dominated by the Crusaders, and within its walls Richard III of England had his court, the so-called “Lionheart.” Archaeological excavations have discovered a layer of ash of considerable thickness.
Ashkelon was located on the coast, halfway between Gaza and Ashdod, at 31° 41′ N. The Israelites refounded it in 1949, near the ruins of the old city, and it is an industrial center and terminal for the oil pipeline that It connects Elat, in the Gulf of Akaba, with the Mediterranean Sea.