Ashkelon

We visited Ashkelon today. It was surprisingly nice. First some things I learned. The name Ashkelon come from shekel, which was a unit of weight before it was a unit of currency. They used to grow a special kind of onion during Roman times, it was named for the city - the scallion.

Ashkelon goes way back. It has always been an important sea port and finds Neolithic times show that the area was settled 10,000 years ago. The actual city was founded during the Middle Canaanite period (2000-1550 BCE). It was surrounded by a huge defensive wall (a glacis) which has been excavated (see below). It was then ruled by the Egyptians, then during the Israelite period it took part in the Assyrian wars before being destroyed by Nebuchadnezzer in 604 BCE. Then came the Philistine, then the Phoenicians, the the Greeks. All the while Ashkelon was an important sea port astride the Via Maris, the Way of the Sea, that linked Syria with Egypt. During the Roman period It reached it's heyday. The city was large an well developed, well known for it's agriculture and produce. There was a large Jewish community, complete with synagogue during the Byzantine period (324-638 CE). During the Crusades the city swung back and forth between Muslim and Christian occupiers. The walls were demolished and rebuilt many times. During the Mandate, the British built a coast guard station to patrol the coast and to prevent illegal Jewish immigration.

We took the long route and walked all the way around the ancient city, following the path of the old Roman walls. It was cool.

The boy is making coffee and showing me how sore his arms are after Krav Magah yesterday.
These are the remains of one of the five churches built during the Byzantine and Crusader period. It's the Saint Mary Viridis Church if you are interested.
From the ramparts of the old Roman walls you can clearly see Gaza. I told the boy to watch out for Qassams. They have been know to land close by in Ashkelon.
Quite an impressive wall. There are remains all around the perimeter of the park.
There is still archaeology going on. They seem to be digging in many different parts of the park. I suppose they are looking at all the different periods of occupation.
I thought this was quite nice. It's great to be near the sea for once. Most of the sites we have gone to visit are inland for some reason. There was a nice cook breeze.
These are the remains of the ancient Canaanite city gate. They say it contains the oldest arch in the world, constructed around 1850 BCE. It's made of mud bricks and has been nicely protected under a structure.
This is the glacis, the fortifications from the Canaanite period. It includes this banked defensive wall and a moat.
For once we were not alone at 8am in the park. There is a big campground, filled with camping Russians. The smell of meat cooking over an open flame wafted over us as we walked along the path around the old city. Actually it looked like they were having a good time. It's a nice place as long as there are no Qassams falling.