Ashkelon

Ashkelon’s Mediterranean beaches are like many other stretches of sand on Israel’s coast; the local archeological sites may not be the most engaging piles of nibble in the Holy Land; the rows of shopping malls, cineplexes, and housing projects sprawling across the countryside could be found in a thousand towns around the planet. But 75,000 Israelis call this place home, and if you’re curious to see how they live, make the easy day trip from Tel Aviv.

Ashkelon was first settled in the 3rd millenium BC and is one of the oldest inhab-rted cities in the world. In Bibilical times, Ashkelon was one of the five great cities of the Philistines, and the Bible records its almost continuous conflicts with the Hebrews. Samson, as a young man, “went down to Ashkelon, and slew thirty men of them” (Judges 14:19). When King Saul was killed, David ordered, “Publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice” (II Samuel 1:20). The remains of the Biblical city are found in the National Park on the coast south of the city center.