Ashkelon is one of the oldest and largest cities in the ancient world, a Philistine capital on the Mediterranean coast with over 5,000 years of continuous habitation. The national park preserves ruins from the Canaanites, Philistines, Romans, and Crusaders within a massive Bronze Age rampart that still defines the site today.
Ashkelon National Park
The national park covers approximately 50 acres of the ancient tell, set along dramatic coastal cliffs above the Mediterranean. The site is enclosed by a massive semicircular earthen rampart dating to the Middle Bronze Age (c. 1850 BCE), creating a D-shaped fortified area of roughly 150 acres — one of the largest Bronze and Iron Age cities in the Levant. Major excavations led by Lawrence Stager of Harvard (the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon, 1985–2016) transformed our understanding of Philistine civilization.
Oldest Arched Gate in the World
Discovered in 1992, Ashkelon’s Canaanite gate dates to approximately 1850 BCE and is the oldest known arched city gate in the world. Built of mud bricks on a stone foundation, it features a true voussoir arch — not a corbelled arch — predating the arched gates familiar from the Roman world by nearly two millennia. The gateway passage is approximately 2.4 meters wide and the arch stands about 3.5 meters high, with the gate complex extending some 15 meters in length with flanking towers. A roadway paved with compressed chalk led through the gate. The discovery challenged the long-held assumption that the true arch was a Roman invention.
Philistine City
Ashkelon was one of the five cities of the Philistine Pentapolis from approximately 1175 BCE, when the Sea Peoples settled the coast, until the Assyrian campaigns of the late 8th century BCE devastated the Philistine cities and effectively ended Philistine political independence. A century later, Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon delivered the final blow in 604 BCE. Excavations uncovered a Philistine marketplace with shops containing large storage jars, loom weights, and evidence of wine and oil production. Abundant Mycenaean-style pottery reflects the Philistines’ Aegean origins. A dramatic destruction layer from the Babylonian conquest revealed collapsed buildings, burnt debris, and the remains of people killed in the assault. The Philistines’ European ancestry was confirmed in 2019 when DNA analysis of burials from the Ashkelon cemetery — the first and only Philistine cemetery ever found, containing over 210 individuals — was published in Science Advances, showing southern European genetic signatures consistent with Aegean origins.
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In the Persian-period levels (5th century BCE), archaeologists discovered approximately 1,200 dogs carefully buried in individual shallow pits, most in a curled sleeping position. It is the largest known animal cemetery in the ancient Near East. The dogs show no signs of ritual slaughter — they appear to have died naturally and were respectfully interred. The leading theory connects the cemetery to a Phoenician healing cult: dogs were associated with healing deities in the ancient Near East and Mediterranean, and the cemetery may have been linked to an Asclepius-type healing shrine. Parallels exist in Greek healing cults where dogs were sacred to the god of medicine.
Roman Ashkelon
Under Rome, Ashkelon held the prestigious status of a civitas libera — a free city that was never part of Herod’s kingdom, minted its own coins, and was proud of its independence. The city’s wealth is reflected in its extraordinary archaeological remains: a well-preserved bouleuterion (council house) with semicircular seating for approximately 600, lined with Corinthian columns and graced by a marble statue of Nike; Roman sculptures including figures of Atlas, Isis, and a child riding a dolphin; and painted funerary tombs. Ashkelon was famous in antiquity for its onions — the English word “scallion” derives from “Ascalonia,” the Latin name for the city’s celebrated produce.
Visit with Hoshen Tours
Ashkelon combines five millennia of history with a beautiful Mediterranean setting. Hoshen Tours walks through the Canaanite gate, the Philistine marketplace, and the Roman council house, telling the story of a city that was ancient before Rome was born. The park pairs naturally with nearby Ashdod for a full Philistine coast experience.