Ashdod

31°48′0″N 34°39′0″E / 31.80000°N 34.65000°E / 31.80000; 34.65000

Ashdod (Hebrew: אשדוד, romanized: ʾašdōḏ, pronounced [ʔaʃˈdod] ^ⓘ; Arabic: أسدود, romanized: ʾasdūd, pronounced [ʔasˈduːd], or إسدود, ʾisdūd [ʔɪsˈduːd]; Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤃𐤃‎, romanized: *ʾašdūd) is the sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District, it lies on the Mediterranean coast 32 kilometres (20 miles) south of Tel Aviv and 20 km (12 mi) north of Ashkelon. Ashdod's port is the largest in Israel, handling 60% of the country's imported goods.

Modern Ashdod was established in 1956 on the sand hills 6 kilometers northwest of the ancient city of Ashdod, known in modern times by its Arabic name Isdud. Isdud had been depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, having had a history spanning approximately 3,700 years. In ancient times, ancient Ashdod developed as an active maritime trade center, with its ports identified at Ashdod-Yam and Tel Mor. In biblical times, it was one of the five principal cities of the Philistines.

Ashdod has absorbed extensive immigration from around the world, resulting in one of the highest percentages of new immigrants in Israel. The city is home to the largest Moroccan and Karaite Jewish communities in Israel, and to the largest Georgian Jewish community in the world. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Ashdod had a population of 229,173 in 2023, with an area of 47,242 dunams (47.242 km²; 18.240 sq mi). Ashdod was incorporated as a city in 1968, with a land-area of approximately 60 square kilometres (23 sq mi).

Three stone tools dating from the Neolithic era were discovered, with no other evidence of a Stone Age settlement in Ashdod found, suggesting that the tools were deposited there in a later period.

The historical town of Ashdod (today referred to as Tel Ashdod / Isdud), was c. 6 km southeast of the center of the modern town. It dates to the 17th century BCE, and was a prominent Philistine city, one of the five Philistine city-states. The coastal site of Ashdod-Yam, today southwest of the modern city, was a separate city for most of its history.

The first documented urban settlement at Tel Ashdod / Isdud dates to the 17th century BCE, when it was a fortified Canaanite city. It was destroyed at the end of the Late Bronze Age.

During the Iron Age, it was a prominent Philistine city, one of the five Philistine city-states. It is mentioned 13 times in the Hebrew Bible. After being captured by Uzziah in 760 BCE, it was ruled by the Kingdom of Judah before it was taken by the Assyrians. During the Persian period, Nehemiah condemned the returning Jews for intermarrying Ashdod's residents. Under Hellenistic rule, the city was known as Azotus. It was later incorporated into the Jewish Hasmonean kingdom in 143 BCE. In 63 BCE, Pompey removed the city from Judean rule and annexed it to the Roman province of Syria. However, in 30 BCE, Ashdod came under Herod the Great's rule when he received the south coast area, including Ashdod, as a gift from Augustus Caesar. Following the death of Herod the Great in 4 BCE, Ashdod (known as Azotus in this period) came under the rule of Jewish queen Salome I, Herod's sister. Salome I ruled over a territory that included the cities of Ashdod (Azotus), Jamnia, and Phasaelis. The Roman emperor Augustus supplemented this with a royal habitation for Salome I at Ashkelon (Ascalon). Ashdod was later a bishopric under Byzantine rule, whose importance gradually slipped until by the Middle Ages it was a village.