Ashdod
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Ashdod (Hebrew: אשדוד) is an important archaeological site on the Mediterranean coast of present-day Israel, situated some 6 km (3.5 miles) south of the modern city by the same name and 14.5 km (9 miles) north-east of the neighbouring site of ancient Ashkelon. The settlement represented a city of primary importance in the Late Bronze and Iron Ages.
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Identification
The name of ancient Ashdod was preserved in that of the Arab village of Isdud, located nearby the ancient mound.
Description
Located slightly inland from the Mediterranean Sea coastline, the site of Ashdod forms a sizable tel, or city-mound. The maximum extent of the ancient city lies currently beyond precise determination, a significant proportion of the mound seemingly destroyed by agriculture and by later building activity.
The summit of the mound lies some 50 m above sea level and 15 m above the immediately surrounding lands. Two main sections can be clearly distinguished:
- the Acropolis, with an area of approximately 20 acres
- the Lower City, with an area of approximately 70 acres
Excavation
Nine seasons of excavation have been undertaken on Tel Ashdod to the present day: 1962, 1963, 1965, a sondage in 1967, and annually from 1968-1972.
Excavation proceeded at first under the auspices of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, The Pittsburgh Carnegie Museum and the Israel Department of Antiquities. After 1965, excavation continued as a joint project of the last two institutions only.
The noted Israeli archaeologist Moshe Dothan directed the project throughout, with David Noel Freedman and J. Swauger as co-directors from 1962-1965. Thereafter, Swauger and Dothan headed the project with Dothan as director.
Areas of Excavation
A combined total area in excess of 6,500 m² was excavated between 1962-1972.
Areas A, B, G, H and K are located on the acropolis, whilst Areas D, C and M are located in the Lower City. Area E is located on a hill north-east of the acropolis, while Area F forms part of a cemetery situated some 1.5 km east of the main mound.
1962: Areas A, B, C, D
1963: Areas A, B, D, G
1965: Areas D, G, H, K, sondages in E, F
1967: sondages in D
1968: Areas G, H, K
1969: Areas G, H, K, area M opened
1970: Areas G, M
1971: Area M
1972: Area M
Stratigraphy
Pre-Middle Bronze Age
A number of scattered pottery sherds of the Chalcolithic period and the Early Bronze Age were discovered on the mound during excavations.
Middle Bronze Age
Excavation reveals that the first fortified settlement of any magnitude was established and built on the surrounding bedrock as late as the Middle Bronze IIC period—a series of sondages in excavation Area G on the northern edge of the mound indicate that MBA remains lie partly concealed below stratum XVIII. The remains of a massive brick gate structure of the period were revealed therein, built on a straight-entry plan and with a pair of piers on either end of the parallel walls, creating a narrow passage some 3.5 m wide. Short buttress walls on both sides secured the gate within a glacis. As such, the Ashdod gate resembles the east gate at Shechem belonging to the same period.
The city acropolis was apparently fortified by means of a substantial mud brick wall—only the foundation trench of this wall was found preserved, however, in Area B, on the margins of the inhabited area in the lowest stratum (XVIII). It is thought that a fosse existed beyond the wall as an additional means of defence. The Lower City was seemingly not occupied during the MB period.
Late Bronze I
Only scant finds were recovered from the LBI strata in those areas excavated. Amongst the pottery wares present were bichrome ware and examples of Cypriot wares.
Excavation of Area G revealed that a building had been constructed above the MB IIC gate, giving rise to the notion that a gateway was not maintained during this period, or that early LBA gate structures were erected further north and had since been eroded.
Late Bronze II
Four successive strata (XVII-XIV) at Ashdod belong to the LBII period.
In Area B, parts of several brick buildings and stone pavements were revealed in Stratum XVII; the pottery finds of local painted wares and imported Cypriot vessels suggest a date towards the end of the 15th century BCE. The structures and pottery remain similar in the successive strata XVI-XV. At this time, Area B's key feature was a large public building, its walls in excess of 60 cm thick. The structure consisted of rooms built on either side of a central courtyard, with finds typical of the 14th century BCE (pottery, scarabs and figurines).
The final LB stratum (XIV) was only poorly preserved in Area B; being situated on the level surface of the tell, it had been heavily disturbed during modern periods, preserving only several floor surfaces and grain silos.
Area G revealed the construction of several phases of strong brick fortifications, or—more likely—fortified buildings that continued throughout Strata XVII-XIV. Merely minor changes of plan were in evidence. The thick brick walls (1.20 m wide) of these structures were placed on tall stone foundations. One courtyard found within these structures featured a plastered cistern that apparently collected rainwater from the roof, conveying it by means of a channel to yet another deep cistern. In regard to its plan, this building has been likened to that of the Egyptian 'residencies' revealed at a variety of other sites from the period. A fragmentary stone doorjamb inscribed with the title of an Egyptian 'fanbearer on the king's right hand', perhaps resident in Ashdod, is thought to have originated in this building.
Finds
The site of Ashdod has given its name directly to a particular type of figurine associated with the Philistine material culture—the so-called Ashdoda. Perhaps the best-known example of the Ashdoda figurine type was excavated in Area H, Stratum XII at Tel Ashdod.
Another significant find is the so-called "Stand of the Musicians", excavated from a context belonging to the Iron II period at Ashdod. This small cult / incense stand features sculptural depictions of musicians within the fenestrations of the stand's base.
Bibliography
- Asaro, F., Perlman, I. and Dothan, Moshe [1971], "An Introductory Study of Mycenaean IIIC Ware from Tell Ashdod", Archaeometry 13 (1971), pp.169-175.
- Barag, Dan [1993], "A Glass Inlay with Cartouche of Ramesses II", Appendix 3 in Dothan, M. and Porath, Y., Ashdod V - Excavation of Area G, [ʿAtiqot 23], Jerusalem: IAA, 1993, pp.115-116, fig42, pl.49.
- Ben-Shlomo, David [2003], "The Iron Age Sequence of Tel Ashdod: A Rejoinder to ‘Ashdod Revisited’ by I. Finkelstein and L. Singer-Avitz", TA 30.1 (2003), pp.83-107.
- Ben-Shlomo, David, Shai, Itzhaq and Maeir, Aren [2004], "Late Philistine Decorated Ware ("Ashdod Ware"): Typology, Chronology, and Production Centers", BASOR 335 (2004), pp.1-35.
- Cross Frank Moore Jr and Freedman, David Noel [1964], "The Name of Ashdod", BASOR 175 (1964), pp.48-50.
- Dever, William G. [1997], "Ashdod", Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, Oxford, 1997, pp.219-220.
- Dothan, Moshe [1971], Ashdod II-III - the Second and Third Seasons of Excavations, 1963, 1965 - Soundings in 1967, [ʿAtiqot 9-10], Jerusalem: IAA, 1971.
- Dothan, Moshe and Ben-Shlomo, David (eds) [2005], Ashdod VI. The Excavations of Areas H and K (1968-1969), [IAA Reports 24], Jerusalem: IAA, 2005. ISBN 9789654061780
- Dothan, M. and Freedman, D.N. [1967], Ashdod I, The First Season of Excavations 1962, [Atiqot 7], Jerusalem: IAA, 1967.
- Dothan, M. and Porath, Y. [1982], Ashdod IV: Excavations of Area M - the Fortifications of the Lower City, [ʿAtiqot 15], Jerusalem: IAA, 1982.
- [1993], Ashdod V - Excavation of Area G, [ʿAtiqot 23], Jerusalem: IAA, 1993.
- Finkelstein, Israel and Singer-Avitz, Lily [2001], "Ashdod Revisited", TA 28 (2001), pp.231-259.
- Freedman, David Noel [1963], "The Second Season at Ancient Ashdod", BA 26.4 (1963), pp.134-139.
- Kitchen, Kenneth A. [1993], “A ‘Fanbearer on the King’s Right Hand’ from Ashdod”, Appendix 1 in Dothan, M. and Porath, Y., Ashdod V - Excavation of Area G, [ʿAtiqot 23], Jerusalem: IAA, 1993, pp.109-110, fig.37, pl.47:l.
External links
- Elena Kogan Zahavi and Perchia Nahshoni, Tel Ashdod: North Tel Ashdod excavation – summary of two seasons - IAA web site
