ASKELON Cas'ke-lon) (Heb. ;*, Ion', migration), a city of the Philistines, and the seat of one of their five states (Judg. xiv:19; Sam. vi:17; 2 Sam. i:20).
(1) Location. It was situated on the Mediter ranean coast, between Gaza and Ashdod, twelve geog. miles north of the former, and ten S. by W. from the latter, and thirty-seven W. S. W. from Jerusalem. It was the only one of the five great Phil istine towns that was a maritime port, and stood out close to the shore. Askelon was assigned to the tribe of Judah (Josh. xiii: 13; Comp. Judg. is 18); but it was never for any length of time in posses sion of the Israelites. The part of the country in which it stood abounded in aromatic plants, onions, and vines (Plin. xix:32; Strabo.xvi,p. 759; Dioscor. i:124; Colum. xii: io; Alex. Trail. viii: 3). It was well fortified (Joseph. De Bell. _Ind. : 21 ; Comp. Mela i:11), and early became the seat of worship of Decerto (Diod. Sic. ii: 4). After the time of Al exander it shared the lot of Phoenicia and Judaa, being tributary sometimes to Egypt, and at others times to Syria (t Macc. x:86; xi:60; xii: 33; Joseph. Antig. xii: 4, 5).
(2) Birthplace of Herod. The magnificent Herod was born at Askelon, and although the city did not belong to his dominion, he adorned it with fountains, baths, and colonnades (De Bell. jud.i:I 2,
and after his death, Salome, his sister, resided in a palace at Askelon, which Cxsar bestowed up on her (A Wig 5). It suffered much in the Jewish war with the Romans (De Bell. Jud. ii: 18, 5; iii: 2, 1-3); for its inhabitants were noted for their dislike of the Jews, of whom they slew 2,500 who dwelt there (ii:I8, 5; iii:2, (3) In the Middle Ages. After this Askelon again revived, and in the middle ages was noted not only as a stronghold, but as a wealthy and important town (Will. Tyr. xvii:21). As a sea port merely it never could have enjoyed much advantage, the coast being sandy and difficult of access. The town bears a prominent part in the history of the Crusades. After being several times dismantled and re-fortified in the times of Saladin and Richard, its fortifications were at length to tally destroyed by the Sultan Bibars A. D. 127o, and the port filled up with stones, for fear of future attempts on the part of the Crusaders (Wilkin. Gesch. der Kreuz. vii: 586). The place still bears the name of Askulan.
The prophecies concerning Askelon are found in Zech. ix:9; Jer. xxv:2o; xlvii: 5 and 18; Zepli. ii: 4, 7; ix:5. (See ASHKELON.)