AZO'TIIS, the Ashdod of the Old Testament (now Esdud), a village on the Mediterra nean, 21 m. s. of Jaffa. Lat. 31°45' n., long. 34° 37' e. It was formerly one of the chief cities of the Philistines, strongly fortified, and the scene of numerous contests between that race and the Jews. Into this city the ark of the covenant was brought by the Philistines, and placed in the temple of their god Dagon, whose image fell in pieces before it. In the 8th c. B.C., the town fell into the hands of the Assyrians; and in the fol lowing century was captured by the Egyptians, after a 29 years' blockade and siege. In the wars between Alexander Bales and Demetrius, A. was destroyed by fire. It was afterwards rebuilt by the Romans, but never regained its early importance. It has now a pop. of about 300, and the sea is gradually receding from its harbor.
or A'sow, a fortress and port t. in the s. of Russia, situated on the Don, about 20 m. from its mouth. The sand and mud deposited by the river have choked up the port, so that its trade and shipping have dwindled-away, and the inhabitants now depend mostly on fishing. Pop. '67, 14,017. A. was anciently a Greek colony, under the mime
of TanaYs, and carried on extensive commerce with the northern peoples. In number of inhabitants and in wealth it often rivaled Panticapwum (now Kertch). In the 13th c. it was taken possession of by the Genoese. who called it Tana. They were driven out of it by Timur (Tamerlane) in 1392. In 1471, it was taken by the Turks, and since then has borne the name of A. the Turks calling the town and the neighboring sea Asak. After an obstinate struggle, at which Peter the great, then beginning his career, was present, it was captured by the Russians about the end of the 17th century. It more than once fell again under the dominion of the Turks, but at last, in 1774, remained in the undisturbed possession of Russia. It was bombarded and destroyed by an allied Eng lish and French squadron in 1855.