Ashkelon

Ashkelon (also Ashqelon and Ascalon) (Hebrew: אַשְׁקְלוֹן‬ (audio) ; Arabic: عسقلان (ˁAsqalān)‎; Laitin: Ascalonia; Akkadian: Isqalluna) is a coastal ceety in the Sooth Destrict o Israel on the Mediterranean coast, 50 kilometres (31 mi) sooth o Tel Aviv, an 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) north o the border wi the Gaza Strip. The auncient seaport o Ashkelon dates back tae the Neolithic Age. In the course o its history, it haes been ruled bi the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Israelites, the Assiries, the Babylonians, the Greeks, the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Persians, the Egyptians an the Crusaders, till it wis destroyed bi the Mamluks in 1270. The Arab veelage o al-Majdal (Arabic: المجدل‎, Hebrew: אל-מג'דל, מגדל‎‎), wis established nearbi in the 16t century, unner Ottoman rule. In 1918, Ashkelon became pairt o the Breetish Mandate for Palestine. In the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, Majdal wis the forrit position o the Egyptian Expeditionary Force based in Gaza. The veelage wis occupee'd bi Israeli forces on November 5, 1948, bi which time maist o the Arab population o 11,000 haed been forced tae leave. In 2015 the population o Ashkelon wis 130,660. Internaitional relations Twin touns — Sister ceeties Ashkelon is twinned wi: References Freemit airtins Ashkelon Ceety Cooncil Archived 2006-08-27 at the Wayback Machine "Ashkelon, auncient ceety o the sea", National Geographic, January 2001 Ancient Ashkelon Archived 2008-04-24 at the Wayback Machine—University of Chicago Pictures of Ashkelon Archived 2019-10-16 at the Wayback Machine—Holy Land Pictures Template:Crusader Steids in Israel