Now the Philistines had taken the ark of God, and they brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
The Philistines' placing the ark in the temple of their god Dagon was the normal procedure for the disposal of the captured `gods' or other trophies of defeated enemies.  When they killed Saul, they stripped him of his armor and deposited it in the temple of Ashtaroth  (1 Samuel 21:10).  "It was no doubt to insult the God of Israel and to insult and terrify his people that they did this."[12]