Ashdod-Sea

Ashdod-Yam (Greek: , romanized: Azotus Paralios, lit.'Ashdod on the Sea') is an ancient port city on the Mediterranean coast of Israel, located in the southern part of the modern city of Ashdod, and about 5 kilometres northwest of the ancient site of Tel Ashdod, where ancient Ashdod stood in the time of the Philistines. Ashdod-Yam and its inland counterpart, Ashdod or Azotus Mesogaios , were for most of their history two closely connected but distinct entities. Much of the surrounding environ is covered by sand dunes and remains unexplored.

The ancient Levantine settlement of Ashdod-Yam had several names. In Assyrian records, it is attested as "asdudi-immu", corresponding to the Hebrew "’ašdód-yamm". The first part of the name, "Ašdod", is believed to be derived from the Late Bronze Age Canaanite "’aṯdādu". In the Hellenistic period, the name of the settlement became "Azotus Paralios", literally "Azotus-by-the-sea", in contrast to Azotus Mesogaias, literally "Inland Azotus". In the Islamic period, it became "Mahuz Azdud", literally "harbour of Azdud", a combining the ancient Aramaic word for harbour, mahuz, and "Azdud". During the Crusades, as property of the lord of Ramla, Hugh, it was bequeathed to the knight Nicolas de Beroard and became known as "Castellum Beroart". Its contemporary Arabic name is "Minat al-Qal'a", after the Umayyad-era fort that was built at the site and whose ruins remain partially intact to this day.

The two towns, Ashdod and Ashdod-Yam, have been connected throughout their history. Despite the antiquity of the place, the name Ashdod-yam was applied to the site and adjacent town in October 1955, by Israel's Government Naming Committee.

During the Late Bronze Age the inland city of Ashdod used a port facility near the mouth of the Lakhish River, at Tel Mor, as its main exit to the sea, while a smaller port was probably located at Ashdod-Yam.

During the Iron Age the roles gradually reversed, and Ashdod-Yam, located south of Ashdod, overtook in importance the port at Tel Mor, located north of Ashdod. As one of the main five cities of the Philistine Pentapolis, Ashdod had great regional significance. Ashdod-Yam is first mentioned in documents from the time of Sargon II of Assyria when in 713 BCE the Assyrian king speaks of having to depose a usurper who had taken over control of the city of Ashdod and had fortified three towns: Ashdod itself, Gath, and "Asdudimmu" (Ashdod-Yam).

In 63 BCE, when general Pompey restored to Ashdod its independence previously lost to the Hasmonean king John Hyrcanus, the city consisted of two twin towns, the regional center of Azotos Mesogeios or A. Hippenos (lit. "inland Ashdod" and "Ashdod of the horsemen" respectively), and Azotos Paralios (lit. "coastal Ashdod"; also written A. Paralus, Paralius) The town, under its Greek designation, appears in the Madaba Map of the 6th century. This arrangement persisted throughout the Byzantine period, when the port town actually overshadowed in importance its former mother-city further inland: the bishops of Azotos present at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 and the council of Jerusalem in 536 seem to have resided in Azotos Paralios rather than in Azotos Mesogeios. Remains from Azotos Paralios of the Byzantine period, including a 1.500-year-old Greek dedication to a large church, were found over 2 km north of the inland Iron Age site. The inscription was discovered between two modern houses, about a mile from the coast. According to a medieval Christian Georgian calendar, a four-line Greek mosaic inscription dated back to "the 3rd indiction, year 292", which corresponds to the 6th century AD on the Gregorian calendar. The 6th-century Madaba Map shows both cities under their respective names. The prom

Archaeological site data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).