One of the five major Philistine cities, Ashdod was the site of the temple of the idol Dagan, where the Holy Ark was brought after its capture from the vanquished Israelites. In Shmuel I (5:1-8) there is a description of the disgrace visited upon the idol and the suffering of the city’s inhabitants, as punishment for their treatment of the Ark.

This perennial thorn in the side of Israel was the object of many prophetic curses and was finally conquered by King Uzzia of Judea (Divrei HaYamim II 26:6).

Modern Ashdod, established in 1957, has one of the country’s major ports and is a growing city with a large immigrant population, religious communities, and yeshivot, alongside some large industries.

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