Page 60 - Bible Geography and Near East Studies - Textbook w videos short

The Five Royal Cities of the Philistines

Gaza – Situated in south-west corner of Canaan close to the Mediterranean Sea. It was assigned to
Judah but never conquered by them. Samson carried away its gates, and afterwards perished here
amid the ruins of the great temple which he destroyed. It formed a part of the kingdom of David
and Solomon. It was strongly fortified, and withstood Alexander the Great in a siege of five months.
Today the modern city of Gaza lies just beyond the ruins of this ancient place, and has a population
of around 15,000 people.

Gath - Gath was famous as being the birthplace or residence of Goliath (I Sam 17:4) David fled from
Saul to Achish, king of Gath (I Sam
21:10). It was eventually conquered by
David in 2 Sam 8:1. It occupied a strong
position on the borders of Judah and
Philistia (I Chr. 18:1).

Ashkelon – Located 12 miles north of
Gaza. It was within the territory
assigned to the tribe of Judah, was
captured and held a few years, and then
relinquished. It became a great
commercial city, and was magnificently
built and adorned. Many prophets
denounced it, all predicting its utter
destruction, which has been fulfilled. It
is now a desolate ruin, yet interesting to
see. See Jer. 25:20, 47:5-7, Amos 1:8,
Zeph. 2:4, and Zech. 9:5. Samson went
down to this place from Timnath-serah,
and slew thirty men and took their
spoil. It was the scene of many a bloody
battle during the crusades.

Ashdod – It was one of the chief seats
of worship of Dagon (I Sam 5:5). It was
given to the tribe of Judah but they
failed to ever possess it. It is an
important city, as it stood on the
highroad from Egypt to Israel, and Tel Gath is the oldest archaeological site in Judah. The city gate from the time when
hence was strongly fortified (2 Chr. 26:6, Goliath was alive was discovered here in 2015. Some recently uncovered ruins can
be seen in the center of the photo. In the map, red markers indicate Israeli cities.
Isa. 20:1). King Uzziah took it, but fifty Gath was an incredibly important fortress for the Philistines, and a constant threat
years later it was captured by Sargon, for Israel.
the Assyrian, in 711 BC. Philip returned
from Gaza (Acts 8:40) after sharing the Gospel there.

Ekron – This was the most northerly of the five towns of the Lords of the Philistines, about 11 miles
north of Gath. It was assigned to Judah and afterwards to Dan (Josh 19:43) but neither controlled it

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