DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10358#0191
164
PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
with, which probably marks the ancient site of the port of Ashdod, of which nothing now is
visible ; and about five miles farther to the south the low line of coast is seen to develop into a
bold cliff, which increases in picturesqueness as it is approached, and on which are the remains
of" Ascalon by the Sea" (see page 173). But here we turn off to view the modern Mejdel,
identified as Migdol (see page 167), Gad of the Philistines, and even as Magdala, mentioned by
H erodotus (xi. 159), when Pharaoh-Neco engaged the Syrians by land and conquered them.
Mejdel is now the site of the government of the district about Ascalon, and is a flourishing
country town. It possesses a mosque with a tall minaret, large stone houses, and a bazaar.
It is surrounded by groves of large olive-trees, and undulating plains covered with cereals,
interspersed with palm, walnut, and fig trees. The soil around is very rich, and the people
are industrious, watering their crops from deep wells, in some of which the water is one
hundred and twenty feet below the surface. In many instances the wells are common to the
whole village. The water is brought to the surface by means of a " Persian wheel" or " naura,"
which is worked by camels or oxen, provided in turn by the various heads of families
(identical with the " sakiyeh," see pages 81 and 132).
Not far from Mejdel is the site of Ascalon (see page 169), whose general position is
well known, but the exact site of which has not as yet been identified. It was one of the
royal cities of the Philistines when the children of Israel entered the Promised Land, and
remained in the hands of the Philistines until the time of the Jewish captivity. Ascalon is
described by Herodotus as having possessed the most ancient of all the temples erected to
Venus, or Derceto, the mother of Semiramis. She was represented as a woman above the
waist, with termination in shape of a fish-tail, a female counterpart to Dagon. Ascalon, like
other towns of the Philistines, had its seaport, now called " Ascalon by the Sea." This town
came prominently into notice in the time of Herod the Great, who adorned it with public
baths and fountains and palaces ; here his sister Salome resided.* During the wars of the
Jews with the Romans, the former suffered a great defeat here at the hand of Antonius.
At an early period Ascalon was made the seat of a bishopric, and owing to its
advantageous position and strong walls it became the most important fortress in Palestine
during the Middle Ages, and during the Crusades was a thorn in the side of the Christians,
as it had been to the Jews when in possession of the Philistines. It was around Ascalon
that the great battle took place between the Egyptian army and the Crusaders under
Godfrey. Godfrey of Lorraine, after the capture of Jerusalem, was just elected King by the
army of the Crusaders, when intelligence arrived that a vast army of Egyptians had crossed
the desert into Palestine, to annihilate the Christians and raise again the standard of Islam.
Hurriedly the Christian army was assembled and collected in battle array near Ramleh,
prepared to dispute the passage of the Egyptian invaders (see page 148). Raymond took up a
* In the year 1815, Lady Hester Stanhope having procured a firman from the Turkish authorities, instituted a search for antiquities among
the ruins of 'Askulan (Ascalon). Among other objects then brought to light was a colossal statue of a Roman emperor, probably one of Augustus
erected by Herod. Unfortunately it was broken to pieces by the excited workpeople, who apparently expected to find some wonderful treasure
concealed within it.—M. E. R.
PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
with, which probably marks the ancient site of the port of Ashdod, of which nothing now is
visible ; and about five miles farther to the south the low line of coast is seen to develop into a
bold cliff, which increases in picturesqueness as it is approached, and on which are the remains
of" Ascalon by the Sea" (see page 173). But here we turn off to view the modern Mejdel,
identified as Migdol (see page 167), Gad of the Philistines, and even as Magdala, mentioned by
H erodotus (xi. 159), when Pharaoh-Neco engaged the Syrians by land and conquered them.
Mejdel is now the site of the government of the district about Ascalon, and is a flourishing
country town. It possesses a mosque with a tall minaret, large stone houses, and a bazaar.
It is surrounded by groves of large olive-trees, and undulating plains covered with cereals,
interspersed with palm, walnut, and fig trees. The soil around is very rich, and the people
are industrious, watering their crops from deep wells, in some of which the water is one
hundred and twenty feet below the surface. In many instances the wells are common to the
whole village. The water is brought to the surface by means of a " Persian wheel" or " naura,"
which is worked by camels or oxen, provided in turn by the various heads of families
(identical with the " sakiyeh," see pages 81 and 132).
Not far from Mejdel is the site of Ascalon (see page 169), whose general position is
well known, but the exact site of which has not as yet been identified. It was one of the
royal cities of the Philistines when the children of Israel entered the Promised Land, and
remained in the hands of the Philistines until the time of the Jewish captivity. Ascalon is
described by Herodotus as having possessed the most ancient of all the temples erected to
Venus, or Derceto, the mother of Semiramis. She was represented as a woman above the
waist, with termination in shape of a fish-tail, a female counterpart to Dagon. Ascalon, like
other towns of the Philistines, had its seaport, now called " Ascalon by the Sea." This town
came prominently into notice in the time of Herod the Great, who adorned it with public
baths and fountains and palaces ; here his sister Salome resided.* During the wars of the
Jews with the Romans, the former suffered a great defeat here at the hand of Antonius.
At an early period Ascalon was made the seat of a bishopric, and owing to its
advantageous position and strong walls it became the most important fortress in Palestine
during the Middle Ages, and during the Crusades was a thorn in the side of the Christians,
as it had been to the Jews when in possession of the Philistines. It was around Ascalon
that the great battle took place between the Egyptian army and the Crusaders under
Godfrey. Godfrey of Lorraine, after the capture of Jerusalem, was just elected King by the
army of the Crusaders, when intelligence arrived that a vast army of Egyptians had crossed
the desert into Palestine, to annihilate the Christians and raise again the standard of Islam.
Hurriedly the Christian army was assembled and collected in battle array near Ramleh,
prepared to dispute the passage of the Egyptian invaders (see page 148). Raymond took up a
* In the year 1815, Lady Hester Stanhope having procured a firman from the Turkish authorities, instituted a search for antiquities among
the ruins of 'Askulan (Ascalon). Among other objects then brought to light was a colossal statue of a Roman emperor, probably one of Augustus
erected by Herod. Unfortunately it was broken to pieces by the excited workpeople, who apparently expected to find some wonderful treasure
concealed within it.—M. E. R.