Ashdod (ancient city)
Ashdod (Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤃𐤃 *ʾašdūd; Hebrew: אַשְׁדּוֹד, romanized: ʾašdōḏ; Arabic: أسدود, romanized: ʾasdūd) or Azotus (Koine Greek: Ἄζωτος, romanized: azōtos) was an ancient Levantine metropolis, the remains of which are situated at Tel Ashdod, an archaeological site located a few kilometers south of the modern Ashdod in present-day Israel. The first documented urban settlement at Ashdod dates to the 17th century BCE, when it was a fortified Canaanite city, before being destroyed in the Bronze Age Collapse.