Assyrian Palace Discovered in Ashdod

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As so often happens in Israel, so it happened in 2003 when the Israel Railway Authority was constructing a rail connection between Ashdod and Ashkelon, those ancient Philistine, now modern cities on the Mediterranean coast: Ancient remains were discovered, work stopped, and the Israel Antiquities Authority was called in to investigate and excavate. What was unusual this time, however, was that the excavators came upon a massive hitherto-unknown neo-Assyrian palace dating to the late eighth century B.C.E.^a

This is especially tantalizing because it will take a major excavation to fully excavate the palace. So far only a small portion of the building has been excavated. And for the time being, it has been covered back up—simply to protect it. Many senior archaeologists would love to undertake an expedition to expose the palace more fully, but it’s the same old problem: money (or lack thereof).

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The Antiquities Authority excavator assigned to explore the remains, Elena Kogan-Zahavi, worked at the site during late 2003 and early 2004,¹ then stopped when she was able to identify the major structure at the site.

Not long after the Assyrians put an end to the northern kingdom of Israel in 721 B.C.E. and deported its citizens to Assyria (2 Kings 17:5–6), Sargon II,^b the Assyrian ruler, proceeded south along the Mediterranean coast all the way to the Egyptian border at Gaza, where he defeated the Egyptian army. Later (in 713 B.C.E.), when the ancient Philistine city of Ashdod made a rebellious alliance with neighboring rulers, Sargon attacked it (Isaiah 20:1). According to Assyrian records, Sargon replaced the ruler of Ashdod (Aziru) with 059his brother (Ahimetu). However, as soon as the Assyrians withdrew, the people of Ashdod rebelled again—this time against Ahimetu—and installed a new ruler, Yamani. In response, Sargon laid siege to Ashdod yet again and finally exiled its citizens as he had done with the Israelites.² Ashdod became an Assyrian city-state. From Assyrian records, we even know the names of two puppet-kings of Ashdod (Mitinti and Ahimelech) who ruled as vassals of the Assyrian emperor. Ashdod served as the provincial center of Philistia and the south in the Assyrian empire.

Although the Philistine city of Tel Ashdod (just south of the rescue dig) was extensively excavated in the 1960s and 1970s (principally by the late Moshe Dothan), no evidence of the Assyrian city-state was ever found, although the excavators did recover three small fragments of cuneiform inscriptions from at least one victory stele of Sargon II. The largest piece is only 9 inches in the largest direction. All three fragments are on black basalt, but they are written in two different hands. The two fragments in the same hand have different indentations on the left edge, so they could be from different steles or different parts of the same stele. Sargon is not mentioned in these surviving fragments, but scholars are agreed that he is to be identified as the author on the basis of parallels with known inscriptions of Sargon II.³

The hitherto-undiscovered palace that Kogan-Zahavi revealed is immense, covering more than 2.5 acres. It was built on a level, manmade podium nearly 10 feet high on one side and 6 feet high on another. The raised platform was built of large, square, reddish-brown mudbricks (about 15 by 15 inches), typical of Mesopotamian construction at this time. The size of the bricks matches that of the bricks used in neo-Assyrian palaces in Assyria proper.

The walls of the palace, also made of square, reddish-brown mudbricks, were almost 10 feet thick. The architecture, featuring a large internal courtyard (98 feet from north to south), is also 060typical of Assyrian construction.

In the northwestern part of the palace, the archaeologists excavated two rooms that contained three bathtub-like basins—two made of clay and one made of stone. In one room was a clay pitcher in the shape of a bathtub. Two other bathtub-shaped basins were found in the rubble, one of clay and one of stone.

In Assyria, similar basins were used as coffins. These types of coffins have also been found in Israel—at Beth Shean, Megiddo, Hazor and elsewhere. But no bones were found in the basins at Ashdod. Assyrian burial rooms usually had an underground area, but there was no such underground facility beneath the rooms with the bathtub-like basins at Ashdod.

Bathtub-like containers were also used for ritual purposes in antiquity and have been found in ancient temples, as well as in palaces. Bathtubs used in this way have been recovered at several Philistine sites: Ashdod, Ekron, Ashkelon and Tell Qasile.

On the other hand, these bathtubs may well have been part of bathrooms. That is the view of the excavator, although it seems odd to have so many bathtubs in close proximity. Kogan-Zahavi notes that these basins were not found in their original position. She suggests that they most likely fell from a high spot, possibly a second story.

In other Assyrian palaces from the time of Sargon II, the throne room was located next to the bathroom. If that was the case here, a very fancy room of worked-stone construction interlaced with mudbrick adjacent to the bathroom may well have been the throne room. Attached to the wall was a plastered column covered with flat stones that gave the impression of an orthostat (a large stone slab). Orthostats were common in Assyrian construction in Mesopotamia. Whether or not this is the throne room of the Ashdod palace, this kind of construction of mudbrick combined with worked stone is testimony to the magnificent character of the structure.

In addition to the usual pottery fragments, useful for dating the remains, the excavators recovered a number of animal bones, a ceramic figurine and a clay mold for casting figurines.

One side of the palace was built on the edge of an adjacent wadi or dry river bed. This, too, was common at Assyrian palaces—at Nineveh, Nimrod, Khorsabad and elsewhere in Mesopotamia. This was both an excellent defensive strategy and a convenience for transportation.

The excavator believes that this site served as the capital of Philistia and the southern part of the country when it was part of the empire of Sargon II. This is consistent with the finding of the fragments of Sargon’s victory stele on the tell next to the site of the palace. Indeed, Sargon himself may have led the Assyrian forces, although Isaiah 20:1 says he sent a general named Tartun (but this may simply mean “general” in Assyrian) to lead the attack on Ashdod.

After some alterations in a later, seventh-century stratum, the palace was destroyed in an intense, fiery conflagration. Other details of the destruction are not clear.

There is indeed much we do not know about this Assyrian palace and other structures that may still lie buried at Ashdod. As Kogan-Zahavi declares, “Only a small fraction of the palace was exposed.” To uncover it all will be an exciting project for some future archaeologist.

As so often happens in Israel, so it happened in 2003 when the Israel Railway Authority was constructing a rail connection between Ashdod and Ashkelon, those ancient Philistine, now modern cities on the Mediterranean coast: Ancient remains were discovered, work stopped, and the Israel Antiquities Authority was called in to investigate and excavate. What was unusual this time, however, was that the excavators came upon a massive hitherto-unknown neo-Assyrian palace dating to the late eighth century B.C.E.a This is especially tantalizing because it will take a major excavation to fully excavate the palace. So far only a small portion […]