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MEGAN SAUTER

FEARSOME FORTIFICATIONS. Ashkelon’s fortifications do indeed look like they were assembled by giants—or at least people with gigantic skill. The Middle Bronze Age fortifications comprised a steeply sloped rampart with a wall on top and a fosse (dry moat) below. The earthwork rampart was capped with mudbricks or field stones and coated with mud plaster to create a smooth exterior, thereby making it nearly impossible to scale. Incorporated into the rampart was a sanctuary (see sign in the above photo), where archaeologists found a silver calf, located near the city’s north gate.