"Unlike other coastal cities with ports separate from the city, Ashkelon—one of the five cities of the Philistine Pentapolis mentioned in the Bible—was situated directly on the sea, with its marketplace overlooking the Mediterranean. Not surprisingly, the economy of Ashkelon was based on maritime trade. Experienced seafarers, the Philistine merchants traveled far and wide, crossing the Mediterranean world and forging economic and political ties as they went.
In 604 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar conquered Philistine Ashkelon, burning it to the ground. While utterly devastated, the Iron Age city was sealed in the process, and it is thanks to this act of destruction that the marketplace—and its record of ancient economics—is so well preserved.
Rather than bartering for goods with other goods, it is clear that at Philistine Ashkelon all goods were exchanged for and purchased with silver, which was weighed at the scale in the marketplace, thereby necessitating standardized weights. Clustered in one area of the marketplace’s street, where the scale was likely located, numerous weights have been uncovered. These weights correspond to several different metrological systems, indicating that a diverse clientele frequented the marketplace at Philistine Ashkelon.....a grain shop, a butcher shop and a wine shop—show that those in Philistine Ashkelon enjoyed a high standard of living. They were very connected with the Mediterranean world and with their powerful ally to the south, Egypt.
Ashkelon—an ancient city whose name comes from the same root as shekel—was indeed a city of buying and selling.
In the seventh century B.C., on which we will focus here, Ashkelon extended for more than 150 acres, with 12,000 to 15,000 people within its ramparts. To feed that number of people on the surrounding arable land was impossible given the few rural settlements within farming range of Ashkelon. Although Ashkelon was not a supersize agrarian kingdom, it was a commercial one..."
BAR
.....and Ashkelon a desolation:
Zephaniah 2:4
In 604 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar conquered Philistine Ashkelon, burning it to the ground. While utterly devastated, the Iron Age city was sealed in the process, and it is thanks to this act of destruction that the marketplace—and its record of ancient economics—is so well preserved.
Rather than bartering for goods with other goods, it is clear that at Philistine Ashkelon all goods were exchanged for and purchased with silver, which was weighed at the scale in the marketplace, thereby necessitating standardized weights. Clustered in one area of the marketplace’s street, where the scale was likely located, numerous weights have been uncovered. These weights correspond to several different metrological systems, indicating that a diverse clientele frequented the marketplace at Philistine Ashkelon.....a grain shop, a butcher shop and a wine shop—show that those in Philistine Ashkelon enjoyed a high standard of living. They were very connected with the Mediterranean world and with their powerful ally to the south, Egypt.
Ashkelon—an ancient city whose name comes from the same root as shekel—was indeed a city of buying and selling.
In the seventh century B.C., on which we will focus here, Ashkelon extended for more than 150 acres, with 12,000 to 15,000 people within its ramparts. To feed that number of people on the surrounding arable land was impossible given the few rural settlements within farming range of Ashkelon. Although Ashkelon was not a supersize agrarian kingdom, it was a commercial one..."
BAR
.....and Ashkelon a desolation:
Zephaniah 2:4