AshdodAshdod (ʾašdōḏ, ʔaʃˈdod; ʾasdūd, ʔasˈduːd, or ʾisdūd ʔɪsˈduːd; Philistine: , romanized: *ʾašdūd) is the sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District, it lies on the Mediterranean coast south of Tel Aviv and north of Ashkelon. The city was named after the historical town of Ashdod, located c.6 km southeast, which dates originally to the 17th century BCE as one of the five Philistine city-states. The ruins of Ashdod-Yam also lie on the coast to the southwest of the city center and adjacent to the city's expanding suburbs.
PelesetThe Peleset (Egyptian: pwrꜣsꜣtj) or Pulasati were one of the several ethnic groups the Sea Peoples were said to be composed of, appearing in fragmentary historical and iconographic records in ancient Egyptian from the Eastern Mediterranean in the late 2nd millennium BC. During the Bronze Age collapse, a seafaring coalition known as the Sea Peoples are recorded as conducting a number of raids and invasions in the East Mediterranean.
Philistine languageThe Philistine language (ˈfɪləstiːn,_ˈfɪləstaɪn,_fəˈlɪstən,_fəˈlɪstiːn) is the extinct language of the Philistines. Very little is known about the language, of which a handful of words survived as cultural loanwords in Biblical Hebrew, describing specifically Philistine institutions, like the seranim, the "lords" of the Philistine five cities ("Pentapolis"), or the ’argáz receptacle, which occurs in 1 Samuel 6 and nowhere else, or the title padî.
GoliathGoliath (ɡəˈlaɪəθ ) is a character in the Book of Samuel, described as a Philistine giant defeated by the young David in single combat. The story signified King Saul's unfitness to rule, as Saul himself should have fought for Israel. Some modern scholars believe that the original slayer of Goliath may have been Elhanan, son of Jair, and that the authors of the Deuteronomic history could have changed the original text to credit the victory to the more famous character David.
UzziahUzziah (əˈzaɪə; עֻזִּיָּהוּ ‘Uzzīyyāhū, meaning "my strength is Yah"; Ὀζίας; Ozias), also known as Azariah (ˈæzəˈraɪə; עֲזַרְיָה ‘Azaryā; Αζαρίας; Azarias), was the tenth king of the ancient Kingdom of Judah, and one of Amaziah's sons. () Uzziah was 16 when he became king of Judah and reigned for 52 years. The first 24 years of his reign were as a co-regent with his father, Amaziah. William F. Albright dates Uzziah's reign to 783–742 BC. Edwin R.
SamsonSamson (ˈsæmsən; שִׁמְשׁוֹן Šīmšōn "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution of the monarchy. He is sometimes considered as an Israelite version of the popular Near Eastern folk hero also embodied by the Sumerian Gilgamesh and Enkidu and the Greek Heracles.
