Ashkelon's Destruction by Nebuchadnezzar (604 BCE)
A Philistine city burned to the ground the winter Jeremiah's scroll was read
Found 1985 — Lawrence Stager, Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon (Harvard Semitic Museum), 1985–2016
Where Tel Ashkelon, Mediterranean coast (Israel)
Dates from December 604 BCE · Iron Age IIC · Reign of Yehoyakim (Jehoiakim); prophecies of Zephaniah and Jeremiah
Now at Site preserved in Ashkelon National Park; finds held by the Israel Antiquities Authority and published by the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East (Ashkelon 3)
How Ashkelon's Destruction by Nebuchadnezzar (604 BCE) was found
Excavation of the seventh-century city found a metre-thick destruction layer over the marketplace, winery and shops, with smashed storage jars, burnt grain, an Egyptian-style shrine, and the skeleton of a woman crushed in the collapse. The Babylonian Chronicle dates Ashkelon's fall to Kislev of Nebuchadnezzar's first year.
What it is
A sealed burnt layer across the late Philistine city, including a bazaar with wine shops, a counting-house with weights and an ostracon, and a small shrine. The pottery, including East Greek imports, dates the fire to the very end of the seventh century, and the chronicle fixes it to the winter of 604.
Why it matters for the Bible
Zephaniah 2:4 predicted 'Ashkelon shall become a desolation' and Jeremiah 47:5–7 pictures the sword against Ashkelon. Jeremiah 36 records that a national fast was called in Jerusalem in Kislev of Jehoiakim's fifth year — the very month Ashkelon fell, 60 km away — and Baruch read the scroll at that fast. The destruction layer is thus the news that frightened Jerusalem in Jeremiah 36, and a preview of what Nebuchadnezzar would do to Judah.
The Hebrew word: she-mah-MAH
שְׁמָמָה
שְׁמָמָה is pronounced she-mah-MAH and means desolation (Strong's H8077).
People this discovery connects to
- Nebuchadnezzar — נְבוּכַדְנֶאצַּר (ne-voo-chad-neh-TSAR) — Nabu protect my heir
- Zephaniah — צְפַנְיָה (tse-fan-YAH) — YHVH has hidden
Places
- Ashkelon — אַשְׁקְלוֹן (ash-ke-LOHN) — Philistine city name; possibly 'weight' or 'market'
Events
Nebuchadnezzar's first campaign in Philistia (604 BCE) · Fast and scroll-reading in Jerusalem (Jeremiah 36)
Ashkelon's Destruction by Nebuchadnezzar (604 BCE) in Scripture
Judges 1:18 First mention of Ashkelon in Scripture.
Jeremiah 36:9 A fast is proclaimed in Kislev of Jehoiakim's fifth year — the month Ashkelon fell.
Zephaniah 2:4 Ashkelon shall become a desolation — fulfilled in the 604 BCE burning.
Questions people ask
What is Ashkelon's Destruction by Nebuchadnezzar (604 BCE)?
A sealed burnt layer across the late Philistine city, including a bazaar with wine shops, a counting-house with weights and an ostracon, and a small shrine. The pottery, including East Greek imports, dates the fire to the very end of the seventh century, and the chronicle fixes it to the winter of 604.
When was Ashkelon's Destruction by Nebuchadnezzar (604 BCE) discovered?
It was found in 1985 by Lawrence Stager, Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon (Harvard Semitic Museum), 1985–2016, at Tel Ashkelon, Mediterranean coast.
Where is Ashkelon's Destruction by Nebuchadnezzar (604 BCE) today?
Site preserved in Ashkelon National Park; finds held by the Israel Antiquities Authority and published by the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East (Ashkelon 3).
Which Bible verses does Ashkelon's Destruction by Nebuchadnezzar (604 BCE) relate to?
Judges 1:18, Jeremiah 36:9, Zephaniah 2:4.
Related discoveries
- עֵגֶלAshkelon Canaanite Gate and RampartThe oldest known arched city gate, from a giant Middle Bronze port
- בֵּלEast India House Inscription of NebuchadnezzarThe king's own account of rebuilding Babylon's temples, palaces and walls
- גָּלוּתBabylonian Chronicle BM 21946 (the 'Jerusalem Chronicle')Nebuchadnezzar's own dated record: Carchemish 605 and the capture of Jerusalem, 2 Adar 597 BCE
- בָּבֶלIshtar Gate and Processional Way of BabylonNebuchadnezzar's glazed-brick gateway, the Babylon the exiles walked into
- אֶרֶזNebuchadnezzar's Wadi Brisa InscriptionRock reliefs in Lebanon where the king boasts of cutting cedars — Habakkuk's 'violence of Lebanon'
- רַב־סָרִיסNebo-Sarsekim TabletA Babylonian temple receipt naming an officer from Jeremiah 39:3
Sources
- Stager, 'The Fury of Babylon: Ashkelon and the Archaeology of Destruction', BAR 22:1 (1996)
- Stager, Master & Schloen, Ashkelon 3: The Seventh Century B.C. (2011)
- Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, 'Ashkelon 3: The Seventh Century B.C.'
- Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon (ISAC Chicago project page)
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