Ashdod
Ashdod is one of Israel’s largest ports and a living museum of ancient history. It was one of the five cities of giants, and it was here the Philistines brought the captured Holy Ark, sacred to the Hebrews. Ashdod’s 23-level tel (archaeological dig) lies southeast of the modern city. Among the remains of the 10th century CE Fatimid Fortress, archaeologists discovered an early Arabic document recounting Byzantine ships once brought Muslim prisoners to Ashdod to sell back to their families.