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{{Short description|Ancient Philistine city and modern archaeological site in Israel}}
{{About|the Philistine city}}
{{Lead too short|date=September 2021}}
<!--this article has used the BCE/CE convention since its inception, 27 November 2003-->

{{Infobox ancient site 
|name           = Ekron 
|native_name    = {{Script/Hebrew|עקרון}}<br>عقرون
|alternate_name = Tel Miqne/Mikne (Hebrew), Khirbet el-Muqanna (Arabic)
|map_type       = Israel
|map_alt=
|map_size       = 220 
|location       = Israel
|region         = [[Levant]], [[Israeli coastal plain]]
|coordinates    = {{coord|31.778890|34.8499203|display=inline}}
|type = |part_of = |length = |width = |area = |height = |builder = |material = |built = |abandoned = 
|epochs         = Chalcolithic - Iron Age 
|cultures       = [[Canaan]]ite, [[Philistine]], [[Israelite]] |dependency_of = |occupants = |event = |excavations = 
|archaeologists = Trude Dothan and Seymour Gitin 
|condition = |ownership = |public_access = |website = |notes = }}

'''Ekron''' ([[Philistine language|Philistine]]: 𐤏𐤒𐤓𐤍 ''*ʿAqārān'',<ref>{{cite book|author=Ahituv, Shmuel|title=Echoes from the Past: Hebrew and Cognate Inscriptions from the Biblical Period|year=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ma9HwAACAAJ|publisher=Carta|pages=338–9|isbn=978-965-220-708-1}}</ref>  {{langx|he|עֶקְרוֹן|translit=ʿEqrōn}}, {{langx|ar|عقرون}}), in the [[Hellenistic Palestine|Hellenistic]] period known as '''Accaron''' ({{langx|grc|Ακκαρων|Akkarōn|}})<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Maccabees|10:89}}</ref><ref>[https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/accaron/ ''Accaron'', at Bible Study Tools]</ref> was at first a [[Canaan|Canaanite]], and later more famously a [[Philistine]] city, one of the five cities of the [[Philistia|Philistine Pentapolis]], located in present-day [[Israel]].

In 1957, Ekron was first identified with the mound of '''Khirbet el-Muqanna''' ([[Arabic]]) or '''Tel Miqne''' ([[Hebrew]]), near the depopulated [[Palestinian]] village of [['Aqir]], on the basis of the large size of the [[Iron Age]] archaeological remains;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Naveh |first1=J. |title=Khirbat al-Muqanna'—Ekron: An Archaeological Survey |journal=Israel Exploration Journal |date=1958 |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=87–100 |jstor=27924729 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=NAVEH |first1=J. |title=Khirbat al-Muqanna'—Ekron: An Archaeological Survey |journal=Israel Exploration Journal |date=1958 |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=165–170 |jstor=27924741 }}</ref> the judgement was strengthened by the discovery in 1996 of the [[Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription |Ekron inscription]].<ref name= DoNa97/> The [[Tell (archaeology)|tell]] lies {{convert|35|km}} west of [[Jerusalem]], and {{convert|18|km}} north of [[Tel es-Safi]], the almost certain site of the Philistine city of [[Gath (city)|Gath]], on the grounds of Kibbutz [[Revadim]] on the eastern edge of the [[Israeli coastal plain]]. The other main cities of the Philistine Pentapolis beyond Ekron and Gath were [[Gaza City|Gaza]], [[Ascalon|Ashkelon]], and [[Ashdod (ancient city)|Ashdod]].

== In the Bible ==
In the [[Hebrew Bible]], Ekron is mentioned initially in {{bibleverse||Joshua|13:2-3|HE}}:
:''This is the land that still remains: all the regions of the Philistines and all those of the Geshurites from Shihor, which is east of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron.''

{{bibleverse||Joshua|13:13|HE}} counts it the border city of the Philistines and seat of one of the five Philistine city lords, and {{bibleverse||Joshua|15:11|HE}} mentions Ekron's satellite towns and villages. The city was reassigned afterwards to the [[tribe of Dan]] ({{bibleverse||Joshua|19:43|HE}}), but came again into the full possession of the Philistines. It was the last place to which the Philistines carried the [[Ark of the Covenant]] before they [[Philistine captivity of the Ark|sent it back]] to Israel ({{bibleverse|1|Samuel|5:10|HE}} and {{bibleverse|1|Samuel|6:1-8|HE}}), and the city lords returned here once they had seen that the Ark reached the Israelites in [[Beth Shemesh]] ({{bibleverse|1|Samuel|6:16|HE}}).

There was a noted sanctuary of [[Baal]] at Ekron. The Baal who was worshipped was called Baal Zebub, which some scholars connect with ''[[Beelzebub]]'', known from {{bibleverse|2|Kings|1:2|HE}}:
:''[King] [[Ahaziah of Israel|Ahaziah]] fell through the lattice in his upper chamber at [[Samaria]] and was injured. So he sent messengers whom he instructed: "Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this injury."'' (JPS translation)
The prophet [[Elijah]] repeatedly condemned Ahaziah for turning to Baal-zebub for assurance:
:''Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.''<ref>{{bibleverse|2|Kings|1:6, 16|HE}}</ref>

Ekron's destruction is prophesied in {{bibleverse||Zephaniah|2:4|HE}}:
:''Ekron shall be rooted up.''

==Location==
[[Jerome]] wrote that Ekron was to the east of [[Ashdod|Azotus]] and [[Yavne|Iamnia]] (consistent with the modern interpretation), however he also mentioned that some equated the city with [[Straton's Tower]] at [[Caesarea Maritima]]. This may be a reference to Rabbi [[Abbahu]]'s identification of Ekron with Caesarea in [[Megillah (Talmud)|Megillah]].

[[Edward Robinson (scholar)|Robinson]] first identified the Arab village of [[Aqir]] as the site of Ekron in 1838,<ref name="SWPII">{{cite book|author=C. R. Conder and H. H. Kitchener|title=The Survey of Western Palestine|publisher=The Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund|year=1882|volume=II|location=London|page=408}}</ref><ref name="Albright22">{{cite journal |last1=Albright |first1=William F. |title=Contributions to the Historical Geography of Palestine |journal=The Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research in Jerusalem |date=1921 |volume=2/3 |pages=1–46 |doi=10.2307/3768450 |jstor=3768450 }}</ref> and this was accepted until it was contested by [[R. A. Stewart Macalister|Macalister]] in 1913, who suggested [[Zikrin|Khirbet Dikerin]], and [[William F. Albright|Albright]] in 1922, who suggested [[Qatra]].<ref name="Albright22"/>

The identification of Ekron as Tel Miqneh was suggested by Naveh and Kallai in 1957–1958,<ref>{{cite journal|author=Seymour Gitin and Trude Dothan|year=1987|title=The Rise and Fall of Ekron of the Philistines: Recent Excavations at an Urban Border Site|journal=The Biblical Archaeologist|volume=50|issue=4|pages=197–222|doi=10.2307/3210048|jstor=3210048|s2cid=165410578}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|author=Seymour Gitin|title=Recent Excavations in Israel: Studies in Iron Age Archaeology|date=1989|publisher=Eisenbrauns|isbn=978-0-89757-049-7|editor=Seymour Gitin and William Dever|page=24|chapter=Tel Miqne-Ekron: A type-site for the inner coastal plain in the Iron Age II period}}</ref> a theory now widely accepted in light of the [[Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription]] found during the 1996 excavations.<ref name= DoNa97>{{cite journal |last1=Gitin |first1=Seymour |last2=Dothan |first2=Trude |last3=Naveh |first3=Joseph |title=A Royal Dedicatory Inscription from Ekron |journal=Israel Exploration Journal |date=1997 |volume=47 |issue=1/2 |pages=1–16 |jstor=27926455 }}</ref>

==History==
The site of Tel Miqne was lightly occupied beginning in the [[Chalcolithic]] period and up to the [[Early Bronze Age]].

===Middle Bronze IIB===
After a 400-year gap when only the upper tel was occupied, the city underwent a major expansion ''c.''1600 BCE, under the Canaanites.

In Stratum XI (MB IIB) both the Upper City and Lower City was occupied. Later, the occupation would retreat to the Upper City.

===Late Bronze===
The Canaanite city had shrunk in the years before its main public building burned in the 13th century BCE, during the [[Bronze Age collapse]], a period of general devastation associated with the [[Sea Peoples]].

===Iron Age===
====Iron Age I====
It was re-established by Philistines at the beginning of the Iron Age, ''c.''12th century BCE. During the [[Iron Age]], Ekron was a border city on the frontier contested between [[Philistia]] and the [[kingdom of Judah]].

====Iron Age IIC====
[[File:Ekron005.jpg|thumb|Olive oil press found in Tel Miqne]]Records of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] also refer to Ekron, as ''Amqarrūna''.<ref>Seymour Gitin, 'Philistines in the Book of Kings,' in [[André Lemaire]], Baruch Halpern, Matthew Joel Adams (eds.)[https://books.google.com/books?id=1SXbIFYu-ZAC&pg=PA312 ''The Books of Kings: Sources, Composition, Historiography and Reception,''] BRILL, 2010 pp.301–363, for the Neo-Assyrian sources p.312: The four city-states of the late Philistine period (Iron Age II) are ''Amqarrūna'' (Ekron), ''Asdūdu'' ([[Ashdod]]), ''Hāzat'' ([[Gaza City|Gaza]]), and ''Isqalūna'' ([[Ascalon]]), with the former fifth capital, [[Gath (city)|Gath]], having been abandoned at this late phase.</ref> The siege of Ekron in [[712 BCE]] is depicted on one of [[Sargon II]]'s wall reliefs in his palace at [[Khorsabad]], which names the city. Ekron revolted against [[Sennacherib]] and expelled Padi, his governor, who was sent to [[Hezekiah]], King of Judah, for safe-keeping in Jerusalem. Sennacherib marched against Ekron and the Ekronites called upon the aid of the king of Mutsri from northwest Arabia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.internationalstandardbible.com/E/ekron-ekronite.html|title=Ekron; Ekronite in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia}}</ref> Sennacherib turned aside to defeat this army, which he did at [[Eltekeh]], and then returned and took the city by storm, put to death the leaders of the revolt and carried their adherents into captivity. This campaign led to the famous attack of Sennacherib on Hezekiah and Jerusalem, in which Sennacherib compelled Hezekiah to restore Padi, who was reinstated as governor at Ekron. The Philistine city of Ekron is specifically named in the Aramaic stele ([[Sennacherib's Annals|Oriental Institute Prism]]) detailing Sennacherib's exploits in the land of Judah:
<blockquote>The cities of his (i.e. Hezekiah's), which I had despoiled, I cut off from his land and to [[Mitinti]], king of Ashdod, [and to] Padi, king of Ekron, [and to] Silli-bel, king of Gaza, I gave. And (thus) I diminished his land.<ref>{{cite book|last=Luckenbill |first=D.D. |author-link=Daniel David Luckenbill |editor=James Henry Breasted |title=The Annals of Sennacherib|volume=2 |publisher=The University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |date=1924|pages=32–33|oclc=610530695|url=https://isac.uchicago.edu/research/publications/oip/oip-2-annals-sennacherib }} (Reprint 2005)</ref></blockquote>

[[Ashdod]] and Ekron survived to become powerful city-states dominated by the Assyrians in the 7th century BCE. The city was later destroyed by the Neo-Babylonian king [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] in 604 BCE, and although it is mentioned, as "Accaron", as late as [[1 Maccabees]] 10:89 (2nd century BCE), it was never resettled on a large scale.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=James |first=Peter |title=Dating Late Iron Age Ekron (Tel Miqne) |journal=[[Palestine Exploration Quarterly]] |volume=138 |issue=2 |pages=85–97 |year= 1985 |url=http://www.centuries.co.uk/ekron2.pdf}}</ref>

An olive oil production center dating from the seventh century BCE discovered at Ekron has over one hundred large olive oil presses, and is the most complete olive oil production center from [[ancient times]] to be discovered. The discovery indicates that olive oil production was highly developed in the Levant and that it was a major producer of olive oil for its residents as well as for other parts of the [[Ancient Near East]], such as [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] and especially [[Mesopotamia]].<ref name=OB>{{cite book|title=Daily Life in Biblical Times|last=Borowski|first=Oded|year=2003|publisher=Society of Biblical Literature|location=Atlanta, GA|isbn=978-1-58983-042-4|pages=71–72}}</ref><ref name=MD>{{cite book|title=What Did the Ancient Israelites Eat? Diet in Biblical Times|last=Macdonald|first=Nathan|title-link=What Did the Ancient Israelites Eat?|year=2008|publisher=W. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|isbn=978-0-8028-6298-3|pages=23–24}}</ref>

==Archaeology==
[[Image:Ekron1939.jpg|thumb|1939 map showing surrounding region]]
The Tel Miqne excavations were conducted for 14 seasons between 1981 and 1996, sponsored by the [[Albright Institute of Archaeological Research]] and the [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]], under the direction of [[Trude Dothan]] and [[Seymour Gitin]].<ref>T. Dothan and S. Gitin, Tel Miqne (Ekron) Excavations, Spring 1981, Field INE, Iron Age 1-1, Ekron Limited Edition Series 1, 1981</ref><ref>T. Dothan and S. Gitin, Tel Miqne (Ekron) Excavations, Spring 1982, Field INE, Iron Age 1-1, ELES 2, 1982</ref><ref>B. M. Gittlen, Tel Miqne-Ekron Excavations, 1984, Field IIISE, ELES 3, 1985</ref><ref>A. E. Killebrew, Tel Miqne-Ekron Excavations, 1984, Field INE, ELES 4, 1986</ref><ref>D.B. MacKay, Tel Miqne-Ekron Excavations, 1994 Spring Season, Field IISW: The Olive Oil Industrial Zone of the Late Iron Age II, ELES 5, 1995</ref><ref>A.E. Killebrew, Tel Miqne-Ekron Excavations, 1986-1987, Field INE, Areas 5,6, 7-The Late Bronze and Iron Ages, ELES 6, 1996</ref><ref>N. Bierling, Tel Miqne-Ekron Excavations, 1995-1996, Field XNW, Areas 77, 78, 79, 89, 90, 101, 102: Iron Age I, ELES 7, 1998</ref> The primary research focus was an [[Interdisciplinarity|interdisciplinary]] investigation of the interactions between the Philistines, [[Israelites]], [[Phoenicia]]ns, [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Assyrians]], and [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptians]] during the Late Bronze Age II, Iron Age I and II.

===Chronological development===
The ceramic evidence indicates a presence at the site in the Chalcolithic period and Early Bronze Age. A continuous stratigraphic profile, however, was found only in the upper city on the Northeast Acropolis (Field I), beginning in Stratum XI of the MB IIB and extending through the end of Stratum I of the Iron IIC. In the lower city (Fields II, III, IV, V, X), a 400-year occupational gap followed
Stratum XI of the 17th–first half of the 16th century BCE until its resettlement in Stratum VII at the beginning of the Iron I, ca. 1175 BCE. Another occupational gap of ca. 270 years followed the end of Iron I Stratum IV, ca. 975 BCE, in the lower city (Fields II, III, IV, V, X), until it was again resettled in Stratum I of the 7th century BCE. The cities at Ekron were well planned in both the Iron I and Iron II, with four distinct zones of occupation: fortifications, industrial, domestic, and elite. The final Iron II occupation in the 7th/6th centuries BCE was represented by a single architectural unit in Field III in the lower city. A presence in the Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic periods was attested in Fields IV Upper and V.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Dothan|first1=Trude|last2=Gitin|first2=Seymour|title=Tel Miqne-Ekron Excavation and Publications Project|url=http://www.aiar.org/docs/ekronsummary.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150601140715/http://www.aiar.org/docs/EkronSummary.pdf|archive-date=1 June 2015|access-date=17 February 2014}}</ref>

===Chronological chart===
{{More citations needed|section|date=December 2022}}

====Middle Bronze Age====
The tel was apparently shaped by fortifications that encompassed both the upper and lower cities in the Middle Bronze Age. Monumental platforms, part of the fortification ramparts, were excavated in Fields III and X. MB II ceramic evidence was found throughout the tel, as were fragmentary architectural remains and three infant jar burials excavated in Field IV Lower.

====Late Bronze Age====
The unfortified Strata X–VIII settlement was found only in the upper city in Field I on the Northeast Acropolis. It yielded Cypriot and Mycenaean imported pottery and Anatolian Grey burnished ware, attesting to international maritime trade. Egyptian influences are also evident, inter alia, in the burial containing a 19th Dynasty seal and scarab and in the 14th century BCE scarab bearing the name of the Egyptian Pharaoh Amenhotep III and dedicated to the "Lady of the Sycamore Tree," usually associated with the foundations of Egyptian shrines, an heirloom found in a later Iron I phase. The last Canaanite city of Stratum VIII was destroyed in a violent conflagration, dramatically illustrated on the Summit by a severely-burnt storeroom complex that yielded jars containing carbonized grains, lentils, and figs.

====Iron Age I====
Stratum VII is characterized by a new material culture with [[Aegean civilization|Aegean]] and [[Ancient history of Cyprus|Cypriot]] affinities introduced by the Philistines, one of the [[Sea Peoples]] featuring the locally-made Philistine 1 (previously designated Mycenaean IIIC:1) pottery. Such pottery is known as [[Cypriot Bichrome ware]], and [[Philistine Bichrome ware]].
[[File:Philistine_pottery_Drinking_bowl.JPG|thumb|Philistine drinking bowl found in Tel Miqne]]
In the Strata VI–V Philistine 2 (Bichrome) pottery with red and black decoration on white slip is a major part of the ceramic assemblage. The material culture of Stratum IV is characterized by Philistine 3 (debased) pottery and the influence of a ceramic tradition of predominantly red-slipped and burnished ware.

In the upper city features in Stratum VII, include a mudbrick city wall, [[megaron|megaron-type]] buildings, hearths, a limestone bathtub, and an industrial kiln area. In Strata VI–V, a major feature was the mudbrick glacis, a cultic room with an incised scapula similar to those found in the 12th and 11th century BCE shrines at Enkomi and Kition on Cyprus.

In the lower city, along the ridge of the southern slope of the tel, behind the Iron I mudbrick city wall of Stratum VI, were a number of architectural units and finds, which included a bull-shaped zoomorphic vessel, an incised ivory tube, and a bronze pin and needle. Stratum V monumental building was constructed on a similar scale as the one in the elite zone. The artifacts, many representing a continuation of Aegean traditions, include a rectangular bone plaque painted in blue and incised with the depiction of the rear of a horse, a Mycenaean-type female figurine, a gold spiral hair-ring, a conical stamp seal depicting two prancing gazelles, an iron knife with an ivory handle, two small pebbled hearths, and two goat skulls.

The domestic buildings continued in use in Stratum IV with no substantial change, and special finds included an incised scapula, similar to those found in the upper city.

Also in the lower city, in the elite zone, Stratum VII was represented by a number of installations, including rectangular hearths. In Stratum VI circular hearths were found in a large public structure, which also produced a round ivory pyxis lid decorated with scenes of animals in battle. In Stratum V, a [[megaron|megaron-type]] building contained superimposed pebbled hearths, three rooms with benches and bamot, and a monumental entrance hall with two mushroom-shaped stone pillar bases.<ref>{{cite web|title=TEL MIQNE-EKRON Summary of Fourteen Seasons of Excavation 1981–1996 and Bibliography 1982–2012|url=http://www.aiar.org/docs/ekronsummary.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150601140715/http://www.aiar.org/docs/EkronSummary.pdf|archive-date=1 June 2015|access-date=17 February 2014|publisher=W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research}}</ref>

One room yielded 20 spherical loom weights in the Aegean tradition. This building also produced three miniature bronze wheels from a cultic stand of a type known from Cyprus and reminiscent of the biblical description of the mechonot (laver stands) and a bronze Janus-faced linchpin from a chariot wheel. Another special find was an iron knife with a pierced spool-shaped ivory handle attached with three bronze nails. In Strata VI and V, the building complex contained a large stone bath, a monolith, two stone pillar bases, and several hearths. In Stratum IV the plan of the building complex was reused and its cultic function continued, as attested by the finds, including a cache of ivory, faience, and stone objects, among them decorated earplugs and a ring depicting the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet. The destruction and abandonment of the Stratum IV lower city during the first quarter of the 10th century marked the end of both the early Philistine city and of the Iron I in general at Ekron.

====Iron Age II====
[[File:JRSLM_300116_Ekron_inscription.jpg|thumb|[[Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription|Ekron Royal Dedicatory inscription]]]]Following the destruction of the Iron I Stratum IV city during the first quarter of the 10th century, the lower city was abandoned. Only the upper city was occupied in Strata III–II fortified with a mudbrick city wall and a 7 m wide mudbrick tower faced with Phoenician –type ashlar masonry in header-and-stretcher construction.<ref>Ussishkin, David. “The Fortifications of Philistine Ekron.” Israel Exploration Journal, vol. 55, no. 1, 2005, pp. 35–65</ref> Stratum III was continued in the monumental architecture of Stratum IIA–B, with the addition of a series of rooms, probably shops or market stalls, that opened onto the re-paved street, to which a stone-lined central drainage system was added in Stratum IIB.

Both the lower city and the upper city were reoccupied. In the lower city, new fortifications included a city wall and a three-entryway gate protected by a gatehouse, similar to those excavated at Timnah (Tel Batash), Gezer, Lachish, and Ashdod. To the east of the gate, an 80 m long row of stables or storehouses associated with a large public building was built between the city wall and an outer screening wall. The outstanding feature was the olive oil industrial zone, laid out in a belt extending throughout the lower city along the inner face of the city wall. Special finds include a cache of seven well-preserved large iron agricultural tools and nine four-horned limestone altars.

The 115 oil presses found at Ekron have a production capacity of 500–1,000 tons, making it the largest ancient industrial center for the production of olive oil thus far excavated. In Stratum IB of the last third of the 7th century, the diminution in olive oil production is associated with the end of Assyrian domination in Stratum IC and the expansion of the Egyptian sphere of influence to Philistia ca. 630 BCE.<ref>Eitam, D. 1996. The Olive Oil Industry at Tel Miqne–Ekron in the Late Iron Age. In: Eitam, D. and Heltzer, M. (eds.) Olive Oil in Antiquity, Israel and Neighboring Countries, from the Neolithic to the Early Arab Period. Studies VII, Sargon srl: 166-196.</ref> Master suggests the answer is to be found in the rediscovery of an old trade route and the entrance of a new player in the olive oil and wine market, the Ionians. The southern trunk route that connected Egypt by sea to the West lay in disuse for five hundred years, while the northern trunk route functioned as the only major route. Ships that made use of the northern route passed by Ashkelon on their journey to and from Egypt, which of course placed Philistia in an advantageous position viz-a-viz trade with Egypt. However, sometime during the latter part of the 7th century the southern route was rediscovered and the Ionians re-established direct trade connections with Egypt. They soon started to undercut the Philistine oil and wine trade.<ref>Master, Daniel M. “Nebuchadnezzar at Ashkelon.” Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel (HeBAI) 7, no. 1 (2018): 87-88. https://doi.org/10.1628/hebai-2018-0006.</ref>  Lower trade volumes meant lower profit margins and so we see some olive oil presses being decommissioned in the latter part of the 7th century. Ashkelon and Ekron’s full productive capacities were no longer needed.<ref>Master, Daniel M. “Nebuchadnezzar at Ashkelon.” Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel (HeBAI) 7, no. 1 (2018): 89. https://doi.org/10.1628/hebai-2018-0006.</ref>

In the elite zone of the lower city, in Stratum I, the [[Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription]], one of the most important finds of the 20th century in Israel, was found in the holy of holies, or cella, a room in the sanctuary of the Temple Complex 650. The inscription mentions Ekron, thus confirming the identification of the site, as well as five of its rulers, including Ikausu (Achish), son of Padi, who built the sanctuary.<ref>{{Citation|last=Gitin|first=Seymour|title=Israelite and Philistine Cult and the Archaeological Record in Iron Age II|date=2003-07-21|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5325/j.ctv1bxh1vp.23|work=Symbiosis, Symbolism, and the Power of the Past|pages=287|publisher=Penn State University Press|doi=10.5325/j.ctv1bxh1vp.23 |isbn=978-1-57506-545-8 |access-date=2022-01-02|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The sanctuary reflects a Phoenician design, paralleled in Astarte Temple 1 at Kition on Cyprus. The Ekron Royal Dedicatory Inscription incised on a rectangular-shaped limestone block has five-lines and mentions Ekron, thus confirming the identification of the site, as well as five of its rulers, including Ikausu (Achish), son of Padi, who built the sanctuary to Ptgyh, his lady. Padi and Ikausu are known as kings of Ekron from the 7th century Neo-Assyrian Royal Annals. The language and form of writing of the Ekron inscription show a significant Phoenician influence, and the name Ikausu is understood as "the Achaean" or "the Greek" and Ptgyh has been interpreted as a Greek goddess.

[[Image:anagni ekron.jpg|thumb|247x247px|Ekron imagined in a medieval [[fresco]] illustrating [[Philistine captivity of the Ark|1 Samuel 5-6]] (Cathedral crypt, [[Anagni]], Italy, ca. 1255)]]

Other special finds come from the side-rooms of the sanctuary, which yielded a treasure trove of gold, silver, and bronze objects, including a gold cobra (a [[uraeus]]), and a unique assemblage of ivories with cultic connotations. The ivories include a depiction of a woman, perhaps a royal personage; a knob bearing the cartouche of the 12th century Pharaoh Ramses VIII; a large head, probably from the top of a harp; and a large object with a male figure on the front, the image of a royal female personage on the side, and a cartouche of the 13th century Pharaoh Merneptah on the back.

The buildings of the elite zone also produced 16 short inscriptions including kdš l’šrt ("dedicated to [the goddess] Asherat"), lmqm ("for the shrine"), and the letter tet with three horizontal lines below it (probably indicating 30 units of produce set aside for tithing), and silver hoards.

The entire Iron II city was destroyed in a violent conflagration during the 604 BCE campaign of the Neo-Babylonian King [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], after which the site was only partially and briefly resettled in the first quarter of the 6th century. A well-preserved Assyrian courtyard-type building was the only remaining architectural evidence for Stratum IA. Thereafter, Ekron was abandoned until the Roman period.

====Roman to Islamic periods====
Ekron next appears in the documentary record in 147 BCE, during the [[Hellenistic Palestine|Hellenistic period]] when the region was under [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid rule]]. At that point [[Alexander Balas]], the ruler of the [[Seleucid Empire]], gave Ekron to [[Jonathan Apphus]]. Ekron is also mentioned in [[Eusebius]]' ''[[Onomasticon (Eusebius)|Onomasticon]]'', a 4th-century [[gazetteer]], in which it was described as a village.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=דותן |first1=טרודה |last2=גיטין |first2=סימור |last3=Dothan |first3=T. |last4=Gitin |first4=S. |date=1994 |title=Tel Miqne/Ekron — The Rise and Fall of a Philistine City / תל מקנה/עקרון — עלייתה ונפילתה של עיר פלשתית |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23681310 |journal=Qadmoniot: A Journal for the Antiquities of Eretz-Israel and Bible Lands / קדמוניות: כתב-עת לעתיקות ארץ-ישראל וארצות המקרא |volume=כז |issue=1/2 (105/106) |pages=4–5 |jstor=23681310 |issn=0033-4839}}</ref> There is but fragmentary evidence from the Roman, Byzantine and Islamic periods found only in Fields IV Upper and V.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}

== See also ==
*[[Cities of the ancient Near East]]
*[[Achish]]
*[[Lachish]]
*[[Archaeology of Israel]]
*[[Akron, Ohio]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
21. Eitam, D. 1996. The Olive Oil Industry at Tel Miqne–Ekron in the Late Iron Age. In: Eitam, D. and Heltzer, M. (eds.) Olive Oil in Antiquity, Israel and Neighboring Countries, from the Neolithic to the Early Arab Period. Studies VII, Sargon srl: 166-196.

==Further reading==
* [[:he:אהרן דמסקי|Demsky, Aaron]]. "The Name of the Goddess of Ekron: A New Reading," ''[[Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society]]'' vol. 25 (1997) pp.&nbsp;1–5
*Susan Heuck Allen, Trojan Grey Ware at Tel Miqne-Ekron, ''[[Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research]]'', no. 293, pp.&nbsp;39–51, 1994
*Baruch Brandl, Two Engraved Tridacna Shells from Tel Miqne-Ekron, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 323, pp.&nbsp;49–62, 2001
*Jan Gunneweg ''et al.'', On the Origin of Pottery from Tel Miqne-Ekron, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 264, pp.&nbsp;3–16, 1986
*Brian Hesse, Animal Use at Tel Miqne-Ekron in the Bronze Age and Iron Age, Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 264, pp.&nbsp;17–27, 1986
*Eitam D. 1990. Textile and Olive Oil Production in Ancient Israel during the Iron Age', Pigments and Colorants Colloque Colloque International du CNRS: 283-290. 
* M.W. Meehl, T. Dothan and S. Gitin, Tel Miqne-Ekron Excavations, 1995–1996, Field INE, East Slope: Iron Age I (Early Philistine Period), Final Field Reports 8, 2006
*S.M. Ortiz, S. Gitin and T. Dothan, Tel Miqne-Ekron Excavations, 1994–1996, Fields IVNE/NW (Upper) and VSE/SW: The Iron Age /I Late Philistine Temple Complex 650, Final Field Reports 9, 2006
*{{Cite book|title=The Land And The Book: Or, Biblical Illustrations Drawn From The Manners|author=W. M. Thomson|year=2004|publisher=Gorgias Press LLC|isbn=978-1-59333-130-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hB9qLSSMowQC&q=ekron+akir+palestinian&pg=PA534}}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*[[Edward Robinson (scholar)|Robinson, Edward]], [[Eli Smith]] (1841): ''[https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearch03robiuoft Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the Year 1838a]'', Published by Crocker & Brewster, Item notes: '''v. 3''' (see [https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearch03robiuoft p. 22])

==External links==
*[http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0g700 History of Ekron through archaeology of the Tel Mikne site.]
*[http://www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/westsem/ekron.html The Ekron inscription]
* Trude Dothan and Seymour Gitin, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090521204350/http://cojs.org/cojswiki/Ekron_of_the_Philistines%2C_Trude_Dothan_and_Seymour_Gitin%2C_BAR_16%3A01%2C_Jan/Feb_1990. Ekron of the Philistines] BAR 16:01, Jan/Feb 1990
*[http://www.aiar.org/miqne-ekron/ Tel Miqne-Ekron Excavation and Publication Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191030084359/http://www.aiar.org/miqne-ekron/ |date=2019-10-30 }}

{{Ancient states and regions of the Levant}}

[[Category:Ekron| ]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 2nd millennium BC]]
[[Category:Populated places disestablished in the 7th century BC]]
[[Category:1957 archaeological discoveries]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible cities]]
[[Category:Philistine cities]]
[[Category:Former populated places in West Asia]]
[[Category:Bronze Age sites in Israel]]
[[Category:Iron Age sites in Israel]]
[[Category:Razed cities]]