Editing Ashkelon (section)

== Landmarks ==

=== Ashkelon National Park ===
The ancient site of [[Ascalon]] is now administered as the [[Ashkelon National Park]]. The walls that encircled the city are still visible, as well as Canaanite earth ramparts. The park contains mainly Roman, Byzantine, and Crusader ruins.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Ashkelon.html#Ashkelon |title=Ashkelon National Park |publisher=Jewishvirtuallibrary.org |access-date=2011-08-10| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110717104733/https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource//vie/Ashkelon.html| archive-date= 17 July 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref> The largest dog cemetery in the ancient world was discovered in Ashkelon.<ref>{{cite web|last=Stager |first=Lawrence |url=http://www.bib-arch.org/e-features/dogs-buried-at-ashkelon.asp |title=Why were dogs buried at Ashkelon |publisher=Bib-arch.org |access-date=2011-08-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110907092241/http://www.bib-arch.org/e-features/dogs-buried-at-ashkelon.asp |archive-date=7 September 2011 }}</ref>

A Roman burial tomb two kilometres north of Ashkelon National Park was discovered in 1937. There are two burial tombs, a painted Hellenistic cave and a Roman cave. The Hellenistic cave is decorated with paintings of nymphs, water scenes, mythological figures and animals.<ref name="Places to see in Ashkelon"/>

=== Bathhouses ===
In 1986 ruins of 4th- to 6th-century baths were found in Ashkelon. The bathhouses are believed to have been used for prostitution. The remains of nearly 100 mostly male infants were found in a sewer under the bathhouse, leading to conjectures that prostitutes had discarded their unwanted newborns there.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.2307/25528291|title=Brothels, Baths and Babes: Prostitution in the Byzantine Holy Land|author=Claudine M. Dauphin|year=1996|journal=Classics Ireland|volume=3|pages= 47–72|url=http://www.ucd.ie/cai/classics-ireland/1996/Dauphin96.html|jstor=25528291}}</ref>

=== Religious sites ===
The remains of a 4th-century [[Byzantine architecture|Byzantine]] church with marble slab flooring and glass mosaic walls can be seen in the Barnea Quarter.<ref name="Places to see in Ashkelon"/> Remains of a synagogue from this period have also been found.<ref name="Roth1972">{{cite book|author=Cecil Roth|title=Encyclopaedia Judaica |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ua4KAQAAIAAJ|year=1972|publisher=Encyclopaedia Judaica|page=714}}</ref>

==== Maqam al-Imam al-Husayn ====

An 11th-century mosque, [[Shrine of Husayn's Head|Maqam al-Imam al-Husayn]], a site of pilgrimage for both [[Sunni]] and [[Shia]] Muslims,<ref name=thesis/>{{rp|185–186}}<ref name=reuthusmash>{{Cite news|title=Prophet's grandson, Hussein, honored on the grounds of an Israeli hospital|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-religion-israel-shi-ite/prophets-grandson-hussein-honored-on-grounds-of-israeli-hospital-idUSKBN0LD17720150209|access-date=12 May 2020|date=9 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200512092013/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-religion-israel-shi-ite/prophets-grandson-hussein-honored-on-grounds-of-israeli-hospital-idUSKBN0LD17720150209|archive-date=12 May 2020|author=Rami Amichay}}</ref><ref name=alarab>{{Cite news|title=أتباع البهرة الشيعية يذرفون الدمع على قبر للحسين في عسقلان |newspaper=Al-ʻArab |url=https://alarab.co.uk/%D8%A3%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%8A%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%8A%D8%B0%D8%B1%D9%81%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D9%82%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%B9%D8%B3%D9%82%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%86 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531130930/https://alarab.co.uk/%D8%A3%D8%AA%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D9%8A%D8%B9%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%8A%D8%B0%D8%B1%D9%81%D9%88%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D9%82%D8%A8%D8%B1-%D9%84%D9%84%D8%AD%D8%B3%D9%8A%D9%86-%D9%81%D9%8A-%D8%B9%D8%B3%D9%82%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%86 |archive-date=31 May 2020 |access-date=31 May 2020 |date=11 February 2015 |trans-title=Shi'a Bohra followers shed tears at Hussein's grave in Ashkelon |language=ar |issn=0140-010X |issue=9825 |page=20 |via=alarab.co.uk}}</ref> which had been built by the [[Fatimid Caliphate]] by [[Badr al-Jamali]] and where tradition held that the head of Mohammad's grandson [[Hussein ibn Ali]] was buried, was blown up by the [[Israel Defense Forces]] under instructions from [[Moshe Dayan]] as part of a broader programme to destroy mosques in July 1950.<ref name="hist">Brief History of Transfer of the Sacred Head of Hussain ibn Ali, From Damascus to Ashkelon to Qahera By: Qazi Dr. Shaikh Abbas Borhany PhD (USA), NDI, Shahadat al A'alamiyyah (Najaf, Iraq), M.A., LLM (Shariah) Member, Ulama Council of Pakistan. Published in ''Daily News'', Karachi, Pakistan on 3 January 2009 [http://www.durrenajaf.com/upload/51310a3ca52c8.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214142006/http://www.durrenajaf.com/upload/51310a3ca52c8.pdf|date=14 December 2017}}.</ref><ref name="haaretz1">[[Meron Rapoport]],  [http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/magazine/history-erased-1.224899 'History Erased,'] ''[[Haaretz]]'', 5 July 2007.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2014/03/husseins-head-and-importance-of-cultural-heritage/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200517142125/https://www.asor.org/anetoday/2014/03/husseins-head-and-importance-of-cultural-heritage/|archive-date=17 May 2020|title=Hussein's Head and Importance of Cultural Heritage|work=American School of Oriental Research|author=Michael Press|date=March 2014|access-date=17 May 2020}}</ref> The area was subsequently redeveloped for a local Israeli hospital, [[Barzilai Medical Center|Barzilai]]. After the site was re-identified on the hospital grounds, funds from [[Mohammed Burhanuddin]], leader of a [[Dawoodi Bohra|Shi'a Ismaili]] sect based in India, were used to construct a small marble prayer platform, which is visited by Shi'ite pilgrims from India and Pakistan.<ref name=thesis>{{Cite journal|first1=Daniella|last1=Talmon-Heller|first2=Benjamin|last2=Kedar|first3=Yitzhak|last3=Reiter|date=Jan 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200512010853/https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniella_Talmon-Heller/publication/301537484_Vicissitudes_of_a_Holy_Place_Construction_Destruction_and_Commemoration_of_Mashhad_Husayn_in_Ascalon/links/5cddc4d492851c4eaba685d8/Vicissitudes-of-a-Holy-Place-Construction-Destruction-and-Commemoration-of-Mashhad-Husayn-in-Ascalon.pdf|archive-date=12 May 2020|title=Vicissitudes of a Holy Place: Construction, Destruction and Commemoration of Mashhad Ḥusayn in Ascalon|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301537484|journal=Der Islam|volume=93|doi=10.1515/islam-2016-0008|pages=11–13, 28–34}}</ref><ref name=alarab/><ref name="haaretz1"/><ref name="Shiites in Ashkelon">{{cite web|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/05/israel--surpris.html |title=Shiites in Ashkelon? |work=Los Angeles Times |date=20 May 2008 |access-date=2011-08-10}}</ref>

A domed structure housing the 13th-century tomb of Sheikh Awad sits atop a hill overlooking Ashkelon's northern beaches.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JXoY2vCZ5AEC&q=sheikh+awad+ashkelon&pg=PA117 |title=Israel and the Palestinian territories: The rough guide, Daniel Jacobs, Shirley Eber, Francesca Silvani |access-date=2011-08-10|isbn=978-1-85828-248-0 |last1=Jacobs |first1=Daniel |last2=Eber |first2=Shirley |last3=Silvani |first3=Francesca |year=1998 |publisher=Rough Guides }}</ref>

=== Museums ===
Ashkelon Khan and Museum contains archaeological finds, among them a replica of Ashkelon's Canaanite silver calf, whose discovery was reported on the front page of ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref name="Places to see in Ashkelon">{{cite web|url=http://www.israel-a-la-carte.com/israelcity_view.asp?id=7 |title=Places to see in Ashkelon |publisher=Israel-a-la-carte.com |access-date=2011-08-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713063744/http://www.israel-a-la-carte.com/israelcity_view.asp?id=7 |archive-date=13 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Outdoor Museum near the municipal cultural center displays two Roman burial coffins made of marble depicting battle and hunting scenes, and famous mythological scenes.<ref name="Places to see in Ashkelon"/>

=== Marina and water park ===
The Ashkelon Marina, located between Delila and Bar Kochba beaches, offers a shipyard and repair services. Ashkeluna is a water-slide park on Ashkelon beach.<ref name="Places to see in Ashkelon"/>

<gallery>
71-7100-100 - תל אשקלון - שרידי כנסיית סנטה מריה וירידיס - לריסה סקלאר גילר (3).jpg | [[Ashkelon National Park]]
מרינה אשקלון.PNG | Ashkelon Marina
Muslim Celebrations at Wady Nemil and Al Husayn Shrine in Ashkelon.jpg | Palestinian Muslims at Mejdal, in [[Mandatory Palestine]] in April 1943, with ''[[Maqam al-Imam al-Husayn]]'' in the background. 
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