Ashdod Travelers guide

29 Ashdod by numbers Ashdod's jurisdiction covers an area of 50.9 square kilometers, similar to that of Tel Aviv • The urban built- up area is 15 square kilometers • The percentage of open spaces in Ashdod is the highest among the large cities : 60 percent • Population density relative to area is similar to the residential density in Haifa, which is about 4,700 people per square kilometer • The residential density relative to the built-up area, on the other hand, is about 33,000 people per square kilometer, • twice as much as other large cities in Israel • 19 percent of all the buildings in the city are 8 stories or taller - more than any other large city in Israel • Outside of the Dan metropolitan area, Ashdod boasts the tallest skyscrapers in the country - towers of 40 and 44 stories • 83 percent of Ashdod's residents are generally satisfied with their residential areas, a similar percentage to the national average. At the end of the seventh century BC Ashdod came to under the rule of Josiah King of Judea , who took advantage of the decline in power of the Assyrian Kingdom, and from that moment on the Philistine region was the subject of a constant struggle between Egypt and Babylon. The end of Josiah's reign came with the conquest of Psamtik The First , king of Egypt, who ruled the region until its conquest by Nebuchadnezzar , king of the Babylonian Empire. According to evidence, Nebuchadnezzar captured the ruler of Ashdod in 604 BC. In 332 BC, with the fall of the land of Israel into the hands of Alexander the Great , the City of Ashdod was conquered as well. The Philistine name of the city was changed to the Greek name " Azotus " and a port city was added to it: " Azotus Paralus " (Ashdod-Yam, which means: "Ashdod by the sea"), about five kilometers northwest of it. Until the Hasmonean rebellion (in the years 160-167 BC) Azotus Paralus thrived, and even appears in the ancient Madaba Map (from the sixth century BC), in a diagram that includes a pier, a platform and many public buildings. Relics from that period, Including church remains, were found about two kilometers from the site, but were never excavated. A little history