AZOTUS  , the name given by

Greek and Ronan writers to Ashdod, an ancient city of Palestine, now represented by a few remains in the little village of `Esdud, in the governmental district of Acre . It was situated about 3 M. inland from the Mediterranean, on the famous military route between Syria and Egypt, about equidistant (18 m.) from Joppa and Gaza . As one of the five chief cities of the Philistines and the seat of the worship of Dagon (I Sam. v.; cf . I Macc. x . 83), it maintained, down even to the days of the Maccabees, a vigorous thoughsomewhat intermittent independence against the power of the Israelites, by whom it was nominally assigned to the territory of Judah . In 711 B.C. it was captured by the Assyrians (Is. xx . I), but soon regained its power, and was strong enough in the next century to resist the assaults of Psammetichus, king of Egypt, for twenty-nine years (Herod. ii . 157) . Restored by the Roman Gabinius from the ruins to which it had been reduced by the Jewish wars (1 Macc. v . 68, x . 77, xvi . 1o), it was presented' by Augustus to Salome, the sister of Herod .

The only New Testament reference is in Acts viii . 40 . Ashdod became the seat-of a

bishop early in the Christian era, but seems never to have attained any importance as a town . The Mount Azotus of , Macc. ix . 15, where Judas Maccabeus fell, is possibly the rising ground on which the village stands . A fine Saracenic khan is the principal relic of antiquity at `Esdud .