Rare historical documentation: Ramesses II's siege of the city of Ashkelon
The site of Ashkelon was first permanently inhabited in the Middle Bronze Age, and included a number of settlements; Which took the name over several thousand years. During the Iron Age, Ashkelon served as the oldest and largest seaport in Canaan, and one of the five cities of the Philistine Pentapolis, located north of Gaza and south of Jaffa. The city remained a major capital throughout antiquity and the early Middle Ages, before becoming a hotly contested fortified foothold on the Palestinian coast during the Crusades. In the late Middle Ages, the city was the site of two important Crusade battles: the Battle of Ashkelon in 1099, and the Siege of Ashkelon in 1153.
Ashkelon was known in ancient Egyptian texts as "Askanua", and was among the cities that revolted against Pharaoh Ramesses II.
Dramatic battle scenes were immortalized on the walls of the Temple of Ramesses at Karnak, showing the chaos of war.
In the centre, the Ashkelon army is trapped between the horses of the Pharaoh's chariot on the right and the Egyptian army on the left.
The unique clothing and weapons of the fighters stand out: the inhabitants of Ashkelon wear “skirts” and the Egyptians wear “celts,” armed with curved swords called “khopesh” and large shields.
Egyptian soldiers are seen climbing stairs to attack the city's defenders, while others break down gates with axes.
Amid a hail of Egyptian arrows, the people of Ashkelon pull their comrades through the walls.
Ashkelon was an ancient city on the Mediterranean Sea in what is today occupied Palestine, located on the northeastern border of Egypt.
Around 1280 BC, Ramesses II launched an offensive to quell a rebellion there, leaving a vital historical record of the conflict.
Ashkelon has been known by many changes of the same basic name over the millennia. The settlement was first mentioned in Egyptian execution texts from the Eleventh Dynasty as Ascalanu. In the Amarna Letters (ca. 1350 BC) there are seven letters to and from King Ediah, king of Ašqaluna and the Egyptian Pharaoh. The Merneptah Stela from the Nineteenth Dynasty tells how the pharaoh put down a revolt in Asqaluna. The colony is mentioned eleven times in the Hebrew Bible as ʾAšqəlôn.
Starting from the reign of Thutmose III (1479-1425 BC), the city was under Egyptian control, and was administered by a local governor. In the Amarna Letters (c. 1350 BC), there are seven letters to and from King Yedi, king of Ašqaluna and Egyptian pharaoh.
During the reign of Ramesses II, the southern Levant was on the frontiers of the epic war against the Hittites in Syria. In addition, the Sea Peoples attacked and revolted. These events coincide with declining climatic conditions from about 1250 BC onwards, eventually causing the collapse of the Bronze Age. Upon the death of Ramesses II, chaos and rebellion increased in the southern Levant. King Merneptah faced a series of revolts, as depicted in the Merneptah Stela. The Pharaoh refers to the suppression of the revolution in "Askaloni".
Source: websites