Isdud

Isdud (إسدود) was a Palestinian town, on the site today known as Tel Ashdod. In the 1940s the village had thousands of Arab and Jewish inhabitants, but was largely depopulated in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. By 1992, only ruins remained.

Isdud may or may not form part of a continuity with the town of "Azdud", described up until the 10th century as a postal stop between al-Ramla and Gaza, and equally as a continuation of the ancient city of Ashdod. The village is documented as being well established from at least the time of Mamluk-rule in Palestine in the mid-15th century. During the Ottoman period, the village consisted of 75 households. By 1922, Isdud had a population of 2,566 inhabitants, 2,555 Muslims and 11 Christians; and by 1945, a population of 4,620 Arabs and 290 Jews. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Palestinian Arab inhabitants fled or were expelled. By 1992, only ruins were described as remaining.

Today, the village's ruins form part of the Tel Ashdod archaeological site, which lies within the jurisdiction of the Be'er Tuvia Regional Council. The central village mosque stands at the top of the site, as does the khan and the tomb of Sheikh Abu Qubal.

Names
The name "Isdud" is a variant on the name of ancient Ashdod, which is first attested in the form of 11th century BCE Egyptian lists, where is it transcribed as "ísdd", which scholars have determined is derived from the Late Bronze Age Canaanite "'aṯdādu".

In the Islamic period, the geographer Ibn Khordadbeh referred to the city as "Azdud", echoing the pre-Hellenistic name. By the 16th century, it had lost its initial vowel to become just "Sdud", before regaining it by the 19th century as "Esdud" – a form of the settlement's name that changed little through to the 20th century "Isdud".

Ancient and classical period
The ancient city of Ashdod rose to prominence in the 12th century BCE, when the Philistines ruled the city as Asdadu and the city was a member of their pentapolis, a group of five key cities. alongside Ascalon, Gaza, Ekron and Gath.

Asdûdu later led the revolt of Philistines, Judeans, Edomites, and Moabites against Assyria, before one of Sargon II's generals destroyed the city and exiled its residents, including some Israelites who were subsequently settled in Media and Elam. In 605 BCE, Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar conquered it, and in 539 BCE it was rebuilt by the Persians, before being conquered in 332 BCE by Alexander the Great.

During the Hellenistic period, the city was known as Αzotus ( and prospered until the Maccabean Revolt, during which Judas Maccabeus took the city and "laid it waste". It was then ruled by Alexander Jannaeus of the Hasmoneans,  before being made independent again by the Roman general Pompey.  In 55 BCE, the Roman general Gabinius also helped to rebuild Azotus.

During the Byzantine period, Azotus was overshadowed by Azotus Paralios, a nearby port and the inland city's maritime counterpart. The 6th-century Madaba Map shows both under their respective names.

Medieval period
The geographer Ibn Khordadbeh (c. 820 – 912) referred to the inland city as "Azdud" and described it as a postal station between al-Ramla and Gaza.

12-century Crusader church endowments and land deeds mention settlement in Azotum/Azdūd. During the Mamluk period, Isdud was a key village along the Cairo—Damascus road, which served as a center for rural religious and economic life.

Ottoman period
In the Ottoman period, the location of the village of Isdud on the ancient "Via Maris" route preserved the village's importance. In the first Ottoman tax register of 1526/7, the village had a population of 40 Muslim households and four bachelors, and it belonged to the nahiya of Gaza (Gaza Sanjak). By 1596 CE, the population of Ashdod (named Sdud) reached 75 households, about 413 persons, all Muslims. The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on wheat, barley, sesame and fruit crops, as well as goats and beehives; a total of 14,000 Akçe.

Marom and Taxel have shown that during the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries, nomadic economic and security pressures led to settlement abandonment around Majdal 'Asqalān, and the southern coastal plain in general. The population of abandoned villages moved to surviving settlements, while the lands of abandoned settlements continued to be cultivated by neighboring villages. Thus, Isdud absorbed the lands of Kharijat Isdud, an unidentified subsidiary settlement near Isdud mentioned in the Ottoman tax registers.

In 1838, Esdud was noted as a Muslim village in the Gaza district.

In the late nineteenth century, Isdud was described as a village spread across the eastern slope of a low hill, covered with gardens. A ruined khan stood southwest of the village. Its houses were one-storey high with walls and enclosures built of adobe brick. There were two main sources of water: a pond and a masonry well. Both were surrounded by groves of date-palm and fig-trees.



British Mandate


In the 1922 census of Palestine, conducted by the British Mandate authorities, Isdud had a population of 2,566 inhabitants; 2,555 Muslims and 11 Christians, where the Christians were all Catholics.

The population increased in the 1931 census to 3,240; 3,238 Muslims and 2 Christians, in a total of 764 houses.

During the Mandatory period, Isdud had two elementary schools; one for boys which was opened in 1922, and one for girls which started in 1942. By the mid-1940s the boy-school had 371 students, while the girl-school had 74.

The official Village Statistics, 1945 for "Isdûd" gave a population of 4,620 Arabs and 290 Jews in a total land area of 47,871 dunams [4787.1 ha]. Of this, 3,277 dunams were used citrus and bananas, 8,327 for plantations and irrigable land, 23,762 for cereals, while 131 dunams were built-on land.

1948 Arab–Israeli War


The village of Isdud was occupied by the Egyptian army on May 29, 1948, and became the Egyptians' northernmost position during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. While the Israelis failed to capture territory, and suffered heavy casualties, Egypt changed its strategy from offensive to defensive, thus halting their advance northwards. Egyptian and Israeli forces clashed in the surrounding area, with the Egyptians being unable to hold the Ad Halom bridge over the Lachish River. Israeli forces surrounded the town during Operation Pleshet, and shelled and bombed it from the air. For three nights from 18 October the Israeli Air Force bombed Isdud and several other locations. Fearing encirclement, Egyptian forces retreated on October 28, 1948, and the majority of the residents fled. The 300 townspeople who remained were driven southwards by the Israel Defense Forces. The village was part of territory that was granted to Israel in the 1949 Armistice Agreements following the end of the war.

Israel
In 1950, two moshavim, Sde Uziyahu and Shtulim, were established to the east of Isdud, on village land. Bnei Darom (in 1949) and Gan HaDarom (in 1953) were established north of Isdud, on village land. The city of Ashdod was founded in 1956 4 km north of Isdud.

In 1992, Isdud was reported as destroyed, with only a few ruined buildings including the village mosque remaining.