While some other Philistine cities were destroyed in the late ninth to eighth centuries B.C., Ashkelon thrived until its destruction at the hands of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in 604 B.C.

The mysterious culture of the Philistines that flourished during the Iron Age (1200-604 BCE) profoundly affected the southern Levant’s cultural history, agronomy, and dietary customs.