See ASHDOD.\par
Azo’tus. See Ashdod.
[Azo’tus] See ASHDOD.
By: Isidore Singer, Gerson B. Levi
1. The equivalent of Ashdod; found in the Apocrypha (Judith ii. 28; I Macc. iv. 15, etc.) and in the New Testament (Acts viii. 40).
2. Mount of Azotus (I Macc. ix. 15), where Judas Maccabeus was killed. It is perhaps identical with 1.
AZOTUS.—See Ashdod.
(Heb. Ashdodh; in Sept. Azotos)(1) One of the five great cities of the Philistines (Joshua 13:3), the modern Esdud, situated three miles from the Mediterranean Sea, about half-way between Gaza and Jaffa. The temple of Dagon, whither the Ark of the Covenant was carried by the Philistines, was situated here (1 Samuel 5:1-5; 1 Maccabees 10:83; 11:4). Azotus, like other Philistine cities, suffered varying fortunes in the wars with Israel, Assyria, and Egypt. Oxias fought against it (2 Chronicles 26:6), Sargon besieged and took it (Isaiah 20:1; Schrader, "Keilinschriftliche Bibliothek", II, 66-67), and Sennacherib did likewise (Schrader, op. Cit., II, 90-91). According to Herodotus, Psammetichus besieged the city for twenty years. In 163 B.C. Judas Machabeus cleared Azotus of idols (1 Maccabees 5:68), and in 148 B.C. Jonathan and Simon burnt the temple of Dagon (1 Maccabees 10:83-84). To-day Esdud is a modern village, with many ruins attesting its glorious past. In the New Testament Azotus is mentioned in connection with Philip’s return from Gaza (Acts 8:40).(2) The mountain to which Bacchides pursued the Jews in battle (1 Maccabees 9:15).Azotus, a titular see of PalestineSituated near the seacoast, between Jaffa and Ascalon. Its episcopal list (325-536) is given in Gams (452). It is the Ashdod of the Book of Josue (xv, 47), was one of the five principal cities of the Philistines, and the chief seat of the worship of their god Dagon (1 Samuel 5:1-7). Herodotus mentions it (II, 157) as having withstood King Psammetichus of Egypt in a siege of twenty-nine years, the longest then known.-----------------------------------Lequien, Oriens Christ. (1740), III, 659-662; Robertson, Biblical Researches, II, 368; Vigouroux in Dict. De la Bible, s.v. Azot.F.X.E. ALBERT THOMAS J. SHAHAN Transcribed by Susan Birkenseer The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IICopyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
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Azotus, the Gr. form of ‘Ashdod,’ occurs often in 1 Mac. (1Ma_4:15; 1Ma_5:68; 1Ma_10:77; 1Ma_10:83 f. etc.), and once in the NT. St. Philip met the Ethiopian on ‘the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza,’ and, after baptizing him, ‘was found at Azotus’ (Act_8:26; Act_8:40). Ashdod was the most important of the Philistine cities which formed the Pentapolis. Situated midway between Joppa and Gaza-about 25 miles from each-it passed through many vicissitudes. It appears often in the historical and prophetic books of the OT, in the Assyrian records, in the Maccabaean annals, and in Josephus. Herodotus (ii. 157) says that the siege which Azotus endured before it was subdued by Psammeticus, king of Egypt, was the longest on record, lasting 29 years. Ashdod survives in the modern Esdûd, a village on the slope of a wooded artificial mound (tell)-once, no doubt, a strong fortress-about 3 miles from the sea-coast, where the traces of a harbour have been found. The ancient city lies beneath the sand-drift that now threatens to bury the mud hovels of the village, among which some remains of old stone buildings are to be seen. The wide plain to the east is exceedingly fertile.
James Strahan.