ABSTRACT
The Bible mentions the “five lords (rulers) of the Philistines” ( Josh. 13: 3) and assigns to each one a city: Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gaza, Gath and Ekron. The locations of the first three have long been known, and in the cases of Ashdod, Ashkelon and Ekron/Tel Miqne major excavations have taken place. While Gaza’s location is almost certain, the modern town located here has restricted archaeological work considerably. The identification of Ekron with Tel Miqne, while long suspected, was confirmed rather dramatically in 1996 with the discovery of a monumental inscription bearing the name “Ekron” (see Gitin et al., 1997; Demsky, 1998; see Chapter 23).
