These pictures were taken May 9th, 2007 in the Ashqelon National Park. This park was created to preserve the ancient city of Ashquelon, which was first settled in 10,000 BC. The park is far away from the modern town and I was pretty much left to wander around by myself after paying 22 Shekels to get past the front gate. No one else was there on this 500 acre plot of land but me and I was amazed to be walking amongst such raw, untouched history. There are the ruins of a Roman basilica, city walls, marble statues of Isis, Nike and Atlas (these date to the first century BC). Since many different civilizations inhabited this city, there are also remnants of even earlier civilizations. At the outer limit of the old city stands a city gate constructed by the Canaanites in 1850 BC. Truly amazing that all these things are still standing and left alone for people to see, without any security or supervision.

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