The Buildings of Muslim Al-Majdal Asqalān (Ashqelon) in Their Historical-Geographic and Economic Context

In the course of the Mamluk and Ottoman periods, six villages were established in the al-Majdal Asqalān area in the southern coastal plain of Palestine, the status of this area enhancing in the 1830s when its geographic and economic advantages were appreciated. The small villages were built on the kurkar ridge slopes with minimal planning, traversed by two or three main arteries adjoined by narrow lanes. The houses were mostly built of mud bricks. Only the central village, al-Majdal Asqalān, developed on flat ground, where there was ample land for construction: most of its buildings were built of kurkar stones. Ancient architectural elements incorporated in some buildings—predominantly in al-Majdal Asqalān and al-Jōra—included limestone and marble capitals and columns looted from the ancient city on Tel Ashqelon, a common phenomenon along the coastal plain, where building materials were scarce. This article surveys the domestic and other buildings from these periods in the al-Majdal Asqalān area, some still visible today, others known from travelers’ descriptions.