About the Site

Ashdod is located on the coastal plain and has a long occupational history spanning from the Bronze Age through the Ottoman Period.  

Biblical Ether?

Khirbet ʿEther is almost certainly identical to biblical Ether – a town mentioned in the Libnah district of Judah – right after Libnah and before Ashan (Joshua 15:42). The two Judean towns/villages sit directly across from each other with the Guvrin River between them. ‘Ether is a smaller site than Tel Burna (Libnah) and it was the next tier down from Libnah, which itself is only a fortified town compared to the administrative center of nearby Lachish (the second-most important town in Judah during the period).