The first documented urban settlement at Ashdod dates to the 17th century BCE, when it was a fortified Canaanite city,[1] before being destroyed in the Bronze Age Collapse.

[4][5] There was ongoing habitation at the site in the early modern period through to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, when Isdud was depopulated after its inhabitants fled or were expelled.

Its first attestation comes in the form of 11th century BCE Egyptian lists, where is it transcribed as "ísdd", which scholars have determined is derived from the Late Bronze Age Canaanite "’aṯdādu".

In the Early Muslim period, the geographer Ibn Khordadbeh referred to the city in the 9th century as "Azdud", echoing the pre-Hellenistic name.

[13] Ashdod is first mentioned in written documents from Late Bronze Age Ugarit, which indicate that the city was a center of export for dyed woolen purple fabric and garments.

[15] Asdûdu led the revolt of Philistines, Judeans, Edomites, and Moabites against Assyria after expulsion of king Ahi-Miti, whom Sargon had installed instead of his brother Azuri.

Sargon's general[19] destroyed the city and exiled its residents, including some Israelites who were subsequently settled in Media and Elam.

Psamtik I of Egypt (r. 664 – 610 BCE) is reported to have besieged the great city of "Azotus" for twenty-nine years (Herodotus, ii.

[24][non-primary source needed] His brother Jonathan Maccabaeus conquered it again in 147 BCE and destroyed the temple of Dagon associated with a Biblical story about the Philistine captivity of the Ark.

[24][non-primary source needed] A few years later, in 55 BCE, after more fighting, Roman general Gabinius helped rebuild Ashdod and several other cities left without protective walls.

[2] By the time of the First Jewish–Roman War (66-70), there was evidently a significant Jewish presence in Ashdod, prompting Vespasian to station a garrison in the city in the spring of 68.

The geographer Ibn Khordadbeh (c. 820 – 912, Early Muslim period) referred to the inland city as "Azdud" and described it as a postal station between al-Ramla and Gaza.

During the Mamluk period, Isdud was a key village along the Cairo—Damascus road, which served as a center for rural religious and economic life.

The villagers paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3% on wheat, barley, sesame and fruit crops, as well as goats and beehives; a total of 14,000 Akçe.

[30][10] In the late nineteenth century, Isdud was described as a village spread across the eastern slope of a low hill, covered with gardens.

While the Israelis failed to capture territory, and suffered heavy casualties, Egypt changed its strategy from offensive to defensive, thus halting their northward advance.

The Book of Nehemiah, referring to events in the 5th century BCE, mentions the Ashdodites[40] and the speech of Ashdod, which half of the children from mixed families are described as adopting.

[42] The 1st century CE Book of Acts refers to Azotus as the place in which Philip the Evangelist reappeared after he converted the Ethiopian eunuch to Christianity.