A colleague was in Ashkelon a few days ago and lost something while at the tell. He went back the next day and found it. When Luke (7 yrs) heard the story, he was surprised. “What, the Philistines didn’t take it?!” I suppose his parents could be faulted for not teaching him that the Philistines basically went out of existence with the invasions of Nebuchadnezzar c. 600 B.C., but I was quite happy that he knew that Ashkelon was a Philistine city. If he grew up in southern California, he’d be learning about L.A. Here, Ashkelon is just part of the neighborhood.