THE ASHKELON DOG CEMETERY CONUNDRUM

Abstract

Between 1989 and 1992 about 1 200 dog remains were excavated at Ashkelon as part of the Leon Levy expedition. This find generated much interest and debate at the time. The leader of the excavations, Prof. Lawrence E. Stager of Harvard University, attributed the dog cemetery to the presence of a cultic healing centre to which the dogs were supposed to have belonged. As no such centre has been found up to the present, this article reassesses the available facts from the excavations, the subsequent research and analysis of the remains by Dr Paula Wapnish and Prof. Brian Hesse, as well as other opinions. A completely novel explanation will be formulated for the presence of so many dogs in Ashkelon during the Persian era and why they were buried in that particular plac