Since 1985, Leon and Shelby, and then the Foundation, have supported the excavation of the ancient seaport of Ashkelon, located on the southern coast of modern day Israel. Ashkelon was the fortified capital of Canaanite kings, a seaport of the Philistines, and a rich Roman city. The expedition site extends over one hundred and fifty acres and showcases five millennia of human history.
The Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon, directed by the late Lawrence Stager, Dorot Professor of the Archaeology of Israel at Harvard University, and now Daniel Master, professor of archaeology at Wheaton College, aims to show the ways in which the ancient world was closely connected by commerce throughout multiple eras. The results of the excavation have been collected in ten final report volumes (to date), published in a series of the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East.
Additionally, the Foundation supported the creation of the Visitor Center at Ashkelon National Park, in partnership with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and the Israel Antiquities Authority. Ashkelon National Park is home to an impressive number of archaeological ruins from the Canaanite, Philistine, Persian & Hellenistic, Roman & Byzantine, and Islamic & Crusader periods. Major park monuments include a Canaanite Gate, a Philistine House, the Roman Odeon and Basilica, Crusader Walls. The Visitor Center was designed to bring together the visible archaeological ruins at Ashkelon with artifacts from the Expedition, allowing park visitors to understand the history of the ancient city.
