Excavations, which were renewed on July 15, not far from Ashkelon, are continuing to shed new light on the history and culture of the Philistines, arch-enemies of the Jewish People in biblical times. A group of archeologists and volunteers led by Dr. Aren Maeir, of the Institute of Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University, and by Prof. Carl Ehrlich, of York University in Toronto, have tentatively identified Tel As-Saffi as Gath, home to Goliath and King Achish. The site contains extremely well-preserved remains, which tend to coincide with the biblical description of Gath as an important city in the early stages of the first Jewish monarchy, which suffered massive destruction around 800 BCE. It was a settled area from as early as the fifth millennium BCE until 1948, when an Arab village there was abandoned.