Ashkelon (Hebrew: אַשְׁקְלוֹן; Tiberian Hebrew ʾAšqəlôn; Arabic: ٲشكلون, also عسقلان ʿAsqalān (help·info); Latin: Ascalon; Akkaian: Isqalluna) is a city in the western Negev, in the South District of Israel, population about 117,000. Near to modern Ashkelon are the remains of the ancient seaport of Ashkelon, which flourished since the Bronze Age under a succession of rulers including the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Babylonians, the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Muslims and the Crusaders. It was finally destroyed by the Mamluks in the late 13th century. The modern Israeli city was founded after the 1948 War of Independence in the location of the Arab town of al-Majdal.