View source for Lod

{{Other uses}}
{{Distinguish|Łódź}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                   = Lod
| native_name            = {{Hlist
 | {{Lang|he|לוד}}
 | {{Lang|ar|اللِّدّ}}
 }}
| settlement_type        = [[List of cities in Israel|City]]
| image_skyline          = File:LodJune132022 01.jpg
| image_caption          = 
| image_blank_emblem     = [[File:Coat of arms of Lod.svg|60px]]
| pushpin_map_alt        = 
| pushpin_map            = Israel
| pushpin_mapsize        = 150
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_map_caption    = 
| coordinates            = {{coord|31|57|7|N|34|53|17|E|region:IL|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type       = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name       = {{ISR}}
| subdivision_type1      = 
| subdivision_name1      = 
| subdivision_type2      = [[Districts of Israel|District]]
| subdivision_name2      = [[Central District (Israel)|Central]]
| subdivision_type3        = Subdistrict
| subdivision_name3        = [[Ramla Subdistrict]]
| established_title      = Founded
| established_date       = 5600–5250 BCE <small>(Initial settlement)</small><br>1465 BCE <small>(Canaanite/Israelite town)</small>
| leader_title           = Mayor
| leader_name            = Yair Revivo
| unit_pref              = dunam
| area_total_dunam       = {{formatnum:12226|R}}
| population_footnotes   = {{Israel populations|reference}}
| population_total       = {{Israel populations|Lod}}
| population_as_of       = {{Israel populations|Year}}
| population_density_km2 = auto
}}

'''Lod''' ({{langx|he|לוד}}, {{small|[[ktiv menuqad|fully vocalized]]:}} {{lang|he|לֹד}}), also known as '''Lydda''' ({{langx|grc|Λύδδα}}) and '''Lidd''' ({{langx|ar|اللِّدّ|al-Lidd}}, or {{langx|ar|اللُّدّ|al-Ludd|label=none}}), is a city {{convert|15|km|mi|frac=2|abbr=on}} southeast of [[Tel Aviv]] and {{convert|40|km|mi|abbr=on}} northwest of [[Jerusalem]] in the [[Central District (Israel)|Central District]] of [[Israel]]. It is situated between the lower [[Shephelah]] on the east and the [[Israeli coastal plain|coastal plain]] on the west. The city had a population of {{Israel populations|Lod}} in {{Israel populations|Year}}.{{Israel populations|reference}}

Lod has been inhabited since at least the [[Neolithic]] period.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Commenge |first=Catherine |title=Lod Newe Yarak: a roman pottery kiln and Pottery Neolithic A remains |url=https://www.academia.edu/30034227}}</ref> It is mentioned a few times in the [[Hebrew Bible]] and in the [[New Testament]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Lod {{!}} City, Israel, Palestine, & History {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Lod |access-date=25 June 2022|website=britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> Between the 5th century BCE and up until the late [[Roman Empire|Roman]] period, it was a prominent center for [[Jews|Jewish]] scholarship and trade.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |title=Corpus inscriptionum Iudaeae/Palaestinae: a multi-lingual corpus of the inscriptions from Alexander to Muhammad |publisher=[[de Gruyter]] |others=Eran Lupu, Marfa Heimbach, Naomi Schneider, Hannah Cotton |year=2018 |isbn=978-3-11-022219-7 |volume=IV: Iudaea / Idumaea |location=Berlin |pages=77–85 |oclc=663773367}}</ref> Around 200 CE, the city became a [[Roman colony]] and was renamed {{lang|la|Diospolis}} ({{langx|grc|Διόσπολις||city of [[Zeus]]|links=no}}). Tradition identifies Lod as the 4th century martyrdom site of [[Saint George]];<ref>{{Citation |last=Mahoney |first=Lisa |title=Art and efficacy in an icon of St George * |date=2020-04-14 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.4324/9781351185592-11 |work=The Eloquence of Art |pages=188–203 |place=Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY|publisher=Routledge |doi=10.4324/9781351185592-11 |isbn=978-1-351-18559-2 |s2cid=218824016 |quote=By 1099 crusading armies had captured the city of Lydda, the site of St George’s martyrdom and tomb. |access-date=27 June 2022|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Howell |first=David |title=St. George as Intercessor |date=1969 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44169945 |journal=Byzantion |volume=39 |pages=121–136 |jstor=44169945 |issn=0378-2506}}</ref> the [[Church of Saint George and Mosque of Al-Khadr]] located in the city is believed to have housed his remains.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Walter |first=Christopher |date=1995 |title=The Origins of the Cult of Saint George |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.3406/rebyz.1995.1911 |journal=Revue des études byzantines |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=295–326 |doi=10.3406/rebyz.1995.1911 |issn=0766-5598|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 

Following the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant|Arab conquest of the Levant]], Lod served as the capital of [[Jund Filastin]]; however, a few decades later, the seat of power was transferred to [[Ramla]], and Lod slipped in importance.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Under [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|Crusader]] rule, the city was a Catholic [[diocese]] of the [[Latin Church]] and it remains a [[titular see]] to this day.{{cn|date=November 2022}}

Lod underwent a major change in its population in the mid-20th century.<ref name="Rabinowitz Monterescu 2008">{{cite journal | last1=Rabinowitz | first1=Dan | last2=Monterescu | first2=Daniel | title=RECONFIGURING THE "MIXED TOWN": URBAN TRANSFORMATIONS OF ETHNONATIONAL RELATIONS IN PALESTINE AND ISRAEL - International Journal of Middle East Studies | journal=International Journal of Middle East Studies | volume=40 | issue=2 | date=2008-05-01 | issn=1471-6380 | doi=10.1017/S0020743808080513 | pages=208–210 | s2cid=162633906 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-middle-east-studies/article/reconfiguring-the-mixed-town-urban-transformations-of-ethnonational-relations-in-palestine-and-israel/5AB0B676A0679858F98AB3DA8AC20B6A/share/c4e2722f72e7ade9c6e43f8b7dc8253663029555 | quote=The Palestinian quarters of Safad, Tiberias, Haifa, Jaffa, and West Jerusalem and the Jewish quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem were in a state of sociological catastrophe, with no community to speak of to even bury the dead and mourn the old existence... By late 1949 only one of the five towns that had been effectively mixed on the eve of the war, namely, Haifa, still had a Palestinian contingent. Even there, however, the urban mix had been transformed beyond recognition. The 3,000 remaining Palestinians, now representing less than 5 percent of the original community, had been uprooted and forced to relocate to downtown Wadi Ninas... More relevant for our concerns here are Acre, Lydda, Ramle, and Jaffa, which, although exclusively Palestinian before the war of 1948, became predominantly Jewish mixed towns after. All of them had their residual Palestinian populations concentrated in bounded compounds, in one case (Jaffa) surrounded for a while by barbed wire. As late as the summer of 1949, all of these compounds were subjected to martial law.| url-access=subscription }}</ref> Exclusively Palestinian Arab in 1947,<ref name="Rabinowitz Monterescu 2008"/> Lod was part of the area designated for an Arab state in the [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine]]; however, in July 1948, the city was occupied by the [[Israel Defense Forces]], and most of its Arab inhabitants were expelled in the [[Palestinian expulsion from Lydda and Ramle]].<ref name="Shapira">[https://www.jstor.org/pss/25618678 Shapira, Anita, “Politics and Collective Memory: the Debate Over the 'New Historians' in Israel],” ''History and Memory'' 7 (1) (Spring 1995), pp. 9ff, 12–13, 16–17.</ref><ref>Blumenthal, 2013, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MT0eBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA420 420]</ref> The city was largely resettled by Jewish immigrants, most of them [[Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim lands|expelled from Arab countries]].<ref name="gibb">M. Sharon, s.v. "Ludd," [[Encyclopedia of Islam]], 2nd ed. Leiden: Brill, 1983, vol. 5, pp.  [https://books.google.com/books?id=jJY3AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA798 798]-803; {{ISBN|978-90-04-07164-3}}</ref><ref>[[Benny Morris|Morris]], 2004, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA414 414]-461.</ref> 

Today, Lod is one of Israel's [[mixed cities]], with an [[Arab citizens of Israel|Arab]] population of 30%.<ref>[https://jerusaleminstitute.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/PUB_505_facts-and-trends_eng_2019_web.pdf Uploads (p. 18)], Jerusaleminstitute.org. Accessed 1 November 2022.</ref> Lod is one of Israel's major transportation hubs. The main international airport, [[Ben Gurion Airport]], is located 8 km (5 miles) north of the city. The city is also a major railway and road junction.<ref name=":0" />

==Religious references==
The Hebrew name Lod appears in the [[Hebrew Bible]] as a town of [[Tribe of Benjamin|Benjamin]], founded along with [[Ono, Benjamin|Ono]] by Shamed or Shamer (1 Chronicles 8:12; Ezra 2:33; Nehemiah 7:37; 11:35). In {{bibleverse||Ezra|2:33|NKJV}}, it is mentioned as one of the cities whose inhabitants [[Return to Zion|returned]] after the [[Babylonian captivity]]. Lod is not mentioned among the towns allocated to the tribe of Benjamin in {{bibleverse||Joshua|18:11–28|NKJV}}.<ref>Exell, J. S. and Spencer-Jones, H. (eds), [https://biblehub.com/commentaries/pulpit/1_chronicles/8.htm Pulpit Commentary on 1 Chronicles 8], biblehub.com. Accessed 8 February 2020.</ref> 

The name Lod derives from a [[Semitic root|tri-consonental root]] not extant in [[Northwest Semitic languages|Northwest Semitic]], but only in [[Arabic]] (“to quarrel; withhold, hinder”). An Arabic etymology of such an ancient name is unlikely (the earliest attestation is from the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] period).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |date=2023 |title=Early-Ottoman Palestinian Toponymy: A Linguistic Analysis of the (Micro-)Toponyms in Haseki Sultan's Endowment Deed (1552) |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0cs6f5k5 |journal=Zeitschrift des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins |language=en |volume=139 |issue=2}}</ref> 

In the [[New Testament]], the town appears in its Greek form, Lydda,<ref>''Bible Dictionary'', "Lydda"</ref><ref>International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, "Lod; Lydda"</ref><ref>Palmer, 1881, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp00conduoft#page/216/mode/1up 216]</ref> as the site of [[Saint Peter|Peter]]'s healing of [[Aeneas (biblical figure)|Aeneas]] in {{sourcetext|source=Bible|version=King James|book=Acts|chapter=9|verse=32|range=–38}}.<ref>"Lod," ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2009. "And it came to pass, as Peter passed throughout all quarters, he came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda", Acts 9:32–38</ref>

The city is also mentioned in an Islamic [[hadith]] as the location of the battlefield where the false messiah ([[al-Masih ad-Dajjal]]) will be slain before the [[Day of Judgment]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.missionislam.com/nwo/signsdajjal.htm |title=Signs of the Appearance of the Dajjal |publisher=Missionislam.com |access-date=12 March 2013}}</ref>

==History==
===Neolithic and Chalcolithic===
{{further|Lodian culture}}
The first occupation dates to the [[Neolithic in the Near East]] and is associated with the [[Lodian culture]].<ref> Yannai and Marder 2000</ref><ref name="Brink">Brink 1999, 2002, Brink et al. 2015</ref> Occupation continued in the [[Levant Chalcolithic]].<ref name="Brink"/><ref>Paz, Rosenberg and Nativ 2005:131–154</ref><ref> Yannai and Marder 2000</ref> Pottery finds have dated the initial settlement in the area now occupied by the town to 5600–5250 BCE.<ref>Schwartz, Joshua J. ''Lod (Lydda), Israel: from its origins through the Byzantine period, 5600 B.C.-640 A.D.''. Tempus Reparatum, 1991, p. 39.</ref>

===Early Bronze===
In the Early Bronze, it was an important settlement in the central coastal plain between the Judean Shephelah and the Mediterranean coast, along Nahal Ayalon.<ref>Amir Golani (2022) Early Bronze Age Remains at Tel Lod, 'Atiqot 108</ref> Other important nearby sites were Tel Dalit, Tel Bareqet, Khirbat Abu Hamid (Shoham North), [[Tel Afek|Tel Afeq]], [[Azor]] and [[Jaffa]].

Two architectural phases belong to the late EB I in Area B.<ref>Keplan 1977</ref> The first phase had a mudbrick wall, while the late phase included a circulat stone structure. Later excavations have produced an occupation later, Stratum IV.<ref name="Brink"/> It consists of two phases, Stratum IVb with mudbrick wall on stone foundations and rounded exterior corners. In Stratum IVa there was a mudbrick wall with no stone foundations, with imported Egyptian potter and local pottery imitations.

Another excavations revealed nine occupation strata. Strata VI-III belonged to Early Bronze IB. The material culture showed Egyptian imports in strata V and IV.<ref>Paz, Rosenberg and Nativ 2005:131–154</ref>

Occupation continued into Early Bronze II with four strata (V-II). There was continuity in the material culture and indications of centralized urban planning.

===Middle Bronze===
North to the tell were scattered MB II burials.<ref> Segal 2012</ref>

===Late Bronze===
The earliest written record is in a list of [[Canaan]]ite towns drawn up by the [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] [[pharaoh]] [[Thutmose III]] at [[Karnak]] in [[2nd millennium BC|1465 BCE]].<ref name="Franciscan">{{cite news|title=Excursions in Terra Santa|url=http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/sbf/escurs/TS/02_TSen.html|publisher=Franciscan Cyberspot|access-date=22 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023070735/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/sbf/escurs/TS/02_TSen.html|archive-date=23 October 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Classical era===
From the fifth century BCE until the [[Roman period]], the city was a centre of Jewish scholarship<ref>Rozenfeld, 2010, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=dD_dGmWh73QC&pg=PA52 52]</ref> and commerce.<ref name=EB>"Lod," ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2009.</ref> 

According to British historian [[Martin Gilbert]], during the [[Hasmonean]] period, [[Jonathan Maccabee]] and his brother, [[Simon Maccabaeus]], enlarged the area under Jewish control, which included conquering the city.<ref>[[Martin Gilbert|Gilbert, Martin]]. ''Dearest Auntie Flori: The Story of the Jewish People''. New York: Harper Collins 2002, p. 82; also see Josephus, ''Antiquities of the Jews'' 14: 208</ref>

===Roman era===
[[File:Umm ar-Rasas Church of St. Stephen Lidda 2789.jpg|thumb|right|Depiction of Lydda in the [[Umm ar-Rasas mosaics]], 8th century CE]]
The Jewish community in Lod during the Mishnah and Talmud era is described in a significant number of sources, including information on its institutions, demographics, and way of life. The city reached its height as a Jewish center between the [[First Jewish–Roman War|First Jewish-Roman War]] and the [[Bar Kokhba revolt]], and again in the days of [[Judah ha-Nasi]] and the start of the [[Amoraim]] period. The city was then the site of numerous public institutions, including schools, study houses, and synagogues.<ref name=":2" /> 

In 43 BC, [[Gaius Cassius Longinus|Cassius]], the Roman governor of [[Roman Syria|Syria]], sold the inhabitants of Lod into slavery, but they were set free two years later by [[Mark Antony]].<ref name="CE" /><ref>Josephus, "Jewish War", I, xi, 2; "Antiquities", XIV xii, pp. 2–5.</ref> 

During the First Jewish–Roman War, the Roman ''[[proconsul]]'' of Syria, [[Cestius Gallus]], razed the town on his way to [[Jerusalem]] in ''[[Tishrei]]'' 66 CE. According to Josephus, "[he] found the city deserted, for the entire population had [[Three Pilgrimage Festivals|gone up to Jerusalem]] for the [[Sukkot|Feast of Tabernacles]]. He killed fifty people whom he found, burned the town and marched on".<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Rogers |first=Guy MacLean |title=For the Freedom of Zion: the Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66-74 CE |date=2021 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-24813-5 |location=New Haven |pages=169}}</ref> Lydda was occupied by Emperor [[Vespasian]] in 68 CE.<ref>Michael Avi-Yonah, s.v. "Lydda," ''Encyclopaedia Judaica''. Accessed 1 November 2022.</ref>

In the period following the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE, [[Rabbi Tarfon]], who appears in many Tannaitic and Jewish legal discussions, served as a rabbinic authority in Lod.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mHD4CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT1899|title=Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions|first=Eric|last=Orlin|date=19 November 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-62559-8 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

During the [[Kitos War]], 115–117 CE, the Roman army laid siege to Lod, where the rebel Jews had gathered under the leadership of Julian and Pappos. Torah study was outlawed by the Romans and pursued mostly in the underground.<ref>Holder, 1986, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=t2bJ1UqfNXAC&pg=PA52 52]</ref> The distress became so great, the patriarch Rabban [[Gamaliel II]], who was shut up there and died soon afterwards, permitted fasting on [[Ḥanukkah]]. Other rabbis disagreed with this ruling.<ref>Ta'anit ii. 10; Yer. Ta'anit ii. 66a; Yer. Meg. i. 70d; R. H. 18b</ref> Lydda was next taken and many of the Jews were executed; the "slain of Lydda" are often mentioned in words of reverential praise in the Talmud.<ref>Pes. 50a; B. B. 10b; Eccl. R. ix. 10</ref>

In 200 CE, emperor [[Septimius Severus]] elevated the town to the status of a city, calling it ''Colonia Lucia Septimia Severa Diospolis''.<ref>Cecil Roth, ''Encyclopaedia Judaica'', 1972, p. 619.</ref> The name ''Diospolis'' ("City of Zeus") may have been bestowed earlier, possibly by Hadrian.<ref>Smallwood, 2001, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=jSYbpitEjggC&pg=PA241 241]</ref> At that point, most of its inhabitants were [[Christians|Christian]]. The earliest known [[Bishop of Lydda|bishop]] is Aëtius, a friend of [[Arius]].<ref name=CE/>

During the following century (200-300CE), it's said that [[Joshua ben Levi]] founded a yeshiva in Lod.

===Byzantine period===
[[File:La tomba di San Giorgio (Lod, Israele) 02.JPG|thumb|150px|Tomb of [[Saint George]], first mentioned about 530 by the pilgrim Theodosius<ref name=CE/>]]
[[File:Byzantine floor mosaic map at St. George Church Madaba P1090117.JPG|thumb|right|[[Madaba Map]], 6th century CE, showing Lod above and left (NW) of the red "[ΚΛΗ]ΡΟϹ ΔΑΝ" ("the lot of Dan") inscription (left margin, touching on damaged area)]]

In December 415, the [[Council of Diospolis]] was held here to try [[Pelagius (British monk)|Pelagius]]; he was acquitted. In the sixth century, the city was renamed Georgiopolis<ref>Yoram Tsafrir, Leah Di Segni, Judith Green, ''Tabula Imperii Romani Iudaea-Palestina: Eretz Israel in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine Periods; Maps and Gazetteer, p. 171. Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, 1994; {{ISBN|978-965-208-107-0}}</ref> after [[St. George]], a soldier in the guard of the emperor [[Diocletian]], who was born there between 256 and 285 CE.<ref name=Frenkel>Frenkel, Sheera and Low, Valentine. [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6150633.ece "Why Lod, the other land of St George, isn't for the faint-hearted"]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, ''The Times'', 23 April 2009.</ref> 

The [[Church of Saint George and Mosque of Al-Khadr]] is named for him.<ref name="Franciscan"/>
The 6th-century [[Madaba map]] shows Lydda as an unwalled city with a cluster of buildings under a black inscription reading "Lod, also Lydea, also Diospolis".<ref>The Madaba Mosaic Map, Jerusalem 1954, pp. 61–62</ref> An isolated large building with a semicircular colonnaded plaza in front of it might represent the St George shrine.<ref>{{cite book |first= Herbert |last= Donner |title= The Mosaic Map of Madaba: An Introductory Guide |page= 54 |publisher= Kok Pharos |series= Palaestina antiqua (7) |location= Kampen |year= 1995 |edition= 2nd print |isbn= 978-90-390-0011-3 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=DD_Vt16eKnAC&pg=PA54 |access-date=25 March 2020}}</ref>

===Early Muslim period===
[[File:Haan Lod.jpg|thumb|Khan el-Hilu, Lod]]

After the [[Muslim conquest of Palestine]] by [[Amr ibn al-'As]] in 636 CE,<ref>Le Strange, 1890, p. [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/28/mode/1up 28]</ref> Lod which was referred to as "al-Ludd" in [[Arabic language|Arabic]] served as the capital of [[Jund Filastin]] ("Military District of Palaestina") before the seat of power was moved to nearby [[Ramla]] during the reign of the [[Umayyad]] Caliph [[Suleiman ibn Abd al-Malik]] in 715–716. The population of al-Ludd was relocated to Ramla, as well.<ref>Le Strange, 1890, p. [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/303/mode/1up 303]</ref> With the relocation of its inhabitants and the construction of the [[White Mosque (Ramla)|White Mosque]] in Ramla, al-Ludd lost its importance and fell into decay.<ref name=":1">Le Strange, 1890, p. [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/308/mode/1up 308]</ref>

The city was visited by the local Arab geographer [[al-Muqaddasi]] in 985, when it was under the [[Fatimid Caliphate]], and was noted for its Great Mosque which served the residents of al-Ludd, Ramla, and the nearby villages. He also wrote of the city's "wonderful church (of St. George) at the gate of which Christ will slay the [[Masih ad-Dajjal|Antichrist]]."<ref>Le Strange, 1890 p. [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/493/mode/1up 493]</ref>

===Crusader and Ayyubid period===
The [[Crusades|Crusaders]] occupied the city in 1099 and named it St Jorge de Lidde.<ref name=EB/> It was briefly conquered by [[Saladin]], but retaken by the Crusaders in 1191. For the English [[Crusades|Crusader]]s, it was a place of great significance as the birthplace of [[Saint George]]. The Crusaders made it the seat of a [[Latin Church]] diocese,<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Lydda}}</ref> and it remains a [[titular see]].<ref name=CE>[http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/d2l61.html Lydda], Catholic-hierarchy.org. Accessed 1 November 2022.</ref> It owed the service of 10 knights and 20 sergeants, and it had its own burgess court during this era.<ref name=Pringlep11>Pringle, 1998, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y0tA0xLzwEC&pg=PA11 11]</ref>

In 1226, Ayyubid Syrian geographer [[Yaqut al-Hamawi]] visited al-Ludd and stated it was part of the Jerusalem District during [[Ayyubid dynasty|Ayyubid]] rule.<ref>Le Strange, 1890, p. [https://archive.org/stream/palestineundermo00lestuoft#page/494/mode/1up 494]</ref>

===Mamluk period===
[[File:Konrad von Grünenberg - Beschreibung der Reise von Konstanz nach Jerusalem - Blatt 33r - 071.jpg|thumb|Lydda with ruined church over the tomb of St George and adjacent mosque ([[Konrad von Grünenberg]], 1487]]

Sultan [[Baybars]] brought Lydda again under Muslim control by 1267–8.<ref name=Petersen203>Petersen, 2001, p. [https://www.academia.edu/21620056/Gazetteer_5_K-R 203] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010172730/http://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp01conduoft |date=2016-10-10 }}</ref> According to [[Ahmad al-Qalqashandi|Qalqashandi]], Lydda was an administrative centre of a [[wilaya]] during the fourteenth and fifteenth century in the [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluk]] empire.<ref name=Petersen203/> [[Mujir al-Din]] described it as a pleasant village with an active Friday mosque.<ref name=Petersen203/><ref>Moudjir ed-dyn, 1876, Sauvaire (translation), pp. [https://archive.org/stream/histoiredejrus00ulayuoft#page/210/mode/1up 210]-213</ref>  During this time, Lydda was a station on the [[barid|postal route between Cairo and Damascus]].<ref name=Petersen203/><ref>al-Ẓāhirī, 1894, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/zoubdatkachfelm00algoog#page/n47/mode/1up 118]-119</ref>

===Ottoman period===
[[File:Lydda between 1890 and 1900.jpg|thumb|Lod, c.1890-1900]]
[[File:Lydda 1903.jpg|right|thumb|Lydda, 1903]]
In 1517, Lydda was incorporated into the [[Ottoman Empire]] as part of the [[Damascus Eyalet]], and in the 1550s, the revenues of Lydda were designated for the new [[waqf]] of [[Hasseki Sultan Imaret]] in Jerusalem, established by Hasseki Hurrem Sultan ([[Roxelana]]), the wife of [[Suleiman the Magnificent]].<ref>Singer, 2002, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=zHBHBTNwBQoC&pg=PA49 49]</ref>

By 1596 Lydda was a part of the ''[[nahiya]]'' ("subdistrict") of [[Ramla]], which was under the administration of the ''[[Liwa (Arabic)|liwa]]'' ("district") of [[Gaza City|Gaza]]. It had a population of 241 households and 14 bachelors who were all Muslims, and 233 households who were Christians.<ref>Petersen, 2005, p. [https://archive.org/stream/TheTownsOfPalestineUnderUnderMuslimRule/AndrewPetersenTheTownsOfPalestineUnderMuslimRule-600-1600#page/n139/mode/1up  131]</ref> They paid a fixed tax-rate of 33,3 % on agricultural products, including wheat, barley, summer crops, vineyards, fruit trees, sesame, special product ("dawalib" =spinning wheels<ref name=Petersen203/>), goats and beehives, in addition to occasional revenues and market toll, a total of 45,000 [[Akçe]]. All of the revenue went to the [[Waqf]].<ref name="Hut and Abd">Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 154</ref>

In 1051 AH/1641/2, the Bedouin tribe of [[Al-Sawalima|al-Sawālima]] from around [[Jaffa]] attacked the villages of [[Subtara|Subṭāra]], [[Bayt Dajan]], [[Al-Safiriyya|al-Sāfiriya]], [[Jindas|Jindās]], Lydda and [[Yazur|Yāzūr]] belonging to [[Haseki Sultan Imaret|Waqf Haseki Sultan]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Marom |first=Roy |date=2022-11-01 |title=Jindās: A History of Lydda's Rural Hinterland in the 15th to the 20th Centuries CE |url=https://www.academia.edu/90931976 |journal=Lod, Lydda, Diospolis |pages=13–14}}</ref>

The village appeared as ''Lydda'', though misplaced, on the map of [[Pierre Jacotin]] compiled in [[French campaign in Egypt and Syria|1799]].<ref>Karmon, 1960, p. [http://www.jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf 171] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222063351/http://jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf |date=2019-12-22 }}</ref>

Missionary [[William McClure Thomson|William M. Thomson]] visited Lydda in the mid-19th century, describing it as a "flourishing village of some 2,000 inhabitants, imbosomed in noble orchards of [[olive]], [[ficus|fig]], [[pomegranate]], [[mulberry]], [[sycamore]], and other trees, surrounded every way by a very fertile neighbourhood. The inhabitants are evidently industrious and thriving, and the whole country between this and Ramleh is fast being filled up with their flourishing orchards. Rarely have I beheld a rural scene more delightful than this presented in early harvest ... It must be seen, heard, and enjoyed to be appreciated."<ref>Thomson, 1859, pp. [https://archive.org/stream/landandbookorbi08thomgoog#page/n304/mode/1up 292]-3</ref>

In 1869, the population of Ludd was given as: 55 Catholics, 1,940 "Greeks", 5 Protestants and 4,850 Muslims.<ref name=SWP252/> In 1870, the Church of Saint George was rebuilt. In 1892, the first [[railway station]] in the entire region was established in the city.<ref name=Shahinp260>Shahin, 2005, p. 260</ref> In the second half of the 19th century, Jewish merchants migrated to the city, but left after the [[Jaffa riots|1921 Jaffa riots]].<ref name=Shahinp260/>

In 1882, the [[Palestine Exploration Fund]]'s ''Survey of Western Palestine'' described Lod as "A small town, standing among enclosure of prickly pear, and having fine olive groves around it, especially to the south. The [[minaret]] of the [[mosque]] is a very conspicuous object over the whole of the plain. The inhabitants are principally Moslim, though the place is the seat of a Greek bishop resident of Jerusalem. [[Church of Saint George and Mosque of Al-Khadr|The Crusading church]] has lately been restored, and is used by the Greeks. Wells are found in the gardens...."<ref name=SWP252>Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. [https://archive.org/stream/surveyofwesternp02conduoft#page/252/mode/1up 252]</ref>

===British Mandate===
[[File:לוד - מראה-JNF022399.jpeg|thumb|Lydda, 1920]]
[[File:Lydda 1932.jpg|right|thumb|Lydda, 1932]]

From 1918, Lydda was under the administration of the [[Mandate for Palestine|British Mandate in Palestine]], as per a [[League of Nations]] decree that followed the [[Great War]]. During the [[Second World War]], the British set up supply posts in and around Lydda and its railway station, also building an airport that was renamed [[Ben Gurion Airport]] after the death of Israel's first prime minister in 1973.<ref name=Shahinp260/><ref>{{cite web |title=Ben Gurion Airport |url=https://www.jpost.com/tags/ben-gurion-airport |publisher=Jerusalem Post |access-date=11 November 2021}}</ref>

At the time of the [[1922 census of Palestine]], Lydda had a population of 8,103 inhabitants (7,166 Muslims, 926 Christians, and 11 Jews),<ref>Barron,  1923, Table VII, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n23/mode/1up 21]</ref> the Christians were 921 Orthodox, 4 Roman Catholics and 1 [[Melkite]].<ref>Barron,  1923, Table XIV, p. [https://archive.org/stream/PalestineCensus1922/Palestine%20Census%20%281922%29#page/n48/mode/1up 46]</ref> This had increased by the [[1931 census of Palestine|1931 census]] to 11,250 (10,002 Muslims, 1,210 Christians, 28 Jews, and 10 Bahai), in a total of 2475 residential houses.<ref name="Census1931">Mills, 1932, p. [https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas 21]</ref>

In 1938, Lydda had a population of 12,750.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VillageStatistics1938orig.pdf |title=Village Statistics |year=1938 |pages=59}}</ref>

In 1945, Lydda had a population of 16,780 (14,910 Muslims, 1,840 Christians, 20 Jews and 10 "other").<ref name="1945p30">Department of Statistics, 1945, p. [http://users.cecs.anu.edu.au/~bdm/yabber/census/VSpages/VS1945_p30.jpg 30]</ref> Until 1948, Lydda was an Arab town with a population of around 20,000—18,500 Muslims and 1,500 Christians.<ref>"Lod," 2 January 1949, IS archive Gimel/5/297 in Yacobi, 2009, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=DbB9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA31 31].</ref><ref name="Monterescup16" /> In 1947, the United Nations proposed [[United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine|dividing Mandatory Palestine]] into two states, one [[Jewish state]] and one Arab; Lydda was to form part of the proposed Arab state.<ref name="Sadip91">Sa'di and Abu-Lughod, 2007, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MbKrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA91 91]-92.</ref>  In the [[1948 Arab-Israeli war|ensuing war]], Israel captured Arab towns outside the area the UN had allotted it, including Lydda.

In December 1947, thirteen Jewish passengers in a seven-car convoy to [[Ben Shemen Youth Village]] were ambushed and murdered.<ref>[https://www.jta.org/archive/jews-and-arabs-die-as-palestine-disorders-continue-arab-legion-kills-12-jews Jews and Arabs Die As Palestine Disorders Continue; Arab Legion Kills 12 Jews] The Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 15 December 1947</ref><ref name=shavit/>In a separate incident, three Jewish youths, two men and a woman were captured, then raped and murdered in a neighbouring village.<ref name=shavit/> Their bodies were paraded in Lydda’s principal street.<ref name=shavit>{{cite book
|last1       = Shavit
|first1      = Ari
|year        = 2013
|title       = My Promised Land
|url         = 
|pages       = 128
|publisher = Spiegel & Grau
|isbn = 978-0385521703
|access-date = 
}}</ref>

===State of Israel===
{{main|Palestinian expulsion from Lydda and Ramle}}
[[Image:Downtown_area_of_Lod,_Israel_00262.JPG|thumb|View of a Lod street, 2005]]
The [[Israel Defense Forces]] entered Lydda on 11 July 1948.<ref>For one account, interspersed with interviews with IDF soldiers, see Ari Shavit, ''My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel''. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2013, pp. 99–132.</ref> The following day, under the impression that it was under attack,<ref name=Tal311>Tal,  2004, p. 311.</ref> the 3rd Battalion was ordered to shoot anyone "seen on the streets". According to Israel, 250 Arabs were killed. Other estimates are higher: Arab historian [[Aref al Aref]] estimated 400, and [[Nimr al Khatib]] 1,700.<ref name=Morris>Sefer Hapalmah ii (The Book of the Palmah), p. 565; and KMA-PA (Kibbutz Meuhad Archives – Palmah Archive). Quoted in Benny Morris, ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1949''. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987.</ref><ref name=Morrisp205>Morris, 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C&pg=PA205 205] Morris writes: "[...] dozens of unarmed detainees in the mosque and church in the centre of the town were shot and killed."</ref>

In 1948, the population rose to 50,000 during the [[Nakba]], as [[Palestinian refugees|Arab refugees]] fleeing other areas made their way there.<ref name=Shahinp260/> A key event was the [[Palestinian expulsion from Lydda and Ramle]], with the expulsion of 50,000-70,000 Palestinians from Lydda and [[Ramla|Ramle]] by the Israel Defense Forces. All but 700<ref>The figure comes from [[Bechor Sheetrit]], the Israeli Minister for Minority Affairs at the time, cited in Yacobi, 2009, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=DbB9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA33 32].</ref> to 1,056<ref name="gibb"/> were expelled by order of the Israeli high command, and forced to walk {{convert|17|km|mi|frac=2|abbr=on}} to the Jordanian [[Arab Legion]] lines. Estimates of those who died from exhaustion and dehydration vary from a handful to 355.<ref name="here">Spiro Munayyer, The Fall of Lydda( اللد لن تقع), ''[[Journal of Palestine Studies]]'', Vol. 27, No. 4 (Summer, 1998), pp. 80–98. See also [[Yitzhak Rabin]]'s diaries, quoted here [http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Famous-Zionist-Quotes/Story739.html].</ref><ref name=Holmesp64>Holmes et al., 2001, p. 64.</ref> The town was subsequently [[Looting|sacked]] by the Israeli army.<ref>Morris, Benny "[https://www.jstor.org/pss/4327250 Operation Dani and the Palestinian Exodus from Lydda and Ramle in 1948]", ''Middle East Journal'' 40 (1986), p. 88.</ref> Some scholars, including [[Ilan Pappé]], characterize this as [[ethnic cleansing]].<ref>For the use of the term "ethnic cleansing", see, for example, [https://books.google.com/books?id=yjeXQVmGrwcC&pg=PT164 Pappé 2006].
*On whether what occurred in Lydda and Ramle constituted ethnic cleansing:
*[https://archive.org/details/1948historyoffir00morr <!-- quote=1948 morris. --> Morris 2008, p. 408]: "although an atmosphere of what would later be called ethnic cleansing prevailed during critical months, transfer never became a general or declared Zionist policy. Thus, by war's end, even though much of the country had been 'cleansed' of Arabs, other parts of the country—notably central Galilee — were left with substantial Muslim Arab populations, and towns in the heart of the Jewish coastal strip, Haifa and Jaffa, were left with an Arab minority."
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=v2AICgAAQBAJ&pg=PA284 Spangler 2015, p. 156]: "During the ''Nakba'', the 1947 [''sic''] displacement of Palestinians, Rabin had been second in command over Operation Dani, the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian towns of towns of Lydda and Ramle."
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=tXMAicS2ar8C&pg=PA63 Schwartzwald 2012, p. 63]: "The facts do not bear out this contention [of ethnic cleansing]. To be sure, some refugees were forced to flee: fifty thousand were expelled from the strategically located towns of Lydda and Ramle ... But these were the exceptions, not the rule, and ethnic cleansing had nothing to do with it."
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=w_-FBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA107 Golani and Manna 2011, p. 107]: "The expulsion of some 50,000 Palestinians from their homes ... was one of the most visible atrocities stemming from Israel's policy of ethnic cleansing."</ref> The few hundred Arabs who remained in the city were soon outnumbered by the influx of Jews who [[aliyah|immigrated]] to Lod from August 1948 onward, most of them from Arab countries.<ref name="gibb"/> As a result, Lod became a predominantly Jewish town.<ref name=Monterescup16>Monterescu and Rabinowitz, 2012, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=FFI839WlC9cC&pg=PA16 16]-17.</ref><ref name=Yacobi29>Yacobi, 2009, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=DbB9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 29].</ref>

After the establishment of the state, the biblical name Lod was readopted.<ref>Yacobi, 2009, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=DbB9AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 29]: "The occupation of Lydda by Israel in the 1948 war did not allow the realization of Pocheck's garden city vision. Different geopolitics and ideologies began to shape Lydda's urban landscape ... [and] its name was changed from Lydda to Lod, which was the region's biblical name"; also see Pearlman, Moshe and Yannai, Yacov. ''Historical sites in Israel''. Vanguard Press, 1964, p. 160. For the Hebrew name being used by inhabitants before 1948, see ''A Cyclopædia of Biblical literature'': Volume 2, by [[John Kitto]], [[William Lindsay Alexander]]. p. 842 ("... the old Hebrew name, Lod, which had probably been always used by the inhabitants, appears again in history."); And Lod (Lydda), Israel: from its origins through the Byzantine period, 5600 B.C.E.-640 C.E., by Joshua J. Schwartz, 1991, p. 15 ("the pronunciation Lud began to appear along with the form Lod")</ref>
 
<gallery>
File:Lod 7 dec 1948.jpg|Lydda five months after Operation Danny. December 1948.
File:LyddaOldCity.png|Lydda, 1948
File:Lydda church.jpg|[[Church of Saint George and Mosque of Al-Khadr]], after the battle. 1948
File:Lydda mosque.jpg|Palmach 3 inch mortar in front of Lydda mosque. 1948
File: Lydda Mandate Police HQ.jpg
</gallery>

The Jewish immigrants who settled Lod came in waves, [[Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries|first]] from [[Morocco]] and [[Tunisia]], later from [[Ethiopia]], and then from the former [[Soviet Union]].<ref>"[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/world/middleeast/09lod.html?hp Polishing a Lost Gem to Dazzle Tourists]", ''New York Times''. 8 July 2009.</ref>  

Since 2008, many urban development projects have been undertaken to improve the image of the city. Upscale neighbourhoods have been built, among them Ganei Ya'ar and Ahisemah, expanding the city to the east. According to a 2010 report in the ''Economist'',  a three-meter-high wall was built between Jewish and Arab neighbourhoods and construction in Jewish areas was given priority over construction in Arab neighborhoods.  The newspaper says that violent crime in the Arab sector revolves mainly around family feuds over turf and honour crimes.<ref name="Econ">[https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2010/10/14/pulled-apart Pulled Apart]. ''[[The Economist]]'', 14 October 2010.</ref> In 2010, the Lod Community Foundation organised an event for representatives of bicultural youth movements, volunteer aid organisations, educational start-ups, businessmen, sports organizations, and conservationists working on programmes to better the city.<ref>Ron Friedman, [https://www.jpost.com/Israel/Pushing-for-a-better-tomorrow-in-8000-year-old-Lod Pushing for a better tomorrow in 8,000-year-old Lod], The Jerusalem Post, 8 April 2010. Accessed 25 March 2020.</ref>

[[File:Disorders in Lod, May 2021. VII.jpg|thumb|right|[[Israel Police|Israeli forces]] in Lod, 11 May 2021]]
In the [[2021 Israel–Palestine crisis]], a state of emergency was declared in Lod after Arab rioting led to the death of an Israeli Jew.<ref>{{Cite news|title=IDF enters Lod as city goes into emergency lockdown|url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/border-police-officers-diverted-to-lod-amid-violent-protests-667894|access-date=12 May 2021|newspaper=The Jerusalem Post &#124; Jpost.com|language=en-US}}</ref> The Mayor of Lod, Yair Revivio, urged [[Prime Minister of Israel]] [[Benjamin Netanyahu]] to deploy [[Israel Border Police]] to restore order in the city.<ref>{{cite web|title=Amid Gaza barrages, major rioting and chaos erupt in Lod; Mayor: It's civil war|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-may-11-2021/|publisher=Times of Israel|access-date=12 May 2021|archive-date=11 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511230326/https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-may-11-2021/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Arab politician warns Israel is 'on the brink of a civil war'|url=https://news.yahoo.com/arab-politician-warns-israel-brink-050700968.html|access-date=13 May 2021|website=news.yahoo.com|date=13 May 2021 |language=en|archive-date=13 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513061837/https://news.yahoo.com/arab-politician-warns-israel-brink-050700968.html|url-status=live}}</ref> This was the first time since 1966 that Israel had declared  this kind of emergency lockdown.<ref>{{cite news|title=IDF enters Lod as city goes into emergency lockdown|url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/border-police-officers-diverted-to-lod-amid-violent-protests-667894|access-date=12 May 2021|newspaper=The Jerusalem Post &#124; Jpost.com|language=en-US|archive-date=13 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513013958/https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/border-police-officers-diverted-to-lod-amid-violent-protests-667894|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=StateOfEmergency>{{cite web |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/netanyahu-declares-state-of-emergency-in-lod/ |title=Netanyahu declares state of emergency in Lod |date=11 May 2021 |last=Schneider |first=Tal |website=[[The Times of Israel]] |access-date=12 May 2021 |archive-date=13 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513014006/https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/netanyahu-declares-state-of-emergency-in-lod/ |url-status=live }}</ref> International media noted that both Jewish and Palestinian mobs were active in Lod, but the "crackdown came for one side" only.<ref>[https://theintercept.com/2021/05/29/israel-palestine-mobs-crackdown/ Jewish and Palestinian mobs dueled in Israeli towns — but the crackdown came for one side], Dalia Hatuqa, May 29 2021, [[The Intercept]]</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20210602092434/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/13/world/middleeast/arab-jewish-violence-lod.html Arab-Jewish coexistence in Israel suddenly ruptured], [[Isabel Kershner]], May 13, 2021, [[The New York Times]]</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/13/this-is-more-than-a-reaction-to-rockets-communal-violence-spreads-in-israel ‘This is more than a reaction to rockets’: communal violence spreads in Israel], Peter Beaumont, Quique Kierszenbaum and Sufian Taha, 13 May 2021, [[The Guardian]]</ref><ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/15/far-right-jewish-groups-arab-youths-claim-streets-lod-israel-loses-control Far-right Jewish groups and Arab youths claim streets of Lod as Israel loses control], Oliver Holmes and Quique Kierszenbaum, 15 May 2021, [[The Guardian]]</ref><ref>[https://www.972mag.com/israel-police-settlers-lyd/ How Israeli police are colluding with settlers against Palestinian citizens], 
Oren Ziv, May 13, 2021, [[+972 Magazine]]</ref>

==Demographics==
[[File:AlNurMosqueLodJune202023 02.jpg|thumb|Al Nur Mosque]]
In the 19th century and until the [[Lydda Death March]], Lod was an exclusively Muslim-Christian town, with an estimated 6,850 inhabitants, of whom approximately 2,000 (29%) were Christian.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp02conduoft/page/252/mode/1up?view=theater Palestine Exploration Fund], archive.org. Accessed 1 November 2022.</ref>

According to the [[Israel Central Bureau of Statistics]] (CBS), the population of Lod in 2010 was 69,500 people.<ref>Israel Central Bureau of Statistics Annual Report 2010.</ref>

According to the 2019 census, the population of Lod was 77,223, of which 53,581 people, comprising 69.4% of the city's population, were classified as "[[Israeli Jews|Jews and Others]]", and 23,642 people, comprising 30.6% as "[[Arab citizens of Israel|Arab]]".{{Israel populations|reference}}

==Education==
According to CBS, 38 schools and 13,188 pupils are in the city. They are spread out as 26 elementary schools and 8,325 elementary school pupils, and 13 high schools and 4,863 high school pupils. About 52.5% of 12th-grade pupils were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

==Economy==
{{unsourced|section|date=November 2022}}
[[File:16-03-30-Ben Gurion International Airport-RalfR-DSCF7546.jpg|thumb|Reception hall, Ben Gurion International Airport]]
The airport and related industries are a major source of employment for the residents of Lod. Other important factories in the city are the communication equipment company "[[Telrad Networks|Talard]]", "Cafe-Co" - a subsidiary of the [[Strauss Group]] and "Kashev" - the computer center of [[Bank Leumi]].

A [[Jewish Agency for Israel|Jewish Agency]] Absorption Centre  is also located in Lod. According to CBS figures for 2000, 23,032 people were salaried workers and 1,405 were self-employed. The mean monthly wage for a salaried worker was [[New Israeli Shekel|NIS]] 4,754, a real change of 2.9% over the course of 2000. Salaried men had a mean monthly wage of NIS 5,821 (a real change of 1.4%) versus NIS 3,547 for women (a real change of 4.6%). The mean income for the self-employed was NIS 4,991. About 1,275 people were receiving unemployment benefits and 7,145 were receiving an income supplement.

==Art and culture==
In 2009-2010, [[Dor Guez]] held an exhibit, ''Georgeopolis'', at the [[Petach Tikva]] art museum that focuses on Lod.<ref>Neta Halperin, [https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/culture/1.5211002 There's Art Outside of Tel Aviv, You Just Have to Look], Haaretz, 3 April 2012. Accessed 25 March 2020.</ref>

==Archaeology==
[[File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Archeologists.jpg|thumb|Archaeologists working on mosaic floor]]
A well-preserved mosaic floor dating to the Roman period was excavated in 1996 as part of a [[Rescue archaeology|salvage dig]] conducted on behalf of the [[Israel Antiquities Authority]] and the Municipality of Lod, prior to widening HeHalutz Street. According to
Jacob Fisch, executive director of the Friends of the Israel Antiquities Authority, a worker at the construction site noticed the tail of a tiger and halted work.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://penntoday.upenn.edu/2013-02-21/features/lod-mosaic-tells-nearly-2000-year-old-story-ancient-israel|title=Lod Mosaic tells nearly 2,000-year-old story from ancient Israel|website=Penn Today|date=21 February 2013 }}</ref> The mosaic was initially covered over with soil at the conclusion of the excavation for lack of funds to conserve and develop the site.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.iaa-conservation.org.il/Projects_Item_eng.asp?site_id=56&subject_id=8|title=Projects - Preservation|website=www.iaa-conservation.org.il}}</ref> The mosaic is now part of the [[Lod Mosaic Archaeological Center]]. The floor, with its colorful display of birds, fish, exotic animals and merchant ships, is believed to have been commissioned by a wealthy resident of the city for his private home.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kershner |first=Isabel |date=2009-07-09 |title=Polishing a Lost Gem to Dazzle Tourists |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/world/middleeast/09lod.html |access-date=2024-02-25 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>    

The Lod Community Archaeology Program, which operates in ten Lod schools, five Jewish and five Israeli Arab, combines archaeological studies with participation in digs in Lod.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.archaeological.org/category/sitepreservation/currentprojects/|title=Current Projects Archives|website=Archaeological Institute of America}}</ref>

==Sports==
The city's major football club, [[Hapoel Bnei Lod F.C.|Hapoel Bnei Lod]], plays in [[Liga Leumit]] (the second division). Its home is at the [[Lod Municipal Stadium]]. The club was formed by a merger of Bnei Lod and Rakevet Lod in the 1980s. Two other clubs in the city play in the regional leagues: Hapoel MS Ortodoxim Lod in [[Liga Bet]] and Maccabi Lod in [[Liga Gimel]].

[[Hapoel Lod F.C.|Hapoel Lod]] played in the top division during the 1960s and 1980s, and won the [[Israel State Cup|State Cup]] in 1984. The club folded in 2002. A new club, Hapoel Maxim Lod (named after former mayor [[Maxim Levy]]) was established soon after, but folded in 2007.

==Notable people==

[[File:Etti Ankri.jpg|thumb|right|180px|[[Eti Ankri|Etti Ankri]]]]
[[File:Oshri Cohen holding the Golden lion.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Oshri Cohen]]
*[[Rabbi Akiva]], Talmudic sage
*[[Etti Ankri]] (born 1963), singer
*[[Oshri Cohen]] (born 1984), actor
* [[Artem Dolgopyat]] (born 1997), Olympic champion and world champion gymnast
*[[St George]], Patron Saint of [[Beirut]], Palestine, England, Russia, and Catalonia
*[[George Habash]] (1926–2008), founder of the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]]
*[[Eliezer ben Hurcanus]], Talmudic sage
*[[Joshua ben Levi]], Talmudic sage
*[[Tamer Nafar]] (born 1979), rapper
*Suhell Nafar, rapper
*[[Rabbi Tarfon]], Talmudic sage
*[[Salim Tuama]] (born 1979), footballer
*[[Sami Abu Shehadeh]] (born 1975), politician

==Twin towns-sister cities==
Lod is [[Twin towns and sister cities|twinned]] with:
* {{flagicon|ROM}} [[Piatra Neamț]], [[Romania]]<ref name="Piatra Neamţ">{{cite web|url=http://www.piatra-neamt.net/en/twin_towns.php|title=Piatra Neamţ – Twin Towns|publisher=Piatra Neamţ|access-date=27 September 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091116145101/http://www.piatra-neamt.net/en/twin_towns.php|archive-date=16 November 2009}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|SER}} [[Kraljevo]], [[Serbia]]

==See also==
*[[Depopulated Palestinian locations in Israel]]
*[[Operation Danny]]

==References==
{{reflist|25em}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite book | editor =Barron, J. B. | title =Palestine: Report and General Abstracts of the Census of 1922 | url =https://archive.org/details/PalestineCensus1922 | publisher =Government of Palestine | year =1923 }}
*{{cite book|last= Blumenthal|first=M.|author-link=Max Blumenthal |title=[[Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel]]  |publisher=[[Nation Books]] |year=2013|isbn=978-1-56858-634-2}} - [https://books.google.com/books?id=MT0eBQAAQBAJ Profile at] [[Google Books]]
*{{cite book |last1=Conder |first1=C. R. |author-link1=Claude Reignier Conder |last2=Kitchener |first2=H. H. |author-link2=Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener |year=1882 |url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp02conduoft |title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Memoirs of the Topography, Orography, Hydrography, and Archaeology |location=London |publisher=[[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]] |volume=2 }}
*{{cite book | last = Dauphin | first = C. | author-link = Claudine Dauphin | title = La Palestine byzantine, Peuplement et Populations | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=FC1mAAAAMAAJ | volume = III : Catalogue | series = BAR International Series 726 | year = 1998 | publisher = Archeopress | location = Oxford | language = fr | isbn = 978-0-86054-905-5 }} 
*{{cite book|title=Village Statistics, April, 1945|url=http://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/Hebrew/library/Pages/BookReader.aspx?pid=856390|author=Department of Statistics|year=1945|publisher=Government of Palestine}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Gorzalczany |first1=Amir |display-authors=etal |date=2016-05-09 |url=http://www.hadashot-esi.org.il/report_detail_eng.aspx?id=24984&mag_id=124 |title=Lod, the Lod Mosaic |publisher=Hadashot Arkheologiyot – Excavations and Surveys in Israel |number=128 }}
*{{cite book|last=Guérin|first=V.|author-link=Victor Guérin|title=Description Géographique Historique et Archéologique de la Palestine|url=https://archive.org/details/descriptiongogr04gugoog|volume=2: Samarie, pt. 2|year=1875|publisher=L'Imprimerie Nationale|location=Paris|language=fr}} (p. [https://archive.org/stream/descriptiongogr04gugoog#page/n417/mode/1up 392])
*{{cite book|title=Village Statistics of 1945: A Classification of Land and Area ownership in Palestine|url=http://www.palestineremembered.com/Articles/General-2/Story3150.html|first=S.|last=Hadawi|author-link=Sami Hadawi|year=1970|publisher=Palestine Liberation Organization Research Centre}} 
* {{cite book |first=Meir |last=Holder |title=History of the Jewish People From Yavne to Pumbedisa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t2bJ1UqfNXAC |date=1986 |publisher=[[Mesorah Publications]] |isbn=978-0-89906-499-4 }}
*{{cite book|title=The Oxford companion to military history|first1=R.|last1=Holmes|author-link1=Richard Holmes (military historian)|first2=H.|last2=Strachan|author-link2=Hew Strachan|first3=C.|last3=Bellamy|first4=Hugh|last4=Bicheno|edition=Illustrated|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2001|isbn=978-0-19-866209-9}}
*{{cite book |last1=Hütteroth |first1=W.-D. |author-link1=Wolf-Dieter Hütteroth |first2=K. |last2=Abdulfattah |author-link2=Kamal Abdulfattah |title=Historical Geography of Palestine, Transjordan and Southern Syria in the Late 16th Century |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wqULAAAAIAAJ |year=1977 |publisher=Erlanger Geographische Arbeiten, Sonderband 5. Erlangen, Germany: Vorstand der Fränkischen Geographischen Gesellschaft |isbn=978-3-920405-41-4 }}
*{{cite journal | author = Karmon, Y. | title = An Analysis of Jacotin's Map of Palestine | url = http://www.jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf | journal = [[Israel Exploration Journal]] | volume = 10 | issue = 3,4 | year = 1960 | pages = 155–173; 244–253 | access-date = 2017-09-09 | archive-date = 2019-12-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191222063351/http://jchp.ucla.edu/Bibliography/Karmon,_Y_1960_Jacotin_Map_(IEJ_10).pdf | url-status = dead }}
*{{cite book|title=Palestine Under the Moslems: A Description of Syria and the Holy Land from A.D. 650 to 1500|url=https://archive.org/details/palestineundermo00lestuoft|first=G.|last=Le Strange|author-link=Guy Le Strange|year=1890|publisher=Committee of the [[Palestine Exploration Fund]]}}
*{{cite book | editor = Mills, E. | title = Census of Palestine 1931. Population of Villages, Towns and Administrative Areas | url = https://archive.org/details/CensusOfPalestine1931.PopulationOfVillagesTownsAndAdministrativeAreas | publisher = Government of Palestine | location = Jerusalem | year = 1932 }}
*{{cite book|title=Mixed towns, trapped communities: historical narratives, spatial dynamics, gender relations and cultural encounters in Palestinian-Israeli towns|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FFI839WlC9cC|first1=Daniel|last1=Monterescu|first2=Dan|last2=Rabinowitz|edition=Illustrated|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|year=2012|isbn=978-1-4094-8746-3}}
*{{cite book|last=Morris|first=B.|author-link=Benny Morris|title=The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uM_kFX6edX8C|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2004|isbn=978-0-521-00967-6}}
*{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/histoiredejrus00ulayuoft|title=Histoire de Jérusalem et d'Hébron depuis Abraham jusqu'à la fin du XVe siècle de J.-C. : fragments de la Chronique de Moudjir-ed-dyn|year=1876|author=Moudjir ed-dyn|author-link=Mujir al-Din|editor=Sauvaire}}
*{{cite book|last=Palmer|first=E. H.|author-link=Edward Henry Palmer|year=1881|url=https://archive.org/details/surveyofwesternp00conduoft|title=The Survey of Western Palestine: Arabic and English Name Lists Collected During the Survey by Lieutenants Conder and Kitchener, R. E. Transliterated and Explained by E.H. Palmer|publisher=[[Palestine Exploration Fund|Committee of the Palestine Exploration Fund]]}}
*{{cite book|last=Petersen|first=Andrew|title=A Gazetteer of Buildings in Muslim Palestine (British Academy Monographs in Archaeology)|url=https://www.academia.edu/21620056|volume=1|year=2001|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-727011-0|archive-date=2021-05-28|access-date=2018-12-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210528163548/https://www.academia.edu/21620056/Gazetteer_5_K_R|url-status=dead}} 
* {{cite book|title=The Towns of Palestine Under Muslim Rule|last=Petersen|first=Andrew|publisher=British Archaeological Reports|year=2005|isbn=978-1-84171-821-7|url=https://archive.org/details/TheTownsOfPalestineUnderUnderMuslimRule}}
*{{cite book|title=The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem: L-Z (excluding Tyre)|volume=II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Y0tA0xLzwEC|last=Pringle|first=D.|author-link=Denys Pringle|year=1998|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=978-0-521-39037-8}}
*{{cite book|last1=Robinson|first1=E.|author-link1=Edward Robinson (scholar)|last2=Smith|first2=E.|author-link2=Eli Smith|year=1841|url=https://archive.org/details/biblicalresearch03robiuoft|title=Biblical Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia Petraea: A Journal of Travels in the year 1838|location=Boston|publisher=[[Crocker & Brewster]]|volume=3}} (pp.[https://archive.org/stream/biblicalresearch03robiuoft#page/n66/mode/1up 49] −55)
*{{cite book|last=Rozenfeld|first=Ben Tsiyon|title=Torah Centers and Rabbinic Activity in Palestine, 70–400 CE: History and Geographic Distribution|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dD_dGmWh73QC|publisher=BRILL|year=2010|isbn=978-90-04-17838-0}}
*{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MbKrAgAAQBAJ|title=Nakba: Palestine, 1948, and the claims of memory|first1=A. H.|last1=Sa'di|author-link1=Ahmad H. Sa'di|first2=L.|last2=Abu-Lughod|author-link2=Lila Abu-Lughod|edition=Illustrated|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-231-13579-5}}
*{{cite book|title=Palestine: A Guide|url=https://archive.org/details/palestine00mari|url-access=registration|first=Mariam|last=Shahin|year=2005|publisher=Interlink Books|isbn=978-1-56656-557-8}}
*{{cite book|last=Singer|first=A.|author-link=Amy Singer (historian)|title=Constructing Ottoman Beneficence: An Imperial Soup Kitchen in Jerusalem|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zHBHBTNwBQoC|year=2002|publisher=[[State University of New York Press]]|location=Albany|isbn=978-0-7914-5352-0}} 
*{{cite book|last=Smallwood|first=E. M.|author-link=E. Mary Smallwood|title=The Jews under Roman rule: From Pompey to Diocletian: A Study in Political Relations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jSYbpitEjggC|location=Leiden|publisher=Brill|year=2001|isbn=978-0-391-04155-4}}
* {{cite book |first=D. |last=Tal |author-link=David Tal (historian) |title=War in Palestine, 1948: Strategy and diplomacy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dL29_RBATv0C |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |place=London |isbn=978-0-7146-5275-7 }}
*{{cite book|last=Thomson|first=W. M.|author-link=William McClure Thomson|title=The Land and the Book: Or, Biblical Illustrations Drawn from the Manners and Customs, the Scenes and Scenery, of the Holy Land|url=https://archive.org/details/landandbookorbi08thomgoog|edition=1|volume=2|publisher=Harper & brothers|location=New York|year=1859}} 
*{{cite book |last=Yacobi |first=Haim |title=Goliath:The Jewish-Arab City: Spatio-politics in a mixed community |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DbB9AgAAQBAJ |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-134-06584-4 }}
*{{cite book |last=al-Ẓāhirī |first=Khalīl Ibn Shāhīn, Ghars al-Dīn Khalīl ibn Shāhīn |title=Zoubdat kachf el-mamâlik: tableau politique et administratif de l'Égypte |url=https://archive.org/details/zoubdatkachfelm00algoog |publisher=E. Leroux |year=1894 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Wikivoyage|Lod}}
{{Commons category|Lod}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20111212015741/http://www.lod.muni.il/ City council] {{in lang|he}}
*[http://www.palestineremembered.com/al-Ramla/al-Lydd/ al-Lydd] Palestine Remembered
*[http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/places/lod.html Lydda (Lod)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201194902/http://www.jafi.org.il/education/100/places/lod.html |date=2008-12-01 }}, Jewish Agency for Israel
*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 13: [http://www.iaa-archives.org.il/zoom/zoom.aspx?folder_id=93&type_id=6&id=8375 IAA],  [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.13.jpg Wikimedia commons]

{{Central District (Israel)}}
{{Largest Israeli cities}}
{{Towns depopulated during the First Jewish–Roman War}}
{{Palestinian Arab villages depopulated during the 1948 Palestine War}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Lod| ]]
[[Category:Holy cities]]
[[Category:Cities in Central District (Israel)]]
[[Category:Catholic titular sees in Asia|Lydda]]
[[Category:Ancient Jewish settlements of Judaea]]
[[Category:Arab Christian communities in Israel]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible cities]]
[[Category:New Testament cities]]
[[Category:Mixed Israeli communities]]
[[Category:Tribe of Benjamin]]