Ekron, which was founded by the Canaanites, became a Philistine city around 1200 BCE. Its fertile soil helped establish the city as a supplier of agricultural produce in Philistia. In the 7th century BC, when it was under Assyrian rule, the city became the center of olive oil production in the ancient East, with an estimated production of 500 tons of oil per year. In 604 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylonia, destroyed the city and exiled its inhabitants.