Joshua burns the Town of Ai; Illustration from the Dore Bible 1866. Ai was a Canaanite royal city. According to the Book of Joshua in the Hebrew Bible; it was conquered by the Israelites on their second attempt. The ruins of the city are popularly thought to be in the modern-day archaeological site Et-Tell. In 1866; the French artist and illustrator Gustave Dore (1832-1883); published a series of 241 wood engravings for a new deluxe edition of the 1843 French translation of the Vulgate Bible; popularly known as the Bible de Tours. This new edition was known as La Grande Bible de Tours and its illustrations were immensely successful.