Tel Lachish

Lachish ( he, לכיש; grc, Λαχίς; la, Lachis) was an ancient Canaanite and Israelite city in the Shephelah ("lowlands of Judea") region of Israel, on the South bank of the Lakhish River, mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible. The current '' tell'' (ruin) by that name, known as Tel Lachish ( he, תל לכיש) or Tell ed-Duweir (),, has been identified with the biblical Lachish. Today, it is an Israeli national park operated and maintained by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. The park was established on lands of the depopulated Palestinian village of Qobebet Ibn ‘Awwad which was north of the Tel. It lies near the present-day moshav of Lakhish.

Lachish was first mentioned in the Amarna letters. In the Book of Joshua, Lachish is mentioned as one of the cities destroyed by the Israelites for joining the league against the Gibeonites (). The territory was later assigned to the tribe of Judah () and became part of the United Kingdom of Israel. Following the kingdom's partition, Lachish emerged one of the most important cities in the Kingdom of Judah, second only to the capital, Jerusalem.

Lachish is best known for its siege and conquest by the Neo-Assyrians in 701 BCE, an event famously depicted on the Lachish Reliefs, which can be seen today in the British Museum. One of the Lachish letters, written in 597-587 BCE, warns of the impending Babylonian destruction. It reads: "Let my lord know that we are watching over the beacon of Lachish, according to the signals which my lord gave, for Azekah is not seen." According to the prophet Jeremiah, Lachish and Azekah were the last two Judean cities to fall before the conquest of Jerusalem (). This pottery inscription can be seen at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

History

Neolithic

Occupation at the site of Lachish began during the Pottery Neolithic period (5500–4500 BCE). Flint tools from that period have been found.

Early Bronze

Major development began in the Early Bronze Age (3300–3000 BCE). By the end of the Early Bronze, Lachish had become a large settlement. Most of the recovered pottery is of Khirbet Kerak Ware.

Middle Bronze (Levels VIII–IX)

The MBA period has not been extensively excavated at the site. During the Middle Bronze (2000–1650 BCE), the settlement developed.

In the Middle Bronze I, the mound was resettled. Remains of a cult place and an assemblage of votive cultic vessels were found in Area D.

In the Middle Bronze IIA, the development continued.

In the Middle Bronze IIB-C, Lachish became a major city in the Southern Levant. An impressive glacis-like structure was constructed around the city, which shaped its present steep slopes and sharp corners. The proposed glacis fronted a city wall built of massive stones. In Area P, a large mudbrick fortress was excavated. Finds from the fortress include 4 scarabs and a number of scarab sealings. These were of "both the local Canaanite MB IIC style and the Hyksos style". Radiocarbon dating produced a date in the mid-16th century BC. By the end of Middle Bronze IIC the city was destroyed by fire. Some features originally ascribed to the Iron Age by the early excavators have now been redated to the MBA and LBA.

Late Bronze (Levels VI–VII)

In the Late Bronze Age (1550–1200 BCE), Lachish was re-established and developed slowly, eventually becoming one of the large and prosperous cities of the Southern Levant. It is first attested as Rakisha in a New Kingdom text, the Papyrus Hermitage 1116A.

It came under the 18th Dynasty of Egypt who built an Egyptian empire, especially following the military campaigns of Thutmose III.

During the Egyptian Amarna Period (c. 1350 BC), a number of letters were written to the pharaoh and were discovered as part of the Amarna archive. It is mentioned in the Amarna letters as Lakisha/Lakiša (EA 287, 288, 328, 329, 335).

During the 20th Dynasty of Egypt, the Egyptian Empire started to lose its control in the Southern Levant. While Lachish had prospered under Egyptian hegemony, it was completely destroyed by fire around 1150 BC. It was rebuilt by Canaanites who built two temples. However, this settlement was soon destroyed by another fire around 1130 BC (cf. nearby fortified Eglon, Philistines). The site then remained sparsely occupied for a long period of time (Level V). The reasons for these destruction may have been rebellions and invasions by the Sea Peoples.

Four mass graves were found at the site with over 1500 individuals interred, about half women and children. The tombs themselves dated to the Late Bronze Age but the burials contained few dateable elements so it is uncertain if the burials date to the LBA or later.

Iron Age (Levels II–IV)

Rebuilding of the city began in the Early Iron Age during the 10th and 9th centuries BCE when it was part of the Kingdom of Judah. The unfortified settlement may have been destroyed c. 925 BCE by Egyptian Pharaoh Sheshonk I. In the first half of the 9th century BCE, under the Judahite kings Asa and Jehoshaphat, Lachish became an important city in the kingdom. It was heavily fortified with massive walls and ramparts and a royal palace was built on a platform in the center of the city. Lachish was the foremost among several fortified cities and strongholds guarding the valleys that lead up to Jerusalem and the interior of the country against enemies which usually approached from the coast.

Siege by Sennacherib, Assyrian rule

In 701 BCE, during the revolt of king Hezekiah against Assyria, it was besieged and captured by Sennacherib despite the defenders' determined resistance. Some scholars believe that the fall of Lachish actually occurred during a second campaign in the area by Sennacherib ca. 688 BCE. The site now contains the only remains of an Assyrian siege ramp discovered so far. Sennacherib later devoted a whole room in his "Palace without a rival", the South-west palace in Nineveh, for artistic representations of the siege on large alabaster slabs, most of which are now on display in the British Museum. They hold depictions of Assyrian siege ramps, battering rams, sappers, and other siege machines and army units, along with Lachish's architecture and its final surrender. In combination with the archaeological finds, they give a good understanding of siege warfare of the period.

Modern excavation of the site has revealed that the Assyrians built a stone and dirt ramp up to the level of the Lachish city wall, thereby allowing the soldiers to charge up the ramp and storm the city. Excavations revealed approximately 1,500 skulls in one of the caves near the site, and hundreds of arrowheads on the ramp and at the top of the city wall, indicating the ferocity of the battle. The city occupied an area of .

Babylonian occupation

Lachish fell to Nebuchadnezzar in his campaign against Judah in 586 BCE. The city was finally destroyed in 587 BCE. Residents were exiled as part of the Babylonian captivity. During Babylonian occupation, a large residence was built on the platform that had once supported the Israelite palace. At the end of the captivity, some exiled Jews returned to Lachish and built a new city with fortifications.

Under the Achaemenid Empire (Level I), a large altar (known as the Solar Shrine) on the east section of the mound was built. The shrine was abandoned after the area fell in the hands of Alexander the Great. The tell has been unoccupied since then.

Biblical references

Lachish ( he, לָכִישׁ) is mentioned in several books in the Hebrew Bible. The Book of Joshua refers to Lachish in Chapter 10 (verses ), describing the Israelite conquest of Caanan. Japhia, the King of Lachish, is listed as one of the Five Amorite Kings that allied to repel the invasion. After a surprise attack from the Israelites, the kings took refuge in a cave, where they were captured and put to death. Joshua and the Israelites then took the city of Lachish after a two-day siege, exterminating the populace. In , the King of Lachish is mentioned as one of the thirty-one kings conquered by Joshua. The city is assigned to the Tribe of Judah in as part of the western foothills.

Rehoboam son of Solomon's fortifications of Lachish are recorded in II Chronicles . In II Kings and , Amaziah of Judah flees to Lachish after he was defeated by Jehoash of Israel, where he is captured and executed.

The Book of Micah warns the residents of Lachish that the destruction of Samaria by the Assyrians will soon spread to Judah. mentions the Siege of Lachish; Hezekiah sends a message there offering tribute to Sennacherib in exchange for the city. In verse , the Assyrians leave Lachish and head to Jerusalem to begin an unsuccessful siege of the city. This is also mentioned in and Isaiah . The Israelites learn of the departure of the Assyrians from Lachish in and .

The Jeremiah lists Lachish as one of the last three fortified cities in Judah to fall to the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II. In the Book of Nehemiah Lachish is mentioned as an area where the people of Judah settled in the Persian period.

Identification

Initially, Lachish was identified by Flinders Petrie with Tell el-Hesi, an identification supported when a relevant cuneiform tablet was found there. The tablet mentions Zimredda a governor of who is known from one of the Amarna Letters (EA 333). The current identification of ''Tell ed-Duweir'' as Lachish is strong but circumstantial, based mostly on the writing of Eusebius, the royal reliefs of Sennacherib, the site excavations, and an ostracon found there. Israeli archaeologist and historical geographer, M. Avi-Yonah, thought to place Lachish at the ancient ruin of Qubeibe, near the former Palestinian Arab village by the same name, rather than at ''Tell ed Duweir''. The place has been extensively excavated.

Archaeological exploration

Starkey-Tufnell expedition (1932-1939)

The first expedition at Lachish, then Tell ed-Duweir, from 1932 to 1939, was the Starkey-Tufnell British expedition which included James Leslie Starkey as expedition leader, Olga Tufnell, G.L. Harding and C. Inge. It was funded by Charles Marston and Henry Wellcome with the aim of finding the Biblical city of Lachish. They succeeded in finding Lachish, with a "wealth of well-stratified pottery", a "key part of the ceramic corpus of Palestine", and the Lachish Letters, c. "written to the commander of the garrison at Lachish shortly before it fell to the Babylonians in either 589 or 586 B.C." Starkey was murdered in 1938 while travelling to Jerusalem to open the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum. Tufnell, Harding and Inge remained for the 1938–9 season. Tufnell returned to London and over the next two decades, worked at the Institute of Archaeology in London, "sorting, collating, studying and presenting the material found at Lachish". She completed her final publication ''Lachish IV'' in 1957. She had already become a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1951.

Aharoni expedition (1966, 1968)

The second was an Israeli expedition directed by Yohanan Aharoni that took place over two seasons in 1966 and 1968. The dig, which focused mainly on the "Solar Shrine", was worked on behalf of Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University. Aharoni published the findings in his 1975 publication, ''Investigations at Lachish: The sanctuary and the residency''.

Ussishkin expedition (1973 and 1994)

The third expedition, 1973 and 1994, by a Tel Aviv University Institute of Archaeology and Israel Exploration Society team was led by David Ussishkin. Excavation and restoration work was conducted between 1973 and 1994 by a Tel Aviv University Institute of Archaeology and Israel Exploration Society team led by David Ussishkin. The excavation focused on the Late Bronze (1550–1200 BCE) and Iron Age (1200–587 BCE) levels. The Ussishkin expedition's comprehensive 5-volume report set a new standard in archaeological publication. According to