Lachish
1:
LACHISH (PLACE) [Heb lākı̂š (לָכִישׁ)]. A central biblical city in the Shephelah. Its king participated in the coalition of the S kings against Joshua and the Israelites, and it became the object of one of Israel’s sieges (Josh 10). Rehoboam fortified the city after the division of the kingdom (2 Chr 11:9), and it was later the scene of the assassination of Amaziah (2 Kgs 14:19). When Sennacherib attacked Judah, it was while he was besieging Lachish that he sent the Rabshakeh to Hezekiah to try to intimidate him into surrender (2 Kgs 18:14–17; 19:8). Sennacherib later commemorated his conquest of Lachish by paneling the walls of one of the rooms of his palace in Nineveh with scenes of the siege. The city is mentioned in Jer 34:7 as one of two (with Azekah) cities in Judah still to hold out against the armies of Nebuchadnezzar.
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A. Site and Identification
B. History of Excavations
1. Wellcome-Marston Expedition
2. Aharoni’s Excavations
3. Renewed Excavations
C. Summary of Excavations
1. Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Early Bronze
2. Early Bronze IV
3. Middle Bronze Age
4. Late Bronze Age
5. Iron Age
6. Post-Iron Age
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A. Site and Identification
The ancient city is represented by a major mound, Tell ed-Duweir, now called Tel Lachish (M.R. 135108). The site (including the slopes) covers an area of ca. 30 acres. Water was obtained from wells, one of which was uncovered at the NE corner of the site. Lachish is situated near Nahal Lachish (Wadi Ghafr), along which extended a main route from the coastal plain to the Hebron hills.
In 1878 Conder suggested the identification of ancient Lachish with Tell el-Hesi. This identification was later supported by the discovery there of a cuneiform letter apparently sent from Lachish and dated to the el-Amarna period. In 1929 Albright proposed the identification of Lachish with Tell el-Duweir. He based his suggestion on Eusebius (Onomast. 120.20), who states that Lachish was a village located on the 7th mile, along the road from Eleutheropolis (Beth-Guvrin) to Gaza. All archaeological data recovered from Tel Lachish support Albright’s suggestion, which is generally accepted today. However, the identification is based solely on circumstantial evidence, hence the dissenting views (see Ahlström 1980 and response by Davies 1982).
B. History of Excavations
1. Wellcome-Marston Expedition. Large-scale excavations were initiated in 1932 by a British expedition directed by J. L. Starkey, ably aided by L. Harding and O. Tufnell. The expedition was financed by Sir Henry Wellcome, and later by him and Sir Charles Marston. The excavations came to an end in 1938, following Starkey’s murder by bandits. Starkey published only brief preliminary excavation reports (Starkey 1933; 1934; 1935; 1936; 1937a; 1937b; Inge 1938), and Tufnell later completed the publication work (Tufnell 1953; Tufnell, Inge, and Harding 1940; Tufnell et al. 1958).
The British excavations were carried out both on the site and in the surrounding areas. The NW corner of the site was excavated to prepare a location to dump the soil from the excavations on the summit. The shoot constructed at this point and the huge dump indicate to the present-day visitor the large scale of the digging carried out here. The Levels II–I city gates, outer revetment, Level I Residency and Solar Shrine, Great Shaft, Judean palace-fort, and the Fosse Temple at the bottom of the NW corner are the most important remains uncovered on the mound proper. In addition, a sectional trench was cut at the NE corner and remains of the earlier periods were uncovered at the NE slope. In 1935, the “Lachish letters” were recovered in the city gate—undoubtedly Starkey’s most important discovery. Large areas were cleared outside the site, uncovering numerous tombs from different periods, as well as Bronze Age settlements on the hills to the W and N of the site. Starkey and his associates were trained by Flinders Petrie, and followed his methods. Considering its time, it was an excellent excavation, and hardly any of Starkey’s stratigraphic observations and conclusions (with the exception of the Assyrian siege ramp) were changed in the course of the renewed excavations.
2. Aharoni’s Excavations. Excavations limited in scope and scale were carried out by Y. Aharoni in the Solar Shrine area in 1966 and 1968 (Aharoni 1975). Aharoni was at that time excavating at Arad, and believed that the ground plan of the Judean shrine uncovered at Arad resembled that of the Solar Shrine. This theory prompted the excavation at Lachish. Various remains of Levels VI to I were uncovered beneath the Solar Shrine, the most important of them the Level V Cult Room.
3. Renewed Excavations. In 1973, systematic excavations were renewed at Lachish aiming at a long-term study of the site and its material culture (Ussishkin 1978; 1983). The excavations are directed by D. Ussishkin and have largely continued adjacent to Starkey’s excavated areas on the mound. The expedition pays particular attention to excavation methodology and combines the baulk/debris-layer method (known as the Wheeler-Kenyon method) and the locus-to-architecture method (known as the horizontal method).
The main excavation field is Area, a long, narrow section cutting through the upper edge of the mound on its W side. See Fig. LAC.01. The plan is to reach virgin soil; the work, however, progresses slowly, and so far, excavations have reached the LB strata. Other excavation fields include Area P—the Judean palace-fort and monumental Bronze Age structures beneath its N end; Area D near the SE corner of the palace-fort; Area G—the Judean city-gates; and Area R—a sectional trench at the SW corner of the site where the Assyrian army forced its way into the city in 701 b.c. A comprehensive reconstruction program of the Judean city-gate is also being carried out. In addition, Y. Dagan has conducted a comprehensive surface survey of the surrounding region.
In order to maintain continuity from one excavation to the next, the renewed excavations have used the British system in dividing into city levels and its enumeration system for Levels VI–I. However, for the stratigraphy beneath Level VI, the strata must be renumbered since it is impossible to accommodate all the MB and LB strata within Starkey’s Levels VIII and VII. The renumbering will be completed as soon as the relevant strata are uncovered and studied in Area S, which serves as the key excavation area for determining the site’s stratigraphy. So far, with the excavation and study of the stratum underlying Level VI in area S, it has been labeled “Level VII.” Temporarily, all strata in Area P beneath Level VI have been labeled P-1 to P-5.
C. Summary of Excavations
1. Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Early Bronze. Prehistoric flint implements were recovered in the surrounding area. A group of flint implements recovered on the mound (Rosen 1988–89) probably indicate the existence of a Pottery Neolithic site in one of the surrounding valleys.
Ghassulian pottery fragments recovered on the site probably indicate that the mound was already settled during the Chalcolithic/Ghassulian period. Remains from the end of the Chalcolithic and the beginning of the EB were recovered by the British on the NE slope of the mound and at the NW settlement extending on the ridge NW of the mound. The people settled in caves, artificially enlarged and transformed into comfortable dwellings, which contained sunken hearths and lined storage pits. A dolmen found on the NW ridge probably relates to that settlement.
We may assume that during EB II–III the mound was extensively settled, but very little is known at present about it. Remains from this period were found in Starkey’s NE section, in Area D at the center of the site, and in tombs. Much EB pottery, including numerous fragments of KHIRBET KERAK WARE, was recovered from the debris the early defenders used to build the counter-ramp in 701 b.c.
2. Early Bronze IV
During this period (also labeled MB I or EB–MB Intermediate Period), the mound was apparently abandoned, and settlement seems to have shifted to surrounding ridges. Caves in Area 1500, and part of the NW settlement located on the ridge to the W of the mound, which included a number of domestic buildings, were uncovered by the British. Notably, a group of small copper ingots was also found there. A large burial ground (Cemetery 2000) extended along the slope of the ridge to the N of the settlement, on which 120 rock-cut tombs were uncovered, few of them intact. Many of the tombs were too small to contain more than a single tightly flexed body, and nearly all traces of human remains have disappeared.
3. Middle Bronze Age. Relatively little is known about the MB city. In fact, all the remains so far excavated date to MB II–III (=MB IIB–C), and nothing is known about the settlement in MB I. The excavated remains include the fortifications, the palace, a cult place, Starkey’s Level VIII in the NE section, and tombs.
A glacis was erected around the city, becoming the core of the present impressive shape of the site with its steep slopes and angled corners. The glacis was studied by the British near the NW corner. It was composed of nearly horizontal layers of fill capped by a lime-plastered sloping surface. Significantly, a freestanding city wall, topping the glacis along the upper edge of the site, was not found at this point. A fosse was cut in the rock along the bottom of the glacis at least along the W side of the mound.
The center of the site was crowned by a huge palace. Its NW wing was uncovered in Area P (Level P-4); most of the edifice extends beneath the later Judean palace-fort and its courtyard. The palace is characterized by massive brick walls, and it is built above an earlier edifice of a similar nature (Level P-5). A number of huge stone slabs incorporated in the palace’s walls and floors probably originate in the earlier edifice. The palace was destroyed by a severe fire which marks the end of the MB city. Following the destruction, the palace was reoccupied, and some rooms were used for industrial purposes (Level P-3).
Remains of a cult place were uncovered in Area D, near the SW corner of the Judean palace-fort. The structure was mostly destroyed, but votive pottery and concentrations of animal bones were recovered. Tombs of that period were excavated by the British, noticeable among them Tomb 1502, which contained a dagger bearing an inscription in Canaanite alphabetic script.
4. Late Bronze Age. Immediately following the destruction of the MB city the settlement apparently dwindled and deteriorated, and only later did it gradually develop and regain its importance, culminating in the final Canaanite city of Level VI. Lachish is mentioned in Papyrus Hermitage 1116A dated to the 19th or 20th year of Amenhotep II (1427–1402 b.c.), which is the earliest reference to the city in an external source. The papyrus records presentations by Egyptian officials of grain and beer to envoys of various Canaanite cities, including Lachish (Weinstein 1981: 13). A number of cuneiform letters found in el-Amarna and dating to the 14th century b.c. were sent from Lachish. Another cuniform letter from that period, sent from an Egyptian official probably residing at Lachish to his superior, was found at Tell el-Hesi. Apparently, as testified by these letters, during the el-Amarna period Lachish was one of the most important city-states in southern Canaan.
Significantly, Lachish may have been unfortified throughout the LB Age. It seems that the MB fortifications were no longer in use, and a temple was thus erected in the disused fosse (see below). Remains of buildings along the edge of the site assigned to Levels VII and VI, dated to the 13th to 12th centuries b.c., were uncovered in Starkey’s sectional trench in the NE corner and in Area S. Those buildings prove that a proper city wall had not been erected during that period, but it is possible that the buildings along the edge of the mound were in fact connected to one another and formed a fortified belt. However, during the 14th century b.c., the entire excavated area up to the edge of the mound in Area S formed an open, undeveloped field; hence, at least during the el-Amarna period Lachish was not fortified either by a city wall or a belt of buildings.
Relatively little is known about the settlement on the summit between the end of the MB and Level VII. Some remains were uncovered in the NE section (Starkey’s Level VII), in Area P (Levels P-3 and P-2), and beneath Level VII in Area S.
Some time after the destruction of the MB city a small sanctuary was founded in the disused fosse near the NW corner of the site (Tufnell, Inge, and Harding 1940). It was later rebuilt twice, its three phases labeled by the British as Fosse Temples I to III. The original temple was a modest structure; it formed a rectangle oriented along a N-S axis, measuring ca. 10 by 5 m with subsidiary rooms on the W and N. An altar in the form of a bench with three projections adjoined the S wall of the shrine. Many of the finds were uncovered in favissae surrounding the building. The finds from Fosse Temple I include an imported Mycenaean kylix and beautiful “bichrome ware” vessels. Ca. 1400 b.c. the original sanctuary was replaced by Fosse Temple II. The position of the building was maintained, but the new structure was much larger in size and a new chamber was added on the S side. A number of benches for placing offerings were constructed along the walls of the main hall.
The remains of Level VII domestic structures in Area A (and possibly Level P-1 in Area P) and Fosse Temple III represent the 13th-century city (Ussishkin 1985). It was destroyed by fire. Fosse Temple III resembled the previous one, but had an enlarged altar and an additional room on the S side; many rich finds were uncovered beneath its destruction debris. They include a group of carved ivories, faience vessels, and Egyptian scarabs and jewelry.
Level VI represents the last, prosperous Canaanite city probably built shortly after the destruction of Level VII. Level VI shows a cultural continuity from Level VII, but the city was rebuilt along entirely different lines: in Area P the Level VII domestic structures were replaced by a public building; the fosse temple was not rebuilt, and a new temple was built in the acropolis, possibly as part of the royal compound.
Level VI shows strong affinities with Egypt during the reign of Rameses III (1182–1151 b.c.—low chronology of Wente and Van Siclen). The Egyptian presence is primarily indicated by a number of bowl fragments inscribed in hieratic script. Goldwasser (1982; 1984) recently restudied these bowls in conjunction with the hieratic bowls from Tel Sera˓. The bowls constitute the documentation of the šmw (harvest tax) paid to an Egyptian religious institution, probably associated with a local temple (such as the Level VI temple). According to Goldwasser, the recording of the harvest tax on votive bowls reflects the economic exploitation of S Canaan by the Egyptian authorities via the religious establishment. This would imply that Lachish was under direct Egyptian control, together with S Canaan. The strong connections with Egypt are also reflected in the architecture of the acropolis temple, in the bronze object bearing a cartouche of Rameses III found in the city gate area (see below), and in two anthropoid clay coffins, one bearing a pseudo-hieroglyphic inscription, found in a tomb near the mound.
The main complex of the acropolis temple consists of an antechamber, the main hall, and the cella, as one ascends the slope. The entrances to the three units are built along a straight axis, oriented W–E, passing through the center of the main complex. See Fig. LAC.02. The main hall is rectangular, measuring ca. 16 by 13 m. Two massive columns bases found in the center of the main hall indicate that the roof, spanned by cedar of Lebanon beams (Clamer and Ussishkin 1977: 73), was supported by two columns. A monumental staircase made of stone slabs led the way to the cella. Three octagonal columns found here apparently flanked two niches built along the wall to the left of the staircase. Numerous fragments of painted plaster indicate that parts of the walls in the hall were decorated. The finds are few since the rich equipment of the temple seems to have been vandalized and robbed prior to when the temple was set on fire. Of special interest is a gold plaque portraying a nude Canaanite goddess standing on a horse (Clamer 1980). This plaque, and a graffito depicting a standing god(?), apparently indicate that this was a Canaanite (rather than Egyptian) sanctuary.
The layout of the acropolis temple (like that of the Level VI temple at Beth-shan) originates in Egypt. Its plan resembles shrines in el-Amarna and in the workmen’s camp at Deir el-Medina (Bruyère 1948; 1952). The best analogy is Chapel G at Deir el-Medineh, which although smaller in size, consists of an antechamber, a main hall with two central columns and cella, with the entrances aligned along a central axis (Bruyère 1952: 21–27, Pls. I, V–VI). Many other elements in the temple, such as the octagonal columns, the staircase, and the painted plaster, and many of the finds, also originate in Egypt. Finally, it seems that the temple, having three units and entrances along a single, straight axis, was built according to a plan which later served as a prototype for Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem. Significantly, however, unlike the acropolis temple, Solomon’s temple was oriented from E–W, with its entrance facing E. The two massive columns in the main hall of the acropolis temple can illustrate the biblical account of the Philistine temple of Dagon in Gaze which was pulled down by Samson (Judg 16:23–30).
No Philistine painted pottery—neither monochrome (the so-called “locally made Mycenaean IIIC:1b”) nor bichrome pottery—was found in any of the excavations, except for a few sherds in a cave on the N slope which apparently remained open following the destruction of Level VI. This fact seems to have far-reaching implications. Tel Lachish lies only a short distance from both the coastal plain and from two significant Philistine centers—Tel Miqne and Tel Zafit (identified with ancient Ekron and Gath, respectively). Philistine bichrome pottery, however, was found at sites further inland from Tel Lachish, for example at Tel Beth-shemesh, Tel Eton, and Tell Beit Mirsim. Considering the geographical position and the size and prosperity of the Level VI city, it is difficult to imagine that nearby Philistine cities could have coexisted with Lachish without some Philistine pottery reaching the latter. Hence it appears that Lachish was not settled at the time that painted Philistine pottery was produced in the nearby region, and that this pottery dates in the main to the period following the destruction of Level VI, i.e., to the last third of the 12th century b.c., or even later (see below).
The Level VI city was destroyed by fire. The destruction was complete and the population liquidated or driven out. Following the catastrophe, the site was abandoned until the 10th century b.c.
A cache of bronze objects, which included a broken object bearing a cartouche of Rameses III, was found in a probe cut beneath the Judean city gate. The cache was sealed beneath the destruction debris of Level VI, and hence this destruction could have occurred either during the later part of the reign of Rameses III (1182–1151 b.c.—low chronology of Wente and Van Siclen) or later. It seems possible that the sudden downfall of Lachish coincided with the Egyptian loss of control over S Canaan ca. 1130 b.c. Without Egyptian protection, Lachish became easy prey for attack.
Evidence for the sudden destruction was found in Area S. The Level VI public edifice seems to have been turned to living quarters for refugees prior to its destruction. Human remains sealed beneath the destruction debris included bones of an adult, two children and an infant, apparently trapped when the catastrophe occurred.
With the absence of inscriptions, the identity of the conquering enemy remains a matter of speculation. One suggestion (Tufnell 1953: 52) is that the Level VI city was destroyed by the Sea Peoples. In that case the complete destruction and subsequent abandonment of the site could be compared to the fate of Alalakh and Ugarit, whose final destructions are attributed to the invading Sea Peoples. The founding of Philistine Ekron nearby and the diffusion of Philistine pottery in the region can easily be explained if it is assumed that they destroyed Canaanite Lachish. As a corollary to such a reconstruction, the invasion of the Sea Peoples was a prime factor in the collapse of Egyptian authority and military control over S Canaan, which left unfortified cities such as Lachish completely vulnerable.
The second possibility, argued by Albright (1937: 23–24; 1939: 20–22), is that the Level VI city was destroyed by the Israelites, as described in Josh 10:31–32. The biblical description fits the archaeological data: a large Canaanite city destroyed by fire; absence of fortifications, enabling the conquest of the city in a swift attack; and complete desertion of the razed city explained by the annihilation of the populace. On the other hand, the motive for the destruction remains obscure, since the Israelites did not settle here, nor in the surrounding region, until a much later date.
Consequently, the adoption or rejection of this possibility depends largely on whether or not the biblical source is accepted as having a sound historical basis. Acceptance of this viewpoint, however, leads to two corollaries: (1) A cardinal event in the biblical tradition of the Israelite conquest is thus dated to the middle of the 12th century b.c. or even later; and (2) Canaanite Hazor was destroyed in the 13th century, and no later than 1230 b.c. If it is assumed that Hazor was also conquered by the Israelites in accordance with Josh 11:10–11, the biblical description of a swift campaign by Joshua’s forces is then incompatible with the archaeological evidence for the destruction of two major Canaanite cities which were separated by about a century.
Seven or eight brief inscriptions written in Canaanite alphabetic script were recovered at Lachish (see most recent summary by Puech 1986–87), thus making it the cardinal site in Canaan proper for the study of this script. The earliest inscription, engraved on a bronze dagger blade found in a MB tomb, contains four signs. It is best read vertically as trnz, possibly a name. An important inscription is painted on the shoulder of a ewer found in Fosse Temple II. The best reading to date is that of Cross (1954: 19–21): “Mattan. An offering to my lady ˒Elat.ʷ A two-line fragmentary inscription was recently found in Level VI in Area S (Ussishkin 1983: 155–57, fig. 25). The two lines are read in boustraphedon fashion by Cross (1984) and Puech (1986–87).
5. Iron Age. a. Level V. Following a long period of abandonment a new settlement was established. Remains of small domestic buildings were uncovered in different parts of the site. The settlement was not fortified, but building remains uncovered in Area S indicate the possibility that the settlement was protected by a belt of houses located along the upper periphery.
A cult room was uncovered by Aharoni (1975) in the Solar Shrine area. The cultic equipment included a stone altar, four pottery incense burners, and a number of pottery chalices. Aharoni also identified cultic remains in the open area beside the room, including a stone stele and favissae. The cult room was destroyed by an intense fire, and remains of the Level V destruction could also be discerned in Area S.
The construction and destruction dates of Level V cannot be fixed with certainty as long as the dating of the red-slipped, irregularly burnished pottery which characterizes this city level remains problematic. It seems that Level V dates to the period of the United Monarchy, and its destruction is usually ascribed to Shishak’s campaign in ca. 925 b.c.
b. Level IV. Level IV marks the construction of a large fortified city, making Lachish the strongest and most important city in Judah after Jerusalem. The construction of Level IV cannot be dated on the basis of archaeological data. It seems that the decision to turn Lachish into a fortified city followed new strategic needs of Judah arising as a result of the division of the United Monarchy. If that is so, the foundation of Level IV should be ascribed to one of the earlier kings of Judah, possibly Rehoboam (928–911 b.c.), Asa (908–867 b.c.), or Jehoshaphat (870–846 b.c.).
Lachish is mentioned in 2 Chr 11:5–12, 23 as one of the cities fortified by Rehoboam. This reference has recently been explained in four different ways. First, it was suggested that the entire list dates to the reign of Hezekiah Na˒aman 1986) or Josiah (Fritz 1981). Second, it was suggested by Aharoni (1975: 41) and Yadin (1980: 21–22) that Level IV should be ascribed to Rehoboam. Third, Ussishkin indicates that the Level IV city represents an exceptionally strong Judean fort; it is difficult to associate it with Rehoboam’s list in which Lachish is named among fifteen fortified towns, most of which are of secondary importance. The archaeological data agrees with the dating of Level IV to Rehoboam’s reign, irrespective of the period from which the text may derive. Fourth, it was suggested by Tufnell (1953: 53–54) and by Ussishkin (1978: 93) that Palace A should be ascribed to Rehoboam. This suggestion was based on the stratigraphic assumption that Palace A (i.e., Podium A) was a monumental structure antedating the construction of Palace B in Level IV. Hence the conclusion that Palace A was an isolated fortress built at a later phase of Level V, and that it should be identified with Rehoboam’s fortifications. It now appears that Palace A was an integral part of Palace B (see below).
Lachish was surrounded by a massive fortification system. The sole city gate was on the SW side. An ascending roadway led from the bottom of the site to an outer city gate, constructed as a bastion projecting from the line of the slope. Behind the outer gate the passage led through a courtyard to an inner gate, a large, six-chambered gatehouse. An outer revetment surrounded the site halfway down the slope; it supported a glacis which reached the bottom of the main city wall extending along the upper periphery of the site. The outer revetment apparently functioned as an outer obstacle preventing attackers from reaching the main wall, and except for a few places it was not manned in a time of siege.
The center of the city was crowned by the palace-fort (Palace B), obviously the seat of the Judean governor. The edifice was built on a raised foundation podium, and is all that remains after the superstructure was totally destroyed in antiquity. The foundation podium has two parts, labeled Podia A and B by the British. It is generally believed that Podium A represents an earlier edifice, Palace A, which was later incorporated into Palace B (whose present remains thus include Podia A and B). Some now believe that Podium A was an integral part of Palace B and that it is separated from Podium B and constructed in a different style for technical reasons.
Palace B had two annexed buildings—one on the N, which was probably a storehouse, and one on the S, which was either a storehouse or a stable (see below). The latter was labeled “government storehouse” by Starkey. A massive “enclosure wall” connected the SW corner of Palace B and the main city wall. The surface of the ground in this area sloped towards the city wall and was lime plastered.
The large, square “Great Shaft” hewn in the rock was uncovered by the British on the E side of the site. Since it is ca. 22.5 m deep, some have suggested that it is an unfinished water system, but it seems more likely that it was the quarry which supplied stones for the Level IV structures. A well ca. 44 m deep was uncovered near the outer revetment at the NE edge of the site, and probably formed the main water source of the city.
No domestic structures dating to the earlier phase of Level IV were uncovered. A house dated to the later phase of this level was uncovered in Area S, indicating that as time passed people started to settle in the garrison city.
2 Kgs 14:19 and 2 Chr 25:27 reveal that when a rebellion broke out in Jerusalem against Amaziah (798–769 b.c.), he fled to Lachish and was killed there by the rebels. Apparently when Amaziah saw that Jerusalem was lost to the rebels he fled to the next most important fortified city in Judah.
All the monumental structures (except the city walls), as well as the domestic building in Area S, were rebuilt in Level III, indicating their destruction at the end of Level IV. However, no remains of a willful destruction were discerned. M. Kochavi raised the possibility (oral information) that the destruction of Level IV resulted from an earthquake, e.g., the earthquake which occurred ca. 760 b.c., during the reign of Uzziah (Amos 1:1; Zech 14:5).
c. Level III. Level III is marked by the rebuilding of the city gate, the palace-fort complex, and the enclosure wall. See Fig. LAC.03. More people apparently settled at Lachish and a large number of domestic buildings have been uncovered in the area S of the palace fort and the enclosure wall. Various structures flanked the roadway leading from the city gate to the palace-fort.
Most impressive is the enlarged palace-fort complex. Podea A and B of the former Palace B, were extended by the addition of Podium C, which served as the foundation for the construction of the new edifice, Palace C. It is the largest structure so far known in ancient Israel, measuring ca. 76 by 36 m. The superstructure did not survive except some sections of flooring. The entrance was through a monumental staircase. The palace-fort and the two annexed buildings opened into a large paved courtyard surrounded by a stone fence which was added on the E side.
The S annexed building is of special interest. The Level IV “government storehouse” contained two rectangular units, each divided into three subunits. In Level III the structure (“Building 1034”) was rebuilt and enlarged and had four such units. The building resembles the “stable compounds” in Megiddo (Lamon and Shipton 1939: 32–47), and thus also the “storehouse” at Tel Beer-sheba (Herzog 1973: 23–30). The Megiddo buildings were identified at the time as stables for horses, but this suggestion was contested by Pritchard (1970), and later by Aharoni (1982) and Herzog (1973: 26–30), who interpreted the Tel Beer-sheba building as a storehouse. Herr (1988) suggested that these buildings served as marketplaces. In following the argumentation of Yadin (1976) and Holladay (1986), we believe that these buildings—and hence the S annexed building at Lachish as well—were stables for horses.
The above assumption leads to further conclusions. In following Lamon and Shipton (1939: 35), it seems that the Level III stables which opened into a large courtyard housed chariotry units, the spacious courtyard serving as training and parading ground for the chariots. On the basis of the Megiddo and Tel Beer-sheba structures, it can be estimated that each unit in the Lachish building could house about 25 horses, hence the conclusion that the Level IV Judean garrison included a unit of 50 cavalry horses, while the Level III garrison included a chariotry unit of 50 chariots and 100 horses. The assumed connection of the Level III city with chariots fits the lamentation of Micah (Mic 1:13), who associates Lachish with chariots, and to the portrayal in the Lachish reliefs (see below) of burning vehicles, probably chariots, being thrown by the defenders on the Assyrian attackers. The importance of the assumed Lachish chariot unit in the Judean army is apparent in view of the fact that the written sources hardly refer to cavalry and chariotry units in Judah, and their relative weakness during this period is implied from Isaiah (Isa 31:1) and from the speech of Rabshakeh (2 Kgs 18:23–24; Isa 36:8–9).
(1) The Assyrian Conquest. It is now generally agreed (Ussishkin 1977) that the Level III city was conquered and destroyed by Sennacherib king of Assyria in 701 b.c. In Judah, Sennacherib attacked Lachish before turning to Jerusalem. He established his headquarters at Lachish (2 Kgs 18:14, 17; Isa 36:2, 37:8; 2 Chr 32:9) and from there sent a task force to challenge Hezekiah in Jerusalem. This fact as well as the “Lachish reliefs” (see below) prove the special military importance of Lachish during that period. The destruction of the Level III city was complete, and its inhabitants were deported. The desolate site was probably included in that part of Judah which was turned over by Sennacherib to the Philistine kings.
Remains of the destruction by fire were discerned in all Level III structures. Large amounts of pottery vessels were sealed beneath the debris. This well-dated assemblage forms a basis for dating the pottery of Judah in that period (Aharoni and Aharoni 1976; Zimhoni fc.).
The main Assyrian attack was carried out in the SW corner of the city, and the archaeological discoveries in this area enable us to reconstruct the battle which took place (Ussishkin fc.). Deep valleys surrounded Lachish on all sides except for the SW corner, where a topographical saddle connected the site with the neighboring hillock. The fortifications were especially strong at this point, the outer revetment merging with the main city wall, together forming a massive tower. Still, the SW corner was the most vulnerable and most logical point of Lachish to assault. It seems that the site of the Assyrian camp can be restored with much certainty on the hillock to the SW, opposite the SW corner of the site, where the modern village is now situated. However, no remains of the assumed camp could be found there.
A huge siege ramp was laid by the Assyrians at the southwest corner, this being the oldest siege ramp and the only Assyrian one which is known today. See Fig. LAC.04. Unfortunately, a large part of it was removed unknowingly by the British expedition. The siege ramp was 70–75 m wide and 50–60 m long along its central axis, and its top reached the outer revetment wall. It was made of boulders probably collected in the surrounding fields and heaped against the slope of the mound. It is estimated that between 13,000 and 19,000 tons of stone were dumped here. The stones of the upper layer of the ramp were found stuck together by hard mortar to create a compact surface. The upper edge of the ramp was crowned with an earth platform which provided a level platform on which the siege machines could stand at the foot of the wall.
When the defenders saw the Assyrians laying a siege ramp, they laid a counter-ramp along the inside of the city wall, opposite the siege ramp. It was ca. 120 m long, and its apex rose ca. 3 m above the top of the city wall, thus creating a new defense line higher than the previous one. The counter-ramp is composed of layers of debris (taken from the earlier levels of the mound) and layers of limestone chips dumped in an orderly manner.
Once the fortification line along the top of the walls collapsed, the Assyrians raised the siege ramp above the outer revetment, a move which enabled them to attack the new defense line erected on top of the counter-ramp. The second stage of the siege ramp is also composed of boulders, many of which show signs of burning.
Remains of weapons, ammunition, and equipment were found in the excavation, mostly at the foot of the city wall. They include a bronze helmet crest, scales of armor, sling stones, many iron arrowheads (850 arrowheads were found near the city wall at the point of attack), and a number of bone carved arrowheads. A fragment of an iron chain (ca. 37 cm long) and 12 large perforated stones were found near the point of attack and apparently were used by the defenders to attack and unbalance the siege machines. Each of the perforated stones weighs 100–200 kg, and remains of burnt ropes were discovered in the holes of two of them. These stones hung on ropes and probably were dropped from the top of the wall on the siege machines, or were moved to and fro like a pendulum in an attempt to damage them.
A mass burial which possibly was associated with the Assyrian conquest was uncovered by Starkey in several of the caves on the W slope of the mound. Disarticulated skeletons were dumped in a disorderly manner. Strewn throughout the bone deposits was pottery that indicated a date after 701 b.c. for the mass burials. It was estimated that about 1500 individuals were buried here. A total of 695 skulls were brought to London and studied by Risdon (1939). They belonged to men, women, and children—obviously civilians. Curiously, the crania indicate these people bore a close racial resemblance to the population of Egypt at that time. Three of the skulls were trepanned; one man survived long enough after the operation for the bone to heal while the other two men died shortly after the surgical procedure.
(2) The “Lachish Reliefs.” When Sennacherib constructed his royal palace at Nineveh (Kuyunjik), he commissioned a set of stone reliefs to commemorate the conquest of Lachish. The reliefs decorated the walls of a large room (No. XXXVI) which had a central position in a large ceremonial unit of the palace. The architectural position of the reliefs, their length, and detailed portrayals emphasize the special importance of this victory for Sennacherib. Layard excavated part of the palace between 1847 and 1851. He uncovered Room XXXVI and brought most of the Lachish reliefs to the British Museum in London (Layard 1853a: Pls. 20–24; 1853b; Paterson 1915: Pls. 68–76; Ussishkin 1982: 67–118).
The Lachish reliefs covered all the walls of the rectangular room. The total length of the entire series was 26.85 m while the length of the presently preserved dado is ca. 18.85 m. From left to right the series depicted Assyrian horses and charioteers (this part is now missing), Assyrian infantry attacking the city, the besieged city (portrayed in the center of the series opposite the entrance to the room), Assyrian soldiers carrying booty and the deported Lachishites leaving their city, Judean captives, Sennacherib sitting on his throne facing Lachish, the royal tent and chariots, and the Assyrian camp.
The attacked city is shown in much detail. In the center is the city gate attacked by a siege machine, and to its right is the main siege ramp, on which six siege machines are deployed. A large structure, probably the palace-fort, is shown above the city gate. The city walls, manned by Judean warriors, are shown at both ends of the city. An analysis of the relief leads to the conclusion that the artist, although limited by the possibilities of the Assyrian schematic style, attempted to portray a realistic view of the city (Barnett 1958; Ussishkin 1980; 1982: 118–26). Lachish is shown as if viewed from a certain point located on the slope of the hillock SW of the mound. This point seems to be where Sennacherib sat on his throne, probably in front of the Assyrian camp, and commanded his army assailing the walls. Accordingly, I believe that the relief portrays Lachish as viewed by the Assyrian monarch from his command post, and in fact he is depicted in the relief sitting on his throne and facing the city. However, see ICONOGRAPHY.
(3) Royal Judean Storage Jars. Tel Lachish is a cardinal site for the study of the royal seal impressions for three reasons: (1) they were found in datable stratigraphic contexts; (2) some of the storage jars which carried them could be restored; and (3) at Lachish were recovered more stamped handles than in any other site. By 1983, 383 royal stamps and 54 “private” stamps from Lachish were counted (Ussishkin 1983: 163–64). Of the royal stamps, 85.9% were of the four-winged type, about two thirds of the latter bearing the city name Hebron.
All seal impressions were stamped on handles of storage jars of Type 484 according to Tufnell’s classification (1953: 315–16; Pl. 95:484). See Fig. LAC.05. While some of these storage jars were stamped, many others were not stamped at all. One group of unstamped jars slightly differs from the typical ones, but is certainly related to them (Zimhoni fc.). A neutron activation analysis (Mommsen, Perlman, and Yellin 1984) indicated that the Type 484 storage jars were all made of similar clay from the region of the Shephelah, hence the conclusion that they were all produced in one center not far from Lachish. Lemaire’s observation (1981) that only 22 seals, divided into six series, were used in stamping the jars, supports this conclusion.
Ten stamped royal jars, as well as numerous unstamped ones, could be restored, and allow the following conclusions. First, all kinds of jars—those bearing a four-winged symbol, those bearing a two-winged one, and those unstamped—were used concurrently. Second, all of them were found in Level III rooms sealed beneath the destruction debris (Lance 1971). Hence it is clear that they were produced during the reign of Hezekiah, shortly before 701 b.c. (Ussishkin 1977). This datum fits Na˒aman’s views (1979; 1986) that the royal storage jars were produced by the government of Judah as part of the preparations to meet the Assyrian invasion. Third, the measured capacity of the stamped jars is not uniform (between 39.75 and 51.80 liters), an indication that the stamps were not a royal guarantee of capacity. Fourth, there is no consistent pattern nor any uniform ruling for the application of stamps onto the four handles of each jar. Fifth, a “private stamp” was sometimes impressed together with a royal stamp on the same jar (Ussishkin 1976), supporting the conclusion that owners of the “private stamps” were either officials associated with the jars’ production center, or potters at that center (Diringer 1949). Significantly, as noticed by Zimhoni (fc.), a large part of both the royal, and “private” impressions were carelessly applied and apparently were not meant to be read later. See STAMPS, ROYAL JAR HANDLE.
d. Level II. Following a period of abandonment, the settlement was renewed and refortified, probably during the reign of Josiah (639–609 b.c.). The Level II town was poorer and sparsely populated and its fortifications weaker than those of Level III.
A smaller city gate complex was built on the ruins of the former one. A rectangular courtyard separated the outer and inner gates, and a number of rooms opened into it. The “Lachish letters” (see below) uncovered in one of those rooms hint that the city’s headquarters was located here. The outer revetment was apparently repaired and a new main city wall constructed of stone extended above the ruins of the previous one. The palace-fort was not rebuilt, and its ruins loomed in the center of the city.
A number of small houses, mostly of domestic character, were uncovered along the E side of the ruined palace-fort, in the Solar Shrine area, near the city gate, and in the SW corner of the site, but many other areas were found devoid of Level II remains.
Level II was destroyed by fire during the Babylonian conquest of Judah in 588/6 b.c. Jeremiah (34:7) mentions Lachish as one of the Judean strongholds attacked by Nebuchadnezzar. Large assemblages of pottery vessels were sealed beneath the destruction debris of the buildings, forming an indicative assemblage of the first decade of the 6th century b.c. (Aharoni and Aharoni 1976; Zimhoni fc.). Of special interest are storage jars whose handles are stamped by a rosette emblem; 23 of these stamped handles were found at Lachish.
e. Hebrew Inscriptions. While hardly any inscriptions were found in association with Level III (except for the royal seal impressions) a relatively large number of Hebrew ostraca, inscriptions on pottery vessels, bullae, Hebrew seals, and inscribed weights were found in Level II. Most important are the “Lachish letters” found sealed beneath the destruction debris in a room in the city gate complex (Torczyner et al. 1938; Lemaire 1977). These ostraca represent correspondence most of which were addressed to “my lord Yaush,” an army commander at Lachish, shortly before the Babylonian destruction. They were sent by a subordinate stationed at some point where he could watch the signals from Azekah and Lachish. Recently Yadin (1984) suggested that the “Lachish letters” are in fact copies or drafts of letters sent from Lachish to the commander in Jerusalem. A few inscriptions on vessels were found in the Level II storerooms near the city gate (Ussishkin 1978: 81–88; Lemaire 1980); two of them define types of wine kept in the vessels. Two jar inscriptions from Lachish mention dates, “in the fourth” and “in the ninth”—probably regnal years of Zedekiah king of Judah. Finally, seventeen bullae stamped with Hebrew seal impressions still bearing traces of papyri and strings on the reverse side were found by Aharoni (1975) in a juglet in a Level II building.
6. Post-Iron Age. a. Level I. This level spans the Babylonian, Persian, and the beginning of the Hellenistic periods. The settlement was probably abandoned for a while following the Level II destruction. Judeans returning from the Babylonian exile settled here (Neh 11:30), and during the Persian period Lachish was rebuilt as a governmental center. The city gate and city wall were restored, and a palace (the Residency), a temple (the Solar Shrine), and a few large buildings were erected on the summit.
The Residency was constructed on the foundation podium of the Judean palace-fort, which was cleared of the debris of the Palace C superstructure. However, the new edifice was smaller than the previous one. The building contained a large, square court and two porticoes opened to it. Hence its plan combined that of an Assyrian open-court house and a N Syrian bit-hilani. The square column bases in the porticos are cut in Persian style. At the end of Level I the Residency was settled by squatters. The Solar Shrine, measuring ca. 27 by 17 m, was built NE of the Residency in similar style, and both were probably contemporary. Its entrance faced E, hence the name given by Starkey. A bronze lamp and a limestone altar are the most important finds from the shrine. Among the finds from Level I are imported Greek pottery and many small stone incense altars found in caves at the foot of the mound.
The settlement came to an end during the earlier part of the Hellenistic period. The settlement pattern shifted to Marissa, and then to Eleutheropolis (Beth-Govrin). The reason for this shift is not clear. The Roman road from Eleutheropolis to Gaza passed near Lachish (as stated by Eusebius), and a segment of the road was uncovered by Starkey; other segments were recently identified and surveyed by Y. Dagan (oral information).
A large number of coins from different periods were found on the surface of the tell, indicating that the summit was continuously cultivated. Some areas of the summit contained burials termed “medieval graves” by the British. They were usually devoid of any burial offerings, and their date is unknown. The latest remains of the site are trenches, cartridges, and coins from Israel’s War of Independence in 1948 a.d., when an Israeli unit was stationed on the tell.
Bibliography
Aharoni, M., and Aharoni, Y. 1976. The Stratification of Judahite Sites in the 8th and 7th Centuries b.c.e. BASOR 224: 73–90.
Aharoni, Y. 1975. Investigations at Lachish, The Sanctuary and the Residency (Lachish V). Tel Aviv.
———. 1982. The Archaeology of the Land of Israel. Philadelphia.
Ahlström, G. W. 1980. Is Tell ed-Duweir Ancient Lachish? PEQ 112: 7–9.
Albright, W. F. 1937. Further Light on the History of Israel from Lachish and Megiddo. BASOR 68: 22–26.
———. 1939. The Israelite Conquest of Canaan in the Light of Archaeology. BASOR 74: 11–23.
Barnett, R. D. 1958. The Siege of Lachish. IEJ 8: 161–64.
Bruyère, B. 1948. Rapport sur les fouilles de Deir el Médineh (1935–1940). Fouilles de l’Institut Français du Caire sous la direction de M. Ch. Kuentz, Tome XX. Cairo.
———. 1952. Rapport sur les fouilles de Deir el Médineh (Années 1945–1946 et 1946–1947). Fouilles de l’Institut Français du Caire sous la direction de M. Ch Kuentz, Tome XXI. Cairo.
Clamer, C. 1980. A Gold Plaque from Tel Lachish. TA 7: 152–62.
Clamer, C., and Ussishkin, D. 1977. A Canaanite Temple at Tell Lachish. BA 40/2: 71–76.
Cross, F. M. 1954. The Evolution of the Proto-Canaanite Alphabet. BASOR 134: 15–24.
———. 1984. An Old Canaanite Inscription Recently Found at Lachish. TA 11: 71–76.
Davies, G. I. 1982. Tell ed-Duweir = Ancient Lachish: A Response to G. W. Ahlström. PEQ 114: 25–28.
Diringer, D. 1949. The Royal Jar-Handle Stamps of Ancient Judah. BA 12: 70–86.
Fritz, V. 1981. The ‘List of Rehoboam’s Fortresses’ in 2 Chr 11:5–12—A Document from the Time of Josiah. EI 15: 46*–53* (English).
Goldwasser, O. 1982. The Lachish Hieratic Bowl Once Again. TA 9: 137–38.
———. 1984. Hieratic Inscriptions from Tel Sera˓ in Southern Canaan. TA 11: 77–93.
Herr, L. G. 1988. Tripartite Pillared Buildings and the Market Place in Iron Age Palestine. BASOR 272: 47–67.
Herzog, Z. 1973. The Storehouses. Pp. 23–30 in Beer-sheba I, ed. Y. Aharoni. Tel Aviv.
Holladay, J. S., Jr. 1986. The Stables of Ancient Israel. Pp. 103–66 in The Archaeology of Jordan and other Sites, Presented to Siegfried H. Horn, ed. L. T. Geraty and L. G. Herr. Berrien Springs, MI.
Inge, C. H. 1938. Excavations at Tell ed-Duweir. PEQ, 240–56.
Lamon, R. S., and Shipton, G. M. 1939. Megiddo I. OIP 42. Chicago.
Lance, H. D. 1971. The Royal Stamps and the Kingdom of Josiah. HTR 64: 315–32.
Layard, A. H. 1853a. A Second Series of the Monuments of Nineveh. London.
———. 1853b. Discoveries in the Ruins of Nineveh and Babylon. London.
Lemaire, A. 1977. Inscriptions hébraiques. Vol. 1, Les ostraca. Paris.
———. 1980. A Note on Inscription XXX from Lachish. TA 7: 92–94.
———. 1981. Classification des estampilles royales Judéennes. EI 15: 54*–60*.
Mommsen, H.; Perlman, I.; and Yellin, J. 1984. The Provenience of the lmlk Jars. IEJ 34: 89–113.
Na˒aman, N. 1979. Sennacherib’s Campaign to Judah and the Date of the LMLK stamps. VT 29: 61–86.
———. 1986. Hezekiah’s Fortified Cities and the LMLK stamps. BASOR 261: 5–21.
Paterson, A. 1915. Assyrian Sculptures, Palace of Sinacherib. The Hague.
Pritchard, J. B. 1970. The Megiddo Stables: A Reassessment. Pp. 268–76 in Near Eastern Archaeology in the Twentieth Century, ed. J. A. Sanders. Garden City, NY.
Puech, E. 1986–87. The Canaanite Inscriptions of Lachish and Their Religious Background. TA 13–14: 13–25.
Risdon, D. L. 1939. A Study of the Cranial and Other Human Remains from Palestine Excavated at Tell Duweir (Lachish) by the Wellcome-Marston Archaeological Research Expedition. Biometrika 35: 99–165.
Rosen, S. 1988–89. Pottery Neolithic Flint Artifacts from Tell Lachish. TA 15–16: 193–96.
Starkey, J. L. 1933. A Lecture Delivered at the Rooms of the Palestine Exploration Fund, on June 22nd, 1933. PEQ, 190–99.
———. 1934. Excavations at Tell El Duweir, 1933–1934. PEQ, 164–75.
———. 1935. Excavations at Tell El Duweir, 1934–1935. PEQ 198–207.
———. 1936. Excavations at Tell el Duweir, 1935–36. PEQ, 178–89.
———. 1937a. Lachish as illustrating Bible History. PEQ, 171–79.
———. 1937b. Excavations at Tell ed Duweir. PEQ, 228–41.
Torczyner, H., et al. 1938. Lachish I, The Lachish Letters. London.
Tufnell, O. 1953. Lachish III, The Iron Age. London.
Tufnell, O.; Inge, C. H.; and Harding, G. L. 1940. Lachish II, The Fosse Temple. London.
Tufnell, O., et al. 1958. Lachish IV, The Bronze Age. London.
Ussishkin, D. 1976. Royal Judean Storage Jars and Private Seal Impressions. BASOR 223: 1–13.
———. 1977. The Destruction of Lachish by Sennacherib and the Dating of the Royal Judean Storage Jars. TA 4: 28–60.
———. 1978. Excavations at Tel Lachish—1973–1977, Preliminary Report. TA 5: 1–97.
———. 1980. The “Lachish Reliefs” and the City of Lachish. IEJ 30: 174–95.
———. 1982. The Conquest of Lachish by Sennacherib. Tel Aviv.
———. 1983. Excavations at Tel Lachish—1978–1983, Second Preliminary Report. TA 10: 97–175.
———. 1985. Levels VII and VI at Tel Lachish and the End of the Late Bronze Age in Canaan. Pp. 213–30 in Palestine in the Bronze and Iron Ages, ed. J. N. Tubb. London.
———. fc. The Assyrian Attack on Lachish: The Archaeological Evidence from the Southwest Corner of the Site. TA 17.
Weinstein, J. M. 1981. The Egyptian Empire in Palestine: A Reassessment. BASOR 241: 1–28.
Yadin, Y. 1976. The Megiddo Stables. Pp. 249–52 in Magnalia Dei: The Mighty Acts of God, ed. F. M. Cross; W. E. Lemke; and P. D. Miller, Jr. Garden City, N.Y.
———. 1980. A Rejoinder. BASOR 239: 19–23.
———. 1984. The Lachish Letters: Originals or Copies and Drafts? Pp. 179–86 in Recent Archaeology in the Land of Israel, ed. H. Shanks and B. Mazar. Washington.
Zimhoni, O. fc. Two Ceramic Assemblages from Lachish Levels III and II. TA 17.
David Ussishkin
Freedman, D. N. (1996, c1992). The Anchor Bible Dictionary (4:114). New York: Doubleday.
2:
Lachish — impregnable, a royal Canaanitish city in the Shephelah, or maritime plain of Palestine (Josh. 10:3, 5; 12:11). It was taken and destroyed by the Israelites (Josh. 10:31–33). It afterwards became, under Rehoboam, one of the strongest fortresses of Judah (2 Chr. 10:9). It was assaulted and probably taken by Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:14, 17; 19:8; Isa. 36:2). An account of this siege is given on some slabs found in the chambers of the palace of Koyunjik, and now in the British Museum. The inscription has been deciphered as follows:, “Sennacherib, the mighty king, king of the country of Assyria, sitting on the throne of judgment before the city of Lachish: I gave permission for its slaughter.” (See NINEVEH.)
Lachish has been identified with Tell-el-Hesy, where a cuneiform tablet has been found, containing a letter supposed to be from Amenophis at Amarna in reply to one of the Amarna tablets sent by Zimrida from Lachish. This letter is from the chief of Atim (=Etam, 1 Chr. 4:32) to the chief of Lachish, in which the writer expresses great alarm at the approach of marauders from the Hebron hills. “They have entered the land,” he says, “to lay waste … strong is he who has come down. He lays waste.” This letter shows that “the communication by tablets in cuneiform script was not only usual in writing to Egypt, but in the internal correspondence of the country. The letter, though not so important in some ways as the Moabite stone and the Siloam text, is one of the most valuable discoveries ever made in Palestine” (Conder’s Tell Amarna Tablets, p. 134).
Excavations at Lachish are still going on, and among other discoveries is that of an iron blast-furnace, with slag and ashes, which is supposed to have existed B.C. 1500. If the theories of experts are correct, the use of the hot-air blast instead of cold air (an improvement in iron manufacture patented by Neilson in 1828) was known fifteen hundred years before Christ. (See FURNACE.)
Easton, M. (1996, c1897). Easton's Bible dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
3:
LACHISH Place first mentioned in the Bible in connection with Joshua and the Israelite conquest of Palestine. At that time, its king and army were among the coalition of southern Palestinian towns that faced Joshua at Gibeon. After Joshua’s victory, he executed the king of Lachish and later took the town itself (Jos 10:26, 32). Though David probably brought the town to life again, it gained new significance when King Rehoboam of Judah (c. 920 bc) made it one of his fortified cities to protect the realm against Egyptian and Philistine attacks (2 Chr 11:9). About a century later, Amaziah, king of Judah, was killed at Lachish, where he had fled to escape from conspirators (2 Kgs 14:19).
Lachish resisted valiantly when Sennacherib of Assyria invaded in 701 bc, but it ultimately fell under furious onslaughts (2 Kgs 18:13–17; Is 36). Reoccupied and rebuilt by the Judeans, it was one of the last outposts of Jerusalem to fall to the Babylonians when Nebuchadnezzar invaded in 588–586 bc and brought the southern kingdom to an end (Jer 34:7). In addition to biblical references, the Egyptian Amarna letters and Assyrian records allude to Lachish.
The location of Lachish was long debated. Originally, it was placed at Umm Lakis, then in 1891 at Tell el-Hesi, and finally in 1929 at Tell ed-Duweir, 30 miles (48.3 kilometers) southwest of Jerusalem and 15 miles (24.1 kilometers) west of Hebron. This last identification has now been confirmed by a variety of indicators.
See also Lachish Letters.
Elwell, W. A., & Comfort, P. W. (2001). Tyndale Bible dictionary. Tyndale reference library (793). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.
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LA´CHISH (lāʹkish). A royal Canaanite city and one of the chief fortresses of Judah, identified with the large twenty-two-acre mound now known as Tell ed-Duweir. It is situated thirty miles SW of Jerusalem, fifteen miles W of Hebron. It is of immense strategic importance, dominating the old road from the Palestinian highland to the Nile valley. The site was excavated by the Wellcome-Marston Archaeological Expedition beginning in 1933. The work was supervised by J. L. Starkey until his murder by bandits early in 1938. The excavation of this site, ranking in importance with Bethshan and Megiddo, was thereafter carried on by Charles H. Inge and Lankester Harding. Yohanan Aharoni led Israeli digs there in 1966 and 1968, and David Ussishkin of Tel Aviv University has been excavating there since 1973.
The city was occupied several millennia before Abraham and was an important city still standing when the Israelites invaded Palestine. Its king, Japhia, joined a confederacy against Joshua (Josh. 10:3, 5) but was captured by the Israelites (10:31–35; 12:11). It was rebuilt or fortified by Rehoboam (2 Chron. 11:9) and had a reputation for strength. Amaziah fled there and was slain (2 Kings 14:19; 2 Chron. 25:27). Lachish fiercely resisted the siege of Sennacherib when on his way to Egypt (2 Kings 18:13–17; 2 Chron. 32:9; Isa. 36:2; 37:8) but ultimately capitulated in 701 b.c. Sennacherib portrayed the event on the walls of his palace at Nineveh. The city experienced two destructions by Nebuchadnezzar, one in 598 b.c. when Jehoiachin and the Jerusalem citizens were carried into captivity (2 Kings 24) and another in 589/88 b.c. when the city was reduced to ashes. After the Exile it was reoccupied (Neh. 11:30). Micah (1:13) denounced Lachish because it was the first to admit the iniquities of Israel into Judah, i.e., the idolatry of the image worship of the ten tribes. (See Mic. 1:5; Amos 3:14). Numbers of inscriptions have been found at the site, notably a broken bowl written in Egyptian, apparently by an Egyptian tax collector enumerating certain wheat deliveries. This is dated in the “year 4” of a certain pharaoh. Also found in a Late Bronze Age temple at Lachish were a bowl and a jar inscribed in an early Canaanite script. This script is identical with that of the proto-Semitic inscriptions found at Serabit el-Khadem on the Sinai Peninsula and in similar levels at Shechem, Gezer, and Beth-shemesh. Most important of all of the Lachish discoveries are the so-called Lachish Letters. These priceless documents, of vast epigraphic importance, illustrate the Hebrew current in the time of Jeremiah. They are to be dated between the two Babylonian sieges of Lachish (598–589/88 b.c.). Eighteen of these pieces of ancient inscribed pottery were found in 1935, to which three more were added in 1938. Practically all of these ostraca were written by a certain Hoshaiah, who was thought to be stationed at a military outpost, to a man named Jaosh, believed to be the high commanding officer at Lachish. This traditional interpretation has been disputed by Yigael Yadin, who concluded that the letters were first drafts of letters sent by Hoshaiah, the commander at Lachish, to Jaosh, his superior in Jerusalem. In any event, they give a sense of “you are there” at the destruction of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. Other significant finds at the site include the 105-foot-square platform on which David built a government house, a Late Bronze temple, the walls of Rehoboam, a mass grave of 1,500 bodies probably dating to the Assyrian attack, the gate complex, and an Assyrian siege ramp and a Judean counter-ramp. h.f.v.
bibliography: H. Horezyner, ed., Lachish IV: The Bronze Age (1958); Jack Finegan, Light from the Ancient Past (1965), p. 162; Y. Aharoni, Lachish V (1975); M. Avi-Yonah and E. Stern, eds., Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land (1977), 3:735–53.
Unger, M. F., Harrison, R. K., Vos, H. F., Barber, C. J., & Unger, M. F. (1988). The new Unger's Bible dictionary. Revision of: Unger's Bible dictionary. 3rd ed. c1966. (Rev. and updated ed.). Chicago: Moody Press.
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LACHISH (Heb.lāḵîš, lxx Lachis, Arab. Tell ed-Duweir). A 31-acre tell in the Shephelah some 40 km SW of Jerusalem, surrounded on three sides by Nahal Lachish. Excavated by Starkey (1932–38), Aharoni (1966–68), Ussishkin (1973–87).
The surrounding hills are known to have been settled by cave-dwellers from at least the 8th millennium bc, but the hill, which today consists of the tell, was first settled c. 3,000 bc, but little is known of the settlement until c. 1750, when the city was fortified by a steep rampart which sloped down to a ditch or fosse at the base of the tell. The city included a palace and a cult place. From now on the caves on the surrounding hills served as tombs.
From c. 1500 bc Lachish was an unfortified Canaanite city, although it is possible that the houses on the edge of the mound formed a defensive ring. A temple was in use in the previous fosse. Three phases were observed, containing a large square hall, whose ceiling was supported by four columns. Its walls were lined with benches on which offerings were placed, and an altar of unhewn stones (cf. Jos. 8:31) was constructed with steps ascending it (cf. Ex. 20:24ff.). It had at least two side rooms. It is from this city that letters from two rulers, Yabni-ilu and Zimrida (nos. 328–329) were found at *Amarna. In another letter (no. 288) from there, Abdi Heba, king of Jerusalem, accuses Zimrida of conspiring with the Hapiru, while a letter found at Tell el-Hesi says that he has made a treaty with another king, Šipti-Ba˓’alu. This city was destroyed c. 1200 bc.
The next city showed no evidence of the Philistines, but rather that it was directly under Egypt. The fosse temple was replaced by a temple on the acropolis which was Egyptian in character, with an entrance chamber, main hall and sanctuary. Japhia, king of Lachish, was a member of the Amorite coalition that fought Joshua at Gibeon (Jos. 10:3, 5) and was executed at Makkedah (Jos. 10:22–27) after Joshua’s victory. Lachish subsequently fell to Joshua (Jos. 10:31f). The city was destroyed in c. 1130 bc, possibly by the Israelites, although it could also have been by the Philistines or another Canaanite city.
Apart from a few possible finds on surrounding hills there is no evidence of Israelite settlement during the period of the Judges. During the United Monarchy there appears to have been a large fortified tower surrounded by farmhouses. A small shrine contained a large number of religious objects including an altar, maṣṣêbāh, incense burners, and figurine fragments, indicating Canaanite religion in Israel. The prophet Micah (1:13) said that the city was ‘the beginning of sin to the daughter of Zion’.
A new city was constructed during the 9th century bc, probably by Rehoboam (2 Ch. 11:5–10) on a new plan. The city was surrounded by two walls. An elaborate gate complex with an inner three-chambered gate led out to a fortified podium protruding from the tell which formed the outer gate. From here the road led down to the saddle connecting the tell with the surrounding hills. From the gate a road led to a large administrative building which now incorporated the earlier tower. This building had a large enclosed courtyard on its E side with storerooms and stables. The residential area of the city was in the S quadrant, and a water shaft is probably located in the NE corner. Amaziah took refuge at Lachish when fleeing from rebels in Jerusalem, who pursued and slew him there (2 Ki. 14:19; 2 Ch. 25:27). In the early 8th century bc the city was damaged by an earthquake (Am. 1:1, Zc. 14:5), and subsequently rebuilt.
Hezekiah rebelled against Assyria, and in 701 bc Sennacherib invaded Judah. In the process he laid siege to, and captured Lachish. The siege is shown on relief sculpture from his palace at Nineveh (now in the British Museum). The excavation has identified the siege ramp in the SW corner and found evidence for the battle, including sling stones, hundreds of arrowheads and fragments of armour. Although the reliefs portray the battle accurately, excavations show that the Judaeans put up stiff resistance, in the construction of an inner ramp, with possibly a new city wall on top of it. The earth to construct it was taken from the ‘Great Shaft’. The city was, however, eventually razed. Mass burials involving some 1,500 individuals were found in several adjacent caves on the W slope and are related to the Assyrian siege. The Residency, thought to be an Assyrian governor’s residence, probably dates to the Persian period.
A new, although smaller, Judaean city was built. By this stage it, and Azeqa, were the only fortified outposts from Jerusalem (Je. 34:7). It was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 bc.
Lachish was resettled by returning Israelites (Ne. 11:30) and although very little of the dwellings of this period have been found, two temples, notable for their similarity in plan to each other and with a much earlier example at *Arad, have come to light. The city was walled during the Persian and Hellenistic periods, after which the site was abandoned.
Inscription. The earliest inscription to date from Israel is a dagger from c. 1700 bc with pictographic signs. A few fragments were found from 1600 and 1250 bc with proto-Canaanite letters, as was a scarab of Rameses III and bowls with Egyptian hieratic script, probably documenting temple harvest tax.
Numerous inscriptions of the Judaean monarchy have been found, but the most important are the seals. Many of these contain the names of officials such as *Gedaliah, the royal steward (Heb. ‘who is over the house’). The most important, however, are a group bearing the title lamelekh (Heb. ‘belonging to the king’). These contain an emblem of a disk with either two or four wings, and the name of one of four cities - Socoh, Ziph, Hebron, or mmst. The excavations at Lachish have shown that these belonged to an administrative organization instituted by Hezekiah in anticipation of Sennacherib’s invasion.
A total of twenty-one ostraca (inscribed potsherds), which were written during the last few weeks before Nebuchadrezzar’s conquest in 586 bc, were found in the gate house. Although the language is biblical Heb., the cursive script has been almost obliterated on many of the ostraca, making reading impossible. The legible examples reveal that the collection is the correspondence of a subordinate, Hoshayahu, who is in charge of an outpost, to his superior, Yaush, who is the commanding officer of the garrison at Lachish. Hoshayahu commences the letters with the greeting ‘May YHWH cause my lord to hear tidings of peace this day’ before proceeding with the business, which in most of the letters is answering the charge that he has read confidential letters from the king. In letter II, he replies (cf. 2 Sa. 9:8), ‘Who is your servant (but) a dog … May YHWH afflict those who re[port] an (evil) rumour about which you are not informed.’ It has been suggested that the ostraca were stored in the gate, pending a trial, but it is more likely that the military command to which the letters were sent was situated in the gate building.
Letter IV concludes, ‘we are watching for the signals of Lachish, according to all the indications which my lord has given, for we cannot see Azeqah.’ This recalls the situation mentioned by Jeremiah (34:7) when Azeqah, Lachish and Jerusalem were the only fortified Judaean cities left. Azeqah is 11 km NE of Lachish, and the fact that Hoshayahu could not see its signals may indicate it had already fallen.
Letters III and XVI refer to ‘the prophet’. His identity has been much debated. Jeremiah is one possibility. Uriah who fled to Egypt (Je. 26:20–22) during Jehoiakim’s reign is another suggestion which requires redating the letters. Others believe him to be an unnamed prophet. The letter testifies to the recognition of prophets in ancient Israel and their participation in affairs of state. Letter III also mentions an expedition to Egypt by the commander of the army, which may have been a last desperate attempt by Zedekiah to obtain Egyptian assistance to withstand the inevitable Babylonian attack.
Bibliography. E. Stern, NEAEHL, pp. 897–911; D.Ussikishkin, ABD 4, pp. 114-126. c.j.d.
j.w.
Wood, D. R. W., Wood, D. R. W., & Marshall, I. H. (1996, c1982, c1962). New Bible Dictionary. Includes index. (electronic ed. of 3rd ed.) (660). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.
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Lachish
an important Canaanite and Israelite city, Lachish (lay«kish) is mentioned both in biblical and nonbiblical texts. It appears in the Amarna correspondence (fourteenth century b.c.) of Pharaoh Amenophis IV (Akhenaton), as well as in Assyrian records. The ot contains many references to Lachish. When Japhia, king of Lachish, joined an anti-Gibeonite coalition to resist the Israelite invasion, Joshua put him to death and captured Lachish (Josh. 10:1-32). King Amaziah of Judah (ca. 800-783 b.c.) was killed at Lachish, where he took refuge from a palace revolt in Jerusalem (2 Kings 14:17-20).
History: The location of Lachish was uncertain until the American archaeologist William F. Albright in 1929 proposed Tell ed-Duweir as the site of Lachish, an identification generally accepted. An imposing mound in the foothills of Judah, Tell ed-Duweir lies about thirty miles southwest of Jerusalem and fifteen miles west of Hebron. This nearly rectangular tell is relatively large, measuring 18 acres at the summit and 30 acres at the base. This site had been occupied with some interruptions from Chalcolithic times (fourth millennium), when the inhabitants lived in caves, to the Persian period (ca. 538-333 b.c.); Tell ed-Duweir was abandoned finally about 150 b.c. The mound is secured by deep valleys all around except on the southwestern corner where the city gate was located. This vulnerable access required strong fortifications to ward off enemy attacks.
After Joshua’s conquest of Lachish the city was deserted and partially in ruins from the twelfth to the tenth centuries b.c. Then Lachish was rebuilt as a garrison city and became second in importance to Jerusalem. To protect his southern border against Egyptian and Philistine attack, King Rehoboam (924-907 b.c.) of Judah, according to 2 Chron. 11:5-12, fortified Lachish.
In 705 b.c. Sennacherib acceded to the imperial throne of Assyria. At that time Egypt, some Philistine cities, and Judah formed an alliance against Assyria; Sennacherib responded by invading Palestine in 701 b.c. After demolishing the Egyptian forces and the Philistines, he conquered most of Judah including the fortress-city of Lachish; only Jerusalem was spared. According to Sennacherib’s annals forty-six of King Hezekiah’s fortified cities were conquered. Despite its strong defenses—two massive city walls and a gate complex composed of an outer and inner gate—Lachish succumbed to Sennacherib who was personally present at the city at the time of its demise. The Assyrians made their assault on the vulnerable gate complex at the southwest corner of the city; there they threw up a siege ramp against the outer side of the wall to mobilize their siege machines equipped with battering rams. The Judahites countered with a ramp of their own on the inside to support the wall, but to no avail. After his stunning victory Sennacherib reestablished his imperial rule in Palestine.
Sennacherib’s devastation of Lachish is not only documented in the Bible (2 Kings 18:13) but was also memorialized in relief on the palace walls of the Assyrian royal city at Nineveh (modern Kuyunjik) opposite modern Mosul in northern Iraq. These elaborate bas-reliefs, housed in the British Museum, were uncovered in the middle of the nineteenth century by Austen H. Layard, pioneer excavator in Assyria. They depict realistically the siege and conquest of Lachish. Their detail and prominence suggest that Sennacherib viewed his conquest of Lachish as especially significant.
Archaeological Excavations: British archaeologist James L. Starkey, who trained under W. M. Flinders Petrie in Egypt and southern Palestine, began a long-term, systematic excavation of Tell ed-Duweir in 1932. Paying close attention to architectural units in the course of his digging, Starkey maintained high standards of field technique. However, the project ended abruptly in 1938 when Starkey was killed in an ambush. His associates continued the project for a time, but the impetus was gone.
Starkey concentrated on the city gate complex, the Judahite palace-fort, and the west sector of the mound. Although he did not complete the investigation of the gate area, which revealed superimposed city gates, he did distinguish and date levels 2 and 3. To level 2 Starkey ascribed the conflagration of Lachish at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in 588/6 b.c., as most archaeologists would agree. He dated the destruction of level 3 to the first campaign of Nebuchadnezzar in 597 b.c. against King Jehoiakin of Judah. Detecting little difference in pottery types between levels 2 and 3, Starkey was satisfied that only a short time had elapsed between the two destructions.
Starkey’s dating of level 3 occasioned controversy from the beginning. While preparing the results of the investigation of the gate area for publication, Olga Tufnell, who had dug with Starkey, discerned a noticeable variance in pottery typology between levels 2 and 3. Consequently she attributed to level 3 Sennacherib’s conquest in 701 b.c. She also observed two phases in the gate area of level 2, dating them respectively to 597 b.c. and 588/6 b.c.
Among the outstanding epigraphical discoveries at Tell ed-Duweir are twenty-one ostraca or storage-jar fragments inscribed in black ink. Known as the Lachish Letters (most were letters, while others were lists of names), these ostraca date to ca. 590 b.c., during the reign of Zedekiah, the last king of Judah. Eighteen of the inscribed potsherds, found in 1935, lay on the floor among the ashes in a guardroom adjacent to the city gate. The remaining three, unearthed in 1938, were in the vicinity of the palace-fort. Hoshaiah, who was stationed in a garrison somewhere between Lachish and Jerusalem, had sent these letters to Yaosh, the military commander of Lachish. Written in classical Hebrew prose, these ostraca not only shed light on Hebrew philology and epigraphy but also provide valuable information about the times of the prophet Jeremiah, who was speaking to King Zedekiah, ‘while the armies of the king of Babylon were attacking Jerusalem and the remaining cities of Judah, Lachish and Azekah; since these alone were left of the fortified cities of Judah’ (Jer. 34:7).
To complete the unfinished work of Starkey and to study in greater depth the history of Lachish and its material culture, Israeli archaeologist David Ussishkin undertook in 1973 a long-term project at Lachish. In the interest of continuity he concentrated on the areas Starkey had dug. He excavated the palace-fort, as well as the monumental Canaanite buildings beneath it, situated on the summit of the mound (area P). On the western edge of the tell he dug a narrow trench to the lower slope in order to view all the strata to bedrock (area S). In this sector the excavators uncovered sections of three superimposed city walls. Ussishkin’s most critical undertaking was the city gate complex (area G). In addition, the archaeological team conducted a regional survey around Tell ed-Duweir.
As a policy Ussishkin has limited his digging to certain parts of the tell; other areas he has left untouched so future archaeologists can test his conclusions afresh. With respect to field technique Ussishkin in the spirit of Kathleen Kenyon, Britain’s great archaeologist, has emphasized the vertical section; he has also attended to the restoration of pottery forms and has utilized specialists in the applied sciences, such as botany, osteology, palynology, and metallurgy.
Ussishkin concurs with Starkey that six stra ta lay between the Late Bronze Age (1500-1200 b.c.) and the Persian-Hellenistic period (ca. 538-63 b.c.) at Tell ed-Duweir. The levels are the following: Level 1 pertains to the postexilic period, including the Babylonian, Persian, and Hellenistic eras (from the sixth to the first century b.c.). In the time of Nehemiah, following the Babylonian captivity, Jews settled in Lachish. Level 2 represents the Babylonian destruction by fire of Lachish in 588/6 b.c. The city at this level may have been built by King Josiah (639-609 b.c.). The Lachish Letters pertain to this level. Level 3 marks the Assyrian conquest of Lachish in 701 b.c., according to Ussishkin, Tufnell, and several other scholars. At the time of this conflagration Lachish was a densely populated city. Level 4 represents the royal Judahite fortified city, composed of two city walls, the gate complex, and the palace-fort. An earthquake may have been responsible for the destruction of this level. Level 5 pertains to the late tenth century b.c., the period of the United Monarchy when Judahites began to resettle Lachish. This level was destroyed by fire. Level 6 marks the conflagration of the final Late Bronze Age III city in the twelfth century, perhaps in 1163 b.c. Canaanite Lachish was under Egyptian control at the time of the Israelite invasion.
Level 3 is key to the dating of a significant corpus of pottery in Palestine. On the basis of stratigraphy and a comparison of the pottery typology of levels 2 and 3 at Tell ed-Duweir Ussishkin is confident in dating level 3 to Sennacherib’s conquest in 701 b.c. John S. Holladay and other archaeologists disagree. Some counter Ussishkin’s internal evidence with external evidence from other sites, such as Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom. Until scholars reach consensus, a variance of more than one hundred years in the dating of a significant corpus of Palestinian pottery continues to be a problem.
In addition to the excavated areas of Tell ed-Duweir already described, two other structures were investigated: the fosse temple and the solar shrine. The fosse temple, so called because it was constructed in a moat that had been part of the Middle Bronze Age II fortifications, is situated near the northwest corner of the mound, outside the city. The original building was built of unhewn stone in the sixteenth century b.c. Rebuilt and enlarged more than once, this temple was destroyed by fire about 1200 b.c. The nature of the temple’s cult is unknown.
The solar shrine, so called by Starkey because of its orientation and the presence of an altar with an adoring human figure, is situated in the eastern sector of Tell ed-Duweir. Yohanan Aharoni excavated the structure in 1966 and 1968 in an effort to clarify the chronology and history of Lachish. This solar shrine, composed of two main rooms and a court, dates to about 200 b.c. Starkey and Aharoni identified the ruins as a Jewish temple or sanctuary. Albright and Frank M. Cross disagreed because of lack of evidence.
Ussishkin’s work is still in progress. Further study may render definitive several interpretations which are still tentative. What the archaeologists have already accomplished is a significant contribution to biblical history. P.J.K.
Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row, P., & Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). Harper's Bible dictionary. Includes index. (1st ed.) (537). San Francisco: Harper & Row.
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Lachish (Heb. lāḵɩ̂š)
An ancient Canaanite and biblical city located on the Naḥal Lachish/Wadi Ghafr 24 km. (15 mi.) W of Hebron. Tel Lachish/Tell ed-Duweir (1357.1083), identified as ancient Lachish, is a large mound of some 12.5 ha. (31 a.) overlooking a road from the coastal plain into the Hebron hills.
Old Testament
Lachish as Canaanite and Judahite city appears 22 times in the Bible. In antiquity Lachish was in the vicinity of Libnah, Gezer, and Eglon (Josh. 10:31, 34). Its Canaanite king Japhia entered into a military alliance with the kings of four other cities — Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem, Hoham of Hebron, Piram of Jarmuth, and Debir of Eglon (Josh. 10:3, 5) — against the Joshua-led forces of Israel. In an attempt to force the inhabitants into that military alliance, the combined forces lay siege to the town of Gibeon. Joshua routed the sieging army in response to the covenant with Gibeon. The five kings (including Japhia) escaped, but were later captured in a cave at Makkedah, and subsequently executed (Josh. 10:22–27). The two-day siege of Lachish, one of the “fortified” towns of the coalition (Josh. 10:20), by Israelite forces is specifically mentioned (v. 32). Gezer sent soldiers to relieve Lachish, but to no avail, as Joshua went on to take several sites in the south of Canaan (Josh. 10:33–39; 12:11). Lachish appears again in the list of the inheritance of the tribe of Judah (Josh. 15:39).
2 Chr. 11:9 includes Lachish in the list of cities fortified by Rehoboam of Judah, the site to which King Amaziah later fled, presumably because of its strong defenses, and was assassinated (2 Kgs. 14:19 = 2 Chr. 25:27). The Assyrian army sieged Lachish in the reign of Hezekiah (2 Kgs. 18:14, 17 = 2 Chr. 32:9; cf. 2 Kgs. 19:8), eventually taking and destroying it (Isa. 36:2; 37:8; cf. Mic. 1:13). Lachish’s impending destruction in the reign of Zedekiah was reported by the prophet Jeremiah (Jer. 34:7). Finally, Lachish was listed as a village reoccupied in postexilic times (Neh. 11:30).
Other Sources
Lachish is named in extrabiblical sources as early as the 15th-century b.c.e. Papyrus Hermitage 1116A, which names it among the Canaanite cities in which Egyptian emissaries resided; Lachish likewise appears in the Amarna Letters, as well as in a letter of the same period found at Tell el-Ḥesi. Nebuchadnezzar commemorated the conquest of Lachish, naming and depicting the town on a stone relief. Eusebius refers to Lachish as located 11 km. (7 mi.) from Eleutheropolis (Beth Guvrin).
Tel Lachish/Tell Ed-Duweir
Excavation of Tel Lachish/Tell ed-Duweir began in 1932–38 by John L. Starkey and was followed by Yohanan Aharoni (1966, 1968) and David Ussishkin (1972–1992). Human occupation at the site probably began as early as the Neolithic period and continued in the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Ages; however, evidence about these settlements is sparse, though it appears likely that the entire mound had been occupied during Early Bronze II. From the EB IV period a cemetery of 120 rock-cut tombs and a small village were excavated on a low hill west of the main mound.
Lachish became an important city-state in Middle Bronze II and was fortified in depth; though no trace of the perimeter wall has been unearthed, its existence is attested by the presence of a plastered ramp or glacis and a deep ditch or fosse at the base of the mound. A well-built “palace” in the center of the site, as well as richly appointed rock-cut tombs outside the city attest to the prominence of Lachish in the region. The final level of the MB settlement was destroyed in a fire.
Not until Late Bronze II, designated Level VII, did Lachish regain the prominence as a city-state it had enjoyed in MB II. Strong ties with Egypt attest to this prominence. However, like most LB Canaanite towns, Lachish was apparently nonfortified; indeed, the fosse belonging to the MB defense was now the site of a temple which had at least three major phases of use.
Level VI, the final LB town on the tell, was built along different architectural lines, though it showed clear cultural affinities with Level VII. A large public building took the place of Level VII domestic units, and a temple was built on the summit of the mound in place of the Level VII fosse temple. Along with a group of artifacts of Egyptian origin (a cartouche of Rameses III on a bronze object and fragments of bowls with hieratic script recording taxes paid to an Egyptian religious institution), the plan of this new temple, which imitates Egyptian temples at Amarna and Deir el-Medeineh, suggests strong ties with the government of Rameses III.
Level VI LB Lachish was completely destroyed and subsequently abandoned until the 10th century. Though the destruction of this last Canaanite town would appear to fit the description of the conquest of Lachish in Josh. 10:20, the identity of the conqueror cannot be easily resolved, because of problems in correspondence of the date of the fall of Lachish with the time of Joshua. It is equally likely that Lachish Level VI met its end at the hands of the Sea Peoples. In either case, the fall of Lachish exposes Egypt’s loss of control of Canaan.
The earliest Israelite settlement on Tel Lachish/Tell ed-Duweir is Level V, a nonfortified town usually assigned to the period of the United Monarchy. Besides small domestic buildings at various points on the tell, Aharoni uncovered a building dedicated to cultic activity in the vicinity of the so-called solar shrine of Level I. Recovered from this cult room were ceramic incense stands, chalices, and a stone altar. The destruction of Level V may have been by the Egyptian Sheshonq ca. 925.
Level IV Lachish, a large royal town, was heavily fortified, probably in response to changed military and political conditions. 2 Chr. 11:9 attributes the fortification of Lachish to Rehoboam, though archaeological evidence suggests a slightly later date for the founding of Level IV (Ussishkin suggests either Asa or Jehoshaphat). The massive fortification was formed with a six-chamber gateway, an outer gate which projected beyond the city wall at the crest of the tell, a second line of defense partway down the slope of the tell, and a glacis that extended between the two city walls; the new town now included a residency for the Judahite governor, a large palace-fort built atop a raised platform or podium, other government buildings, and a deep well. Few domestic structures have been uncovered within the walls of the Level IV fortress.
Parts of the Level IV town were destroyed, possibly by an earthquake, requiring major reconstruction of the city gate, part of the palace-fort (designated Palace B by the excavators, here enlarged also in Level III), a “residency” and the “enclosure wall,” though not the city perimeter wall itself. This rebuilt fortress also increased in population, as shown by the additional number of domestic structures. In spite of its deep defensive system, however, an Assyrian army attacked and destroyed Lachish in 701. The siege of the town involved the construction of a massive ramp of boulders and soil which reached from the valley floor to the top of the southwest corner of the town wall, in order to permit siege weapons to breach defenses. The defenders responded with a “counter ramp” inside the perimeter wall to raise the level of defense higher than the siege. A second siege ramp atop the first sealed the fate of the defenders, who were killed or deported. Both siege ramp and “counter ramp” have been identified by the excavations of Ussishkin. The Assyrian battle for Lachish was later commemorated in relief on stone panels in the Assyrian palace in Nineveh.
Lachish was rebuilt (Level II) as a fortified town in the 7th century, probably during the reign of Josiah. This town was smaller and less well defended than the Level III city. It too suffered total destruction, in 587/586, by the forces of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Correspondence by military personnel was found in the ruins of Level II; these “Lachish Letters” were probably sent to the commander of Lachish by a subordinate whose nearby location required regular reports.
Following a period of abandonment Lachish again saw occupation at the beginning of the Persian period as an administrative center. Construction on the mound included restoration of the fortifications, a small residency or palace, and a temple (called the solar shrine because of its entrance facing the rising sun). Level I lasted into the Hellenistic period, by which time the residency had been given over to “squatters.” The temple, however, continued in use. The discovery of a cache of some 200 small limestone incense altars, though found outside the mound, probably relates to rituals practiced in the solar shrine. In the Hellenistic period Lachish was finally abandoned as a town or village site.
Bibliography. Y. Aharoni, Investigations at Lachish: The Sanctuary and the Residency (Lachish V) (Tel Aviv, 1975); H. Torczyner et al., Lachish I: The Lachish Letters (London, 1938); O. Tufnell et al., Lachish II: The Fosse Temple (London, 1940); Lachish III: The Iron Age (London, 1953); Lachish IV: The Bronze Age (London, 1958); D. Ussishkin, The Conquest of Lachish by Sennacherib (Tel Aviv, 1982); “Excavations at Tel Lachish — 1973–1977: Preliminary Report,” Tel Aviv 5 (1978): 1–97; “Levels VII and VI at Tel Lachish and the End of the Bronze Age in Canaan,” in Palestine in the Bronze and Iron Ages, ed. J. N. Tubb (London, 1985), 213–30.
Paul F. Jacobs
Freedman, D. N., Myers, A. C., & Beck, A. B. (2000). Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible (781). Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans.
