James Leslie Starkey, Olga Tufnell, Yohanan Aharoni, David Ussishkin, Yosef Garfinkel
Condition
Ruined
Ownership
Public
Public access
Yes
Lachish (Hebrew: לכיש; Ancient Greek: Λαχίς; Latin: 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 (Hebrew: תל לכיש) or Tell ed-Duweir (تل الدوير),[1][2] has been identified with the biblical Lachish. Today, it is an Israeli national park operated and maintained by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. 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 conquered by the Israelites for joining the league against the Gibeonites (Joshua 10:31–33). The territory was later assigned to the tribe of Judah (15:39) 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.[3]
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. According to the Book of Jeremiah, Lachish and Azekah were the last two Judean cities to fall to the Babylonians before the conquest of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 34:7). 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." This pottery inscription can be seen at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.[4]
^"State of Israel Records", Collection of Publications, no. 277(PDF) (in Hebrew), Jerusalem: Government of Israel, 1953, p. 636, (p. 630) The names of the settlements were mostly determined at different times by the 'Names Committee for the Settlements,' under the auspices of the Jewish National Fund (est. 1925), while [other] names were added by the Government Naming Committee.
^Vermeersch, Shyama; Riehl, Simone; Starkovich, Britt M.; Streit, Katharina; Höflmayer, Felix (2021-02-09). "Animal husbandry from the Middle Bronze Age through the Iron Age in the Shephelah—faunal remains from the new excavations at Lachish". Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences. 13 (3): 38. Bibcode:2021ArAnS..13...38V. doi:10.1007/s12520-021-01289-1. ISSN 1866-9557. S2CID 231850376.
^Cite error: The named reference King was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Schaalje, Jacqueline. "Lachish". The Jewish Magazine. Archaeology in Israel.
by that name, known as TelLachish (Hebrew: תל לכיש) or Tell ed-Duweir (تل الدوير), has been identified with the biblical Lachish. Today, it is an Israeli...
The Lachish ewer is an ancient jug discovered at Tell el-Duweir dating from the late 13th century BC, identified as the site of the ancient city of Lachish...
certain point near the TelLachish digs. The descriptions shown in the reliefs were compared with those written about Lachish in the bible and found to...
The siege of Lachish was the Neo-Assyrian Empire's siege and conquest of the town of Lachish in 701 BCE. The siege is documented in several sources including...
robbery excavations were conducted on the Tel. As a result, the members of the TelLachish excavation team came to Tel Eton, and conducted rescue excavations...
The Lachish Letters are a series of letters written in carbon ink containing ancient Israelite inscriptions in Ancient Hebrew on clay ostraca. The letters...
Between the years 1973 and 1994 he administered the excavation project of TelLachish. This is a site of major importance to the Archaeology of Israel. It...
"The Renewed Archaeological Excavations at Lachish." Mazar and Panitz-Cohen, Timnah (Tel Batash) II. Timnah (Tel Batash) II, the Finds from the First Millennium...
the west coast of Asia Minor (Miletus, Troy), and in the Levant (Tel Haror, TelLachish). The first comprehensive compendium of Linear A inscriptions (sometimes...
over numerous sites such as TelLachish, Azekah, Tel Burna, Tel Zayit, Khirbet el-Qom, Tel Erani, Tel Harasim and Tel Nagila. This colonization, together...
Tel Megiddo (from Hebrew: תל מגידו), called in Arabic Tell el-Mutesellim, 'Mound of the Governor', is the site of the ancient city of Megiddo (Greek:...
the Judean lowlands of Israel. It is located about 5.5 km southeast of TelLachish and ten miles west-northwest of Hebron, on a hill 400 m above sea level...
a reference to Eliakhim, son of Hilkiah, in two bullae unearthed at TelLachish. He described the seal legends as reading "Eliakim, (son of) Yehozarah"...
debate. He is currently digging at TelLachish in search of Iron Age fortifications. TelLachish Khirbet Qeiyafa Tel Tsaf: 2004 (preliminary survey), 2006...
Zimredda (Lachish mayor) was a leader of Lachish in the mid 14th century BC. He is mentioned in the Amarna letters, and is the author of EA 329, (EA for...
sacks many outlying towns and villages of the Kingdom of Judah, such as TelLachish, but the Assyrian siege of Jerusalem fails when 185,000 soldiers die...
passes nearby to Tel Maresha, ruins of an ancient city. Further on, the route passes through the archaeological site of TelLachish. The route follows...
with Lodian material include Jericho, Lod, Tel Megiddo, Ghrubba, Yesodot, Teluliot Batashi, TelLachish, Tel Ali, Abu Zurayq, Wadi Shueib, Dhra′, Khirbet...
world. Other biblical tells around Israel include Jerusalem, Tel Arad, Tel Gezer and TelLachish. Sites of human evolution at Mount Carmel – Nahal Me'arot...
Biblical city of Lachish. In ancient times, the main road through the Lachish region ran from the port city of Gaza through Gath, Lachish, Maresha, Azekah...
Petrie excavates at Tell el-Hesi, Palestine (mistakenly identified as TelLachish), the first scientific excavation of an archaeological site in the Holy...
of the three officers whom the King of Assyria (Sennacherib) sent from Lachish with a threatening message to Jerusalem (2 Kings 18:17). Rabsares (in the...
position of the town in the list, it would appear to be somewhere north of TelLachish and Eglon. Dimonah is a place listed in Joshua 15:22 as being inside...
was about LMLK seal impressions on jar handles. He participated in the Lachish excavations with David Ussishkin. His academic areas of interest include...
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