Lachish

Lachish , city, S ancient Palestine, SW of Jerusalem, in present-day Israel. It is mentioned in the Tell-el-Amarna letters and was one of the Amorite cities allied against the Gibeonites and destroyed by Joshua. Rehoboam fortified it, and Amaziah was murdered there. It was besieged (701 BC) by Sennacherib. Later, Micah denounced it. Excavations were begun in 1935; they show that Lachish had been populated since c.3200 BC and was a thriving community as early as the 17th cent. BC The finds include 21 ostraca, or potsherds, written in ink. They were written (c.589 BC) in Hebrew by local commanders to their officers when Lachish was being threatened by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar. The letters are of great linguistic and historic value. Lachish is frequently mentioned in the Bible (Joshua 10; 15.39; 2 Kings 14.19; 18.14, 17; 19.8; 2 Chron. 11.9; Neh. 11.30; Micah 1.13).

Lachish A large city 48 km. (30 miles) SW of Jerusalem, much fought over, which has yielded important discoveries to archaeologists. It was captured by Joshua (Josh. 10: 31 f.), rebuilt by Rehoboam according to the Chronicler (2 Chr. 11: 5 ff.), captured and destroyed by the Assyrians in 701 BCE (2 Kgs. 18: 14; 19: 8), and after having been rebuilt destroyed again by the Babylonians (588 BCE; Jer. 34: 7). After the Exile some of those returning settled in Lachish (Neh. 11: 30).

Among the archaeological finds at Lachish are the ‘Lachish Letters’, fragments of correspondence to the military commander at Lachish, written in black ink on potsherds in elegant Hebrew. They can be very accurately dated and they contain information about conditions in this fortified city and Judah during the time when the Babylonians were attacking both it and Jerusalem (Jer. 34: 7).