When I talk to people and let them know that I am going on an archaeological dig, one of the first things they want to know is where will I be digging.

When I give Lachish as the answer I usually get confused looks. Even a colleague who grew up in Israel was not really sure where it was.

So, tonight I will share where Lachish is found in the Bible.

Lachish is first mentioned in Joshua 10. The picture above shows Tel-Gibeon. I took the picture from Nebi Samwil. You can read more about the Nebi Samwil and Gibeon in my post Unfolding History.

Most of us can easily recall the account of The Gibeonite Deception, but if you don’t remember the details click on the link.

The king of Jerusalem banded together with the kings of Lachish, Hebron, Jarmuth and Eglon to attack Gibeon. Joshua defeated the combined armies and then captured each of the cities.

In II Chronicles 11 we find Lachish in a list of fortified cities that were built for King Rehoboam for the defense of Judah. In the next chapter Shishak the king of Egypt comes up and takes the fortified cities.

In II Kings 14 King Amaziah flees to Lachish, but is captured and put to death.

There was a large palace at Lachish and I will get to see the foundation of it very soon.

In II Kings 18 during the reign of King Hezekiah we find that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against the fortified cities which included Lachish. In the picture above you can see the remains of the siege ramp that the Assyrians built.

A set of reliefs chronicling the siege of Lachish were found at the palace of Sennacherib in Ninevah. The picture above is of copies that are at the Israel Museum. I have also seen the original Lachish Reliefs at the British Museum in London. See my post: Lachish at the Museum

In Jeremiah 34 Lachish is again mentioned as being under siege. This time it is by the Babylonians. Lachish, Jerusalem and Azekah are the only cities that remained standing at the time Jeremiah talked to King Zedekiah.

The prophet Micah also mentions that the transgressions of Israel are found in Lachish.

Lachish is also found in Nehemiah as one of the cities that people returned to after the exile in Babylon.

Lachish is not mentioned too many times in the Old Testament, but it did play a big role in history.

I have already read Biblical Lachish once, but plan on reading parts of it again on the flight to Tel Aviv later this week.

I am starting to get excited about my vacation!

Steven