A key city in the Shephelah protecting the southern approaches to Jerusalem.
Lachish is first mentioned in the Bible as one of the five cities that formed an alliance to fight against the Israelites soon after they heard of the fall of Ai (Jos 10). In response Joshua led a force of Israelites and conquered the city (10:31-33). The site had already been settled by Canaanites for some 2,000 years before its fall to the Israelites. Archaeologists have found that the city was not fortified during the time of its fall, making it an easy target for Joshua's forces.
Lachish was left in ruins until Rehoboam restored it (2 Chr 11:9), from which time it became probably the most important city in Judah after Jerusalem. When a plot was hatched to murder King Amaziah, he fled to the city for refuge "but they sent men after him to Lachish and killed him there" (2 Ki 14:19).
Remnants of the city-gates of Lachish.
Most dramatically, Lachish was attacked by Sennacherib who made it his base after its fall during his invasion of Judah in 701 BC. From there he sent his ambassador to Jerusalem to lampoon Hezekiah and the Jerusalamites to surrender. Though his threats came to nothing in the end, the event was one of the most harrowing in Judah's history (2 Ki 18:17-19-36). The fall of Lachish seemed of great significance to Sennacherib for he had the walls of the central rooms in his new palace in Nineveh covered with reliefs of the attack on the city.
Scenes from Sennacherib's palace of the fall of Lachish.
A more poignant moment, if less dramatic, came during the Babylonian attack on Judah in 587 BC. A hastily drafted letter, written on an ostracon found at the site, probably by one of the senior guards, reports, "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 to be seen." If Azekah had fallen, Lachish would be next, before Jerusalem would come under attack.
Lachish was reoccupied after the exile, having become part of Idumea. Occupation at the site ceased abruptly in the 2nd Cent BC.
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