Lachish Fortifications and State Formation in the Biblical Kingdom of Judah in Light of Radiometric Datings

Abstract

When and where the process of state formation took place in the biblical kingdom of Judah is heavily debated. Our regional project in the southwestern part of Judah, carried out from 2007 to the present, includes the excavation of three Iron Age sites: Khirbet Qeiyafa, Tel Lachish, and Khirbet al-Ra’i. New cultural horizons and new fortification systems have been uncovered, and these discoveries have been dated by 59 radiometric determinations. The controversial question of when the kingdom was able to build a fortified city at Lachish, its foremost center after Jerusalem, is now resolved thanks to the excavation of a previously unknown city wall, dated by radiocarbon (14C) to the second half of the 10th century BCE.

The sceptres of life-sized divine statues from Canaanite Lachish and Hazor

“…It was attributed to Level VI and dated to the twelfth century BC (as defined by Ussishkin 2004). This date is now supported by new radiometric assays (Garfinkel et al 2019b).…”

“…This date is now supported by new radiometric assays (Garfinkel et al . 2019b).

Figure 3.Plan of Tel Lachish, showing the main excavation areas and the three Canaanite temples uncovered at the site; the temple that yielded the sceptre is in area BB (drawing by I. Weissbein).

…”

New Radiocarbon-based assessment Supports the Prominence of Tel Lachish during late Bronze age IB-IIA

“…The 2013-2017 expedition by Garfinkel, Hasel, and Klingbeil in the northeastern part of the mound added to our knowledge of later LBA levels as well as the destruction that brought Middle Bronze Age (MBA) Lachish to an end (Sass et al 2015;Weissbein et al 2016;Garfinkel et al 2019aGarfinkel et al , 2019b. However, they did not expose occupation remains from the rather elusive LB I-IIA period.…”

“…We have also considered a full site-wide model of LBA Lachish (including the data of Garfinkel et al 2019a). This produces very similar results to the Area S model and will be presented elsewhere.…”

Animal husbandry from the Middle Bronze Age through the Iron Age in the Shephelah—faunal remains from the new excavations at Lachish

“…From 2013 until 2017, Garfinkel, Hasel, and Klingbeil excavated at Lachish, focussing on the northern and northeastern edge of the tell and west of the Solar Shrine. They have published some of their results (Garfinkel et al 2019a(Garfinkel et al , 2019bSass et al 2015;Weissbein et al 2019Weissbein et al , 2016, but the faunal analysis is still in progress.…”