Lachish,
a
fortified
Canaanite
city-state
during
the
Middle
Bronze
Age,
an
Egyptian
administrative
center
during
the
Late
Bronze
Age
and
fortified
Judahite
administration
center
in
the
Iron
Age
II,
is
a
fascinating
place.
By
the
end
of
the
8th
century
BCE,
Lachish
arrived
its
peak
and
became
the
second
most
important
city
in
the
Kingdom
of
Judah.
At
that
time,
the
fortified
city
had
a
double
wall,
a
six-
chambered
gate,
and
a
top
hill
Governor
Palace,
the
largest
Iron
Age
structure known in South Levant.
The
fascinating
story
about
Lachish
is
the
battle
on
the
city
walls,
during
the
Assyrian
campaign
against
Judah
in
701
BCE.
The
fight
is
documented
in
the
Bible.
An
Assyrian
wall
carving
discovered
in
their
ancient
capital,
Nineveh,
and
the
archaeology
finding
unearthed
at
Lachish,
confirm
the
biblical
story.
The
dramatic
event
of
the
conquest
of
Lachish
by
the
Assyrian
king
Sennacherib
carved
on
the
set
of
reliefs
in
his
palace.
The
vivid
description
of
the
siege,
the
Judahites
deportation,
and
the
battle
trophy,
was
described
in
details.
The
archaeology
finding
of
the
siege
ramp
and
the
tremendous
amount
of
weapons, support the story as well.
Today
you
can
visit
Lachish,
see
the
fortifications,
the
siege
ramp,
the
double
main
gates,
the
Judahite
palace,
the
Bronze
Age
temple
and more.
