Archaeology and the Ancient Near East
Subject: The Judean Shephelah after the Assyrina Distruction: A view from Lachish
Supervisor: Prof. Yosef Garfinkel
Abstract: In 701 BCE, an Assyrian conquest lead by King Sennacherib reached Judah and brought destruction upon the settlements of the Judean Foothills. The common conception in research is that the Judean settlement in the Shephelah did not recover after this conquest. Recent excavations at Tel Lachish challange these conceptions regarding the extent of the Judean city in the 7th century BCE. Since Lachish was the cheif centre of the Shephelah, the extent of its resettlement reflects on this process in the entire region. The settlement pattern of the Judean Shephelah during this period is thus also reconsidered.
The current project aims at a balanced picture of the settlement pattern in the Judean Foothills after the Assyrian conquest. The main issues that are explored are: when, where and how the Judean presence in the Shephelah recovered during the seventh century BC. This paper is a product of interdisciplinary research using evidence from archeological excavations, archaeological surveys, historical geography, Biblical sources, and other ancient historical records. The focal point of research is Lachish.