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THE MASS GRAVE

THE SIEGE

FORTIFICATIONS

WEAPONS

THE BATTLE

MASSACRE

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AND CITIES

LACHISH
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BIBLE ARCHAEOLOGY
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BIBLE WARFARE
battles, the army, weapons, engineering

A trepanated skull excavated at Lachish. The person seems to have survived an operation before the siege (shown by the healed edges around the hole), only to die during the taking of the city, or the execution of prisoners afterwards.

THE MASS GRAVE

Archaeologists  have discovered a mass grave with 1,500 human skeletons, mostly of women and children, near the site of the ancient city of Lachish.  Who were they? What happened to them? How did they die?

Putting together the pieces of the jigsaw, it seems these people died in the mass executions that followed the taking of Lachish, when the army of Sennacherib steam-rolled over Judah in 701BC. 

Lachish was the second most important city in Judah, after Jerusalem, and Sennacherib must have seen its capture as a significant military victory, something that made good propaganda for him. The walls of his palace in Nineveh are lined with all-too-graphic images of the battle for Lachish, and the bloodbath that followed its capture. So in archaeological terms it's well documented: 

• the wall reliefs from the palace in Nineveh

• the Bible account (see passage below)

• the excavated remains of a doomed city.

A 19th century artist's impression 
of  Sennacherib; the drawing is based on the relief carving at Nineveh

A drawing of one section of 
the Lachish siege reliefs from Sennacherib's palace in Nineveh, 
now held in the British Museum. 
The city wall and towers are clearly marked, as are important civic buildings

Above and below: The Assyrian 
siege ramp, still intact, from 
the successful assault by Sennacherib 
in his 701BC invasion of Judah

THE SEIGE

Most of the tel (the mound of rubble that was Lachish) is grassed over now, but in the northwest corner you can still see a wall looming high and solid, just as it did 2,700 years ago when the city faced the invasion of the fearsome Assyrian king. 

You can stand at the foot of this buttressed wall and imagine the desperate soldiers running back and forth, hurling every weapon they could find, as the situation became more and more desperate:

• arrows

• heavy boulders

• javelins and spears

• hot oil (see Weapons section below for photographs of the actual weapons used at Lachish)

They used anything available. It was a fight to the death, and everyone knew it.

For the Assyrian empire was not to be messed with. It stretched from east of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to the Mediterranean Sea, and from just below the Black Sea south to Gaza and as far as the Sinai Desert (see thumbnail map).

The only power that challenged it was Egypt, so Assyria kept a watchful eye on the Land of the Nile. Unhappily for little  Judah, it lay on the great highway stretching between Assyria and Egypt. So to keep its supply lines open and secure, Assyria had to squash Judah like a bug - and destroy Lachish.

It did not matter that King Hezekiah paid heavy tribute - including thirty talents of gold and one of his daughters. His kingdom was the only pocket left uncontrolled by the empire, and Sennacherib wanted it.

A giant siege ramp was constructed, providing a road for the four-wheeled battering rams, up to the walls of Lachish. In response, the people inside the walls built a counter-ramp, so that they could meet the invaders head on. The Assyrian battering rams were then rolled up the ramp and began pounding the wall, probing for weaknesses. Ranks of archers and sling-throwers took aim at the defenders on the parapets. The Judeans shot arrows and hurled stones and firebrands. 

It's all there in the Nineveh wall reliefs and the excavations at Lachish:

These relief-images of the Assyrian attack have been confirmed by archeological evidence at the site: 

• the attack from the southwest

• the siege ramp against the slope of the mound, containing some 15,000 tons of stones and earth

• the ramp covered with plaster to allow the Assyrian battering ram to move up to the city wall to breach it

• a counter-ramp inside the city raising the city wall, which forced the Assyrians to raise the height of their own ramp 

• the weapons, scales of armor, hundreds of sling-stones and arrowheads - and the gruesome human remains.
   

EXTRA WEBSITES

Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Archaeological Sites in Israel - Lachish

The Jewish Magazine:
Lachish

The ramp that formed the approach
 to the gates. It was too dangerous for enemy troops to approach the city 
by this route

The ramp partly cleared of debris

The excavated gateway to the city

A model of the Babylonian Ishtar Gate. 
These were ceremonial entrances, but they show the design of the multiple gateways through which any enemy had to pass. 

A reconstruction of the Babylonian Ishtar Gate. The construction of the towers is similar to towers at Lachish. When a city was besieged, the soldiers placed their shields hanging down from the peaked stones around the top of the tower.

A reconstruction of the circa 1900BC fortified walls at Buhen, in modern Sudan. It is based on the wall paintings of Beni-hasan, as well as excavated remains.

FORTIFICATIONS

The designers of the fortifications at Lachish had been cunning. There was a double ring of walls, with only one gate, on the west side; it had a six-chamber gate extending into the city. 

This outer gate was built into a huge tower made of large stones. The gatehouse had three pairs of chambers with separate wooden doors on hinges.

The elaborate gate structure, the largest in ancient Israel (Lachish was evidently second in importance only to Jerusalem), was built so that any advancing soldier, carrying his shield on his left arm, would expose his right flank to archers on the walls. 

If and when he reached the top, any invader would have to break through an outer gate, pivot to the right while they were packed in a small courtyard and exposed to fire from bordering towers, and break through an inner gate -  the remains of which you can now walk through.

That was why the siege machines had been built - so that the Assyrians could break an alternative way into the walled city, and not have to face a barrage of arrows from the gateway.

________________________________

A model of the compartments in the gateway at Lachish. 

This is a model of the gateway at Gezer, 
a city to the south of Lachish, but it shows 
a design common to many 
fortified cities of the time, including Lachish

Reconstruction of similar walls at Nineveh

Excavated stone top of pillar from Lachish

This is a mural by Franz Matsch of 'The Triumph of Achilles'. In the background are the walls of Troy - not Lachish of course, 
but with similar fortified walls

Image of battering ram and archers from the walls of Nineveh. 

Sling-shot ammunition

Stones with holes for rope, used to dislodge ladders placed against the walls 

WEAPONS

Assyrian rulers glorified war. They developed specialized corps - cavalry, sappers, combat engineers, snipers, aquatic units. They also had the latest weapons and strategies. 
Terror was also a potent weapon - see the impaled captives at top left of image (left). Prisoners-of-war were tortured and killed near the city walls, to demoralize the people trapped there.

These arrow heads were excavated at Lachish. 

Battering-ram, sappers and archers 
from the Lachish relief. 
Chains with hooks were used to catch 
and dislodge the battering ram. 

This panel from the Lachish relief in the British Museum shows  the city under attack from a battering ram (center right), showing that the main attack was on the walls rather than the gates

The city walls of Lachish being stormed 
by invading soldiers

THE BATTLE

The Assyrian wall friezes show the deadly  battle for Lachish. In a series of scenes, 

• the Assyrian infantry storms the walls of Lachish, while rows of archers take aim at the defenders on the walls

• they raise their shields while trying to heave the scaling ladders up

• some lose their footing and hurtle to earth.

• bodies pile up 

• screams and smoke fill the air, but still the battering rams pound at the walls

• the outer walls of the city are stormed 

• Assyrian battering rams and siege machines advance and then penetrate the walls 

• Judean captives are marched out of the city, while others are stripped naked and impaled on the Assyrian spears 

• the captives are tortured and murdered 

• then in the last panel King Sennacherib sits on his throne, receiving the servile captives and the booty taken from Lachish. 

Wall relief showing the storming of Lachish

In the upper panel, captives being taken from Lachish. 
In the lower panel, Sennacherib 
in his war chariot

Torture of captives after the city was taken; these particular captives are being flayed (stripped of their skin)

An ostracon from Lachish

MASSACRE

What happened then?

The people inside the walls must have been terrified, huddling as a last resort in the palace complex that sits just to the left inside the gate complex. 

Arrowheads, sling-stones and the crest of an Assyrian helmet offer hints of the tumult and destruction.

The residents were right to be afraid, for gruesome fates awaited them. They were uprooted, tortured, led away with bags over their heads, with limbs lopped off, with rings in their noses or lips. Some were impaled on spikes, some had their skin torn off. The evidence of the mass grave suggests that only the strong were allowed to survive, to be used as slaves. Women, the elderly and children were no use.

Inside Lachish's walls, there is evidence of fierce burning - the city was put to the torch, so that even people hiding in secret places would die. 

Using Lachish as a base, the Assyrian army then moved into the hills around Jerusalem, but according to II Kings (20:35), it was smitten by an angel of God and retreated. Perhaps Sennacherib simply thought his job was done, and that he could extract no more ransom from the cities of Judah.

Eventually Lachish was rebuilt, again became the southwest guardian of Judah and about a hundred years later faced a new enemy, the Babylonians.

The Babylonian attack on Lachish would be the coup de grace. The evidence, though sparse, is chilling and poignant. Archaeologists found ostraca, fragments of inscribed pottery, in a ruined guardhouse. They paint an increasingly desperate picture, as the commander of the Lachish soldiers begs for help. One reads "Let my lord know that we are watching over the beacon of Lachish, according to the signals which my lord gave, for Azeka is not to be seen."

That one simple message says it all: Lachish was isolated and doomed as the Babylonian onslaught approached. 

The remains of a temple that was burnt 
with the rest of the city a little after 1200BC

Archaeological scale drawing of the central, most sacred area of the Temple

THE TEMPLE

Two temples are known at Lachish. 

• Finds from the Fosse Temple, at the western foot of the mound, include sacred vessels, offering bowls and imported items of pottery, faience and ivory, all evidence of wealth. 

• The temple on the acropolis, with Egyptian architectural elements, included an entrance chamber, a main hall (16 x 13 m.) and a raised holy of holies. Two octagonal stone columns supported the wooden ceiling, while the walls were decorated with painted plaster.

 Stairs leading to the sanctuary

Floor-plan of the Temple

Houses in Lachish would have had a central courtyard with a number of rooms opening off it. The rooms would have seemed very small to us - they could only be as wide as the beams that supported the roof. They would also have been stuffy, since there was a minimum of windows. There was of course no glass in the windows: lattice work and shutters covered the openings.

Stairs or a wooden ladder led up onto a flat roof, which was used as an outdoor room partly shaded by woven matting. This space and the courtyard were the main work areas, since they were the only well-lit places. Tasks performed here included 

• spinning and weaving

• food preparation

• sleeping

• drying food or textiles. 

The houses would have been crowded with people at all times of the day and night. There was virtually no privacy - anything a person did, no matter how intimate, was done in the presence of others.

A palace-fortress was built on the acropolis and probably served as the residence of the governor appointed by the King of Judah. During the 8th century BC a new wing was added, enlarging the palace to 76 x 36m. Next to the palace was a courtyard with stables and storerooms; the whole complex was surrounded by a wall with a gatehouse.

Aerial view of the tel of Lachish. 
The siege ramp is on 
the lower right side of the tel. 
Burnt walls and broken vessels are evidence of the disastrous fate its people suffered at the hands of the Assyrians

Ground plan of excavations at Lachish

THE PALACE

A palace and its support buildings  dominated the center of the city. There was 

• a large residential building 

• a row of six storerooms

• an entrance building

• an open courtyard.

The entrance to the buildings was via an open stairway leading from the large courtyard. A street led directly from the city entrance to the entrance gate of the palace.

Lachish was an important center of royal administration. The palace seemed to be divided into three areas: a residential building for the governor who administered the surrounding land on behalf of the king; storage magazines for taxes paid in goods and products, or for provisioning of the army or of court officials; and quarters for servants and staff.

CITIES IN BIBLICAL TIMES 

Cities were protected by a ring of walls, with gates or posterns. The fortification could be a wall or a rampart. Inside the walls there were houses of varying shapes and sizes, but also monumental buildings that covered a substantial part of the area inside the wall. Among these were the temple and the palace, often at the center of the settlement or in a prominent position. All the houses were accessible via narrow streets.

Tel Lachish, the mound of the ancient city of Lachish, is located in the lowlands of the Judean Hills, some 40 km. southeast of Jerusalem. Abundant water sources and the fertile valleys of the area favored the existence of a prosperous city over a considerable period of time.

Canaanite Lachish was totally destroyed by fire (though rebuilt again and again) at the end of the 12th century BC. According to one theory, the destruction was wrought by the Philistines of the nearby Coastal Plain; according to another, more widely accepted theory, it was wrought by the Israelites, whose capture and destruction of the city is recorded in the Bible. (Joshua 10:31,32) 
It was a major city-state in Joshua's time.

THE DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB'S ARMY

by LORD BYRON

The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold,
And his cohorts were gleaming with purple and gold,
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea,
When the blue waves roll nightly on deep Galilee.

Like the leaves of the forest when summer is green,
That host with their banners at sunset were seen;
Like the leaves of the forest when autumn hath blown,
That host on the morrow lay withered and strown.

For the Angel of Death spread his wings on the blast,
And breathed in the face of the foe as he passed;
And the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill,
And their hearts but once heaved, and for ever were still.

And there lay the steed with his nostrils all wide,
But through them there rolled not the breath of his pride;
And the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf,
And cold as the spray of the rock-beating surf.

And there lay the rider, distorted and pale,
With the dew on his brow and the rust on his mail;
And the tents were all silent, the banners alone,
The lances unlifted, the trumpets unblown.

And the widows of Asshur are loud in their wail;
And the idols are broke in the temple of Baal;
And the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,
Hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord!

(describing an incident during the reign of King Hezekiah)

Joshua 10:5

REFERENCES TO LACHISH IN THE BIBLE

The King of Lachish besieges Gibeon 

'When King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai, and had utterly destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king,  and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, he became greatly frightened, because Gibeon was a large city, like one of the royal cities, and was larger than Ai, and all its men were warriors. 
So King Adoni-zedek of Jerusalem sent a message  to King Hoham of Hebron, to King Piram of Jarmuth, to King Japhia of Lachish, and to King Debir of Eglon, saying 'Come up and help me, and let us attack Gibeon; for it has made peace with Joshua and with the Israelites.'

Joshua 10.31,32

Joshua captures Lachish

'Next Joshua passed on from Libnah, and all Israel with him, to Lachish, and laid siege to it, and assaulted it. 
The Lord gave Lachish into the hand of Israel, and he took it on the second day, and struck it with the edge of the sword, and every person in it, as he had done to Libnah. 
Then King Horam of Gezer came up to help Lachish; and Joshua struck him and his people, leaving him no survivors. From Lachish Joshua passed on with all Israel to Eglon.'

Joshua 15:20, 39

Joshua gives Lachish and its territory to the tribe of Judah

'This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Judah according to their families....
In the Lowlands, Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, ....'

2 Chronicles 11:9

Lachish is fortified by Rehoboam, son of Solomon

'Rehoboam resided in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defense in Judah. He built up Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that are in Judah and in Benjamin.
He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. He also put large shields and spears in all the cities, and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.' 

2 Kings 14:19

The assassination of Amaziah 

'King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah lived fifteen years after the death of King Jehoash son of Jehoahaz of Israel. .... They made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem, and he fled to Lachish. But they sent after him to Lachish, and killed him there. They brought him on horses; he was buried in Jerusalem with his ancestors in the city of David.'

2 Kings 18:13-17

2  Chronicles 32:9

Lachish is besieged and conquered by Sennacherib

'In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. King Hezekiah of Judah sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying 'I have done wrong; withdraw from me; whatever you impose on me I will bear.'
The king of Assyria demanded of King Hezekiah of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the treasuries of the king's house. 
At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the doorposts that King Hezekiah of Judah had overlaid and gave it to the king of Assyria. 
The king of Assyria sent the Tartan (the Viceroy), the Rabsaris (Chief Eunuch), and the Rabshakeh (Chief Butler) with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem.'

 'After this, while King Sennacherib of Assyria was at Lachish with all his forces, he sent his servants to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah of Judah....'

Jeremiah 34:7

Lachish is besieged by Nebuchadnezzar 

'Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke all these words to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, when the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left, Lachish and Azekah; for these were the only fortified cities of Judah that remained.'

Micah 1:13

Micah's warning to Lachish

'Harness the steeds to the chariots, people of Lachish.' 

Get ready for war, says Micah. The dreaded invader Sennacherib is coming. He will destroy Lachish in 701BC. 
According to 2 Kings 18:13-16, The Assyrian king came into Palestine attacking and destroying as we went. He met and defeated a hastily-raised Egyptian army, then turned on Judah, reducing forty-six cities to rubble and deporting their people. He imprisoned Jezekiah, king of Judah 'like a bird in a cage'. Lachish was right in his path, the chief city in southwest Judah. It was a fortified chariot city - hence Micah's reference to harnessing the war chariots.

EXTRA WEBSITES - stories, pictures, reconstructions

War in Israel, siege and destruction of Lachish: BIBLE ARCHAEOLOGY: WAR

Nebuchadnezzar destroys the fortress of Lachish:  BIBLE TOP TEN: VILLAINS

Lachish, one of the cities of ancient Israel:  BIBLE ARCHAEOLOGY: CITIES 

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Lands and Cities of the Old and New Testament - Information for Travelers in Israel and Palestine - Bible Study Resource
Lachish: Walls and Fortifications, Gate Way, the Siege, and Weapons; archaeology