Azekah is a biblical city identified with Tell Zakarîya, not far from Beth Shemesh. The tel is 45 dunams in size and was first identified by the geographer Rabbi Yehosef Schwartz in 1845 in his book “Tevuot Ha’aretz”. The identification was based on the geographical location fitting the biblical description and on the partial preservation of the name ‘Azekah’ in the name ‘Azakariya’, the name of the tel as it was known by Schwartz. This proposal was not accepted by all scholars, and some suggested identifying the site with biblical Socoh. In 1924 the American archaeologist William Albright opined that Tell Zakarîya should, indeed, be identified with Azekah, and his view has since been accepted by scholars.
History of the Excavations
The tel was first excavated by the American archaeologist Frederick Bliss together with the Scottish archaeologist Robert Macalister in the years 1898-1899. Since 2012 the tel is being excavated by a joint expedition from Tel Aviv University and Heidelberg University, led by Oded Lipschits and Manfred Oeming. The Ottoman-era excavation permits were given on the condition that at the end of the excavation the areas would be covered once again, and so the research of the joint expedition includes restoring and re-analyzing the findings from the Bliss-Macalister expedition.
A Canaanite city in the Bronze Age
The site was first settled in the Early Bronze III period (2800-2500 BCE) and remained continuously active until the Late Bronze age (1550-1130 BCE). During the Late Bronze age, Azekah was a magnificent Canaanite city indirectly controlled by Egypt. Findings from this period include a number of scarabs, pottery vessels decorated with animal designs, Egyptian amulets, Egyptian blue and a massive structure where four people were found to have been buried alive during the destruction of the city. This destruction occurred sometime during the second half of the 12th century BCE. Post-destruction, Azekah remained abandoned for the next 200 years.
Azkah in the Iron Age until its destruction during Sennacherib’s campaign
During the Iron IIA period (10th century BCE) a small rural settlement was built on the site. Findings from this era include a house that may belong to the ‘pillared house’ type, pottery vessels and a house-foundation offering (a bowl and a candle buried beneath the entrance of the house). These findings reveal that the people who lived at the site during this period had a significant affinity to the Canaanite culture that controlled the site during the Bronze Age. It is not known when Azekah was annexed into the Judahite Kingdom, but it occurred by the end of the 8th century BCE. By then, ‘LMLK’ jars, statuettes, loom weights and a formation of outer walls, possibly connected to a new fortification system or to an enemy siege system, appeared at the site. An Assyrian inscription from the time of Sennacherib mentioning Azekah testifies that the city was conquered and destroyed during his conquest of the Land of Judah, in 701 BCE.
Azkah after the destruction of Sennacherib
The settlement on the site was rebuilt during the Iron IIC period (7th-early 6th centuries BCE) in a small capacity. Findings from this period include a citadel that stood at the top of the tel and 14 stamped vessel handles. According to the ‘Lachish Letters’, it seems that during this era Azekah was part of a system of Judahite forts which included Lachish and another, smaller unknown fort. Azekah is mentioned in Letter No. 4, which says: “May the LORD cause my lord to hear […] And may (my lord) be apprised that we are watching for the fire signals of Lachish according to all the signs which my lord has given, because we cannot see Azekah.” This letter was sent by Hoshayahu, the commander of the unknown fort, to Ya’ush, the commander of the citadel at Lachish. It is unknown whether this letter was a standard military procedure which announced that the soldiers of the fort depended upon the torches of Lachish, or whether this was an emergency report alerting that the torches of Azekah could no longer be seen because the citadel there had been destroyed by the Babylonians.
Azekah in the Babylonian, Persian, Hellenistic and Roman Periods
During the Babylonian period (the first half of the 6th century BCE) the site became even smaller. It only grew into a large village during the late Persian period (4th-3rd centuries BCE). This village was probably part of the Yehud Province. Among the findings from this period may be counted a number of structures, a kiln, and pottery vessels typical of the Yehud Province. The site was abandoned around the end of the 3rd century BCE and resettled during the 2nd century BCE, until it was abandoned once again after the Bar Kokhba Revolt.
Sources
F. J. Bliss and R. A. S. Macalister, Excavations in Palestine During the Years 1898-1900, London 1902
O. Lipschits et al, ‘Five Seasons of Excavations at Tel Azekah: Expectations, Findings and Surprises’, Qadmoniyot 156 (2018), pp. 84-99 [Hebrew]
O. Lipschits et al, ‘Tel Azekah – 2019’, Hadashot Hadashot Arkheologiyot 133 (2021) [published online at the ‘Hadashot Arkheologiyot’ website]
O. Lipschits et al, ‘The Last Days of Canaanite Azekah’, Biblical Archaeology Review, 45 (2019), pp. 32-38; 70
Y. Schwartz, Tevuot Ha’aretz (Which is part II of the Book Divrei Yosef), Jerusalem 1900 [Hebrew]