Zedekiah's Covenant (34:1-22) 553ti on, was also without inhabitants ( 4:4-6). The suggestion has been made that
the outpost sending the letters was Mareshah (Marisa), identified with Tell es-
~andaJ.ianna (NEAEHL 3: 948-51; OEANE 3: 412-13), five kilometers north-
east of Lachish and one kilometer south of Beth Guvrin (Begin and Grushka
1999; Begin 2002). Begin argues that the commander is unable to see Aze-
kah because it is not in his field of vision, therefore he is awaiting signals from
Lachish, which is in his field of vision. One cannot therefore conclude that
Azekah has fallen. Mareshah, also fortified by Rehoboam, figured prominently
in the Hasmonean wars (2 Chr 11:8-9; cf. 1 Mace 5:66; 2 Mace 12:35). For a
report on the discovery of the Lachish Letters, with early translation and com-
ment, see Albright 1936; 1938; 1941 b. Albright dated the Lachish Letters to the
summer of 589 B.C. and the destruction of Lachish to the fall, after the autumn
olive harvest (1936: 15). But the dates may have been a year or two later. Aze-
kah presumably also fell before Jerusalem did in 586 B.C.
In a burial cave at Khirbet Beit Lei, eight kilometers east of Lachish, a care-
lessly incised inscription was discovered that may date to Nebuchadrezzar's
final destruction of Judah in 588-586 B.C. (Avigad 1979: 25). Naveh ( 1963: 84)
translates the inscription: "Yahweh (is) the God of the whole earth; the moun-
tains of Judah belong to him, to the God of Jerusalem." If this translation is cor-
rect, we have a confession similar to the divine self-asseveration in 27: 5 (see
Note there). Cross ( 1970: 299-302) gives a somewhat different reading: "I am
Yahweh thy God; I will accept the cities of Judah and will redeem Jerusalem."
It appears, in any case, that refugees hiding near Lachish in this dark hour were
expressing faith in Yahweh, the God to whom Jerusalem ultimately belongs.
Lachish. During -the seventh and early. sixth centuries B.C., the second ~ost
important city in Judah after Jerusalem (Stern 2001: 143). Lachish is now
identified with Tell ed-Duweir (Tel Lachish), an imposing 30-acre site in the
Shephelah some 23 miles southwest of Jerusalem, situated near the Wadi Ghafr,
along which a main route in antiquity passed between the coastal plain and the
Hebron hills. Tell ed-Duweir was excavated by J. L. Starkey and the Wellcome-
Marston Research Expedition from 1932 to 1938, confirming Albright's identi-
fication of the site. Prior to this time, Lachish was thought to be Tell el-I:Iesi.
Excavations at Tell ed-Duweir turned up evidence of Iron II occupation, as
well as the city's destruction by Sennacherib in 701 B.C. and by Nebuchadrez-
zar in 589-587 B.C. In 1935, Starkey found the sensational Lachish Letters bur-
ied in the city gate. For a history of biblical Lachish and a summary of the early
archaeological work at Tell ed-Duweir, see G. E. Wright l 938b. For a more
comprehensive report of archaeological work at the site during the past cen-
tury, including the excavations of Y. Aharoni in 1966 and 1968 and the exten-
sive excavations of Tel Aviv University directed by D. Ussishkin from 1973 to
1987, see Ussishkin 1978; 1983; idem, NEAEHL 3: 897-911; OEANE 3: 317-
23;ABD 4: 114-26.
Azekah. Ancient Azekah has long been identified with Tell Zakariya at the
northern end of a high ridge about 5.5 miles northeast of Beth Guvrin, in the
J udean Shephelah (Alt 1929: 2 3-2 4). The site is due west of Bethlehem, 11