CITY, PALACE, TEMPLE

Skull bones from Lachish

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?

The theory is that these people died in mass executions that followed the capture of Lachish, when the army of Sennacherib steam-rolled over Judah in 701BC. 

But why were the bodies mainly women and children?

The unpleasant truth may be that these vulnerable people were offered safe passage away from Lachish at the height of the siege.

Desperate, they accepted the offer, only to be hacked to pieces by the waiting enemy soldiers - while their sons, husbands and fathers watched helplessly from the walls. Their pitiful bodies were hurled into an open pit, covered with soil - and the fighting went on.

Tel Lachish, with siege ramp

   Why did it happen?

The Assyrian empire was vast. It stretched from east of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to the Mediterranean Sea, and from below the Black Sea south to Gaza and the Sinai Desert.

The only power that challenged it was Egypt.

Unhappily for little Judah, it lay sandwiched between these two great powers, on the highway between Assyria and Egypt.

To keep its supply lines open when it went to war with Egypt, Assyria had to squash Judah like a bug - and destroy Lachish, which lay directly across the route Sennacherib would take.

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

Lachish was not an easy target. Cities at that time were protected by a ring of walls, with massive gates - needed to protect what was inside: the accumulated temple treasure and the wealth inside the Palace.

THE TEMPLE

Ancient temple, Lachish

Archaeological digs show there were at least two temples at Lachish, both of them wealthy:

• the Fosse Temple, at the western foot of the mound; excavations unearthed sacred vessels, offering bowls and imported items of pottery, faience and ivory
• the temple on the acropolis, which had an entrance chamber, a main hall (16m x 13m) and a raised Holy of Holies. Two octagonal stone columns supported the wooden ceiling, while the walls were decorated with painted plaster. 

THE PALACE

A large palace and its support buildings dominated the center of the city. It contained

• an extensive residential building 
• a row of six storerooms
• an entrance building
• an open courtyard at the front, with stairs leading upwards towards the entrance.

The palace itself was 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
• quarters for servants and staff.

HOW DO WE KNOW? WHAT'S THE EVIDENCE?

Lachish was rich, and Sennacherib saw its capture as a significant military victory, something that made good propaganda for him.

Assyrian wall relief

After the battle, he lined the walls of his palace in Nineveh with graphic images of the battle for Lachish, and the bloodbath that followed its capture.

So in archaeological terms the destruction of Lachish is documented by: 

• the wall reliefs from the palace in Nineveh
• the Bible account
• the excavated remains of this doomed city.

Go to 'THE SIEGE' to see what happened...

   Wall relief, image of an Assyrian king, showing clothing and weapons