ABSTRACT
But perhaps the site is most famous for its occurrence in one of the letters found in the destroyed remains of a guardhouse at Lachish. The destruction is credited to the Babylonians and took place early in the sixth century BCE. The ostracon is believed by most scholars to have been written by an officer in charge of an outpost located somewhere between Azekah and Lachish. The letter reads: “And let (my lord) know that we are watching for the signals of Lachish, according to all the indications which my lord has given, for we cannot see Azekah” (ANET, 1969: 322; however, for a different interpretation of the Lachish Letter, see Yadin, 1984). Related to this extra-biblical text is Jeremiah 34: 7. This prophetic passage claims that except for Jerusalem, the only two fortified cities left in Judah are Lachish and Azekah.
