Bringing the Bible back: i24NEWS travels to the Elah Valley to uncover the ancient Judean fortress of Azekah

For 16 years, the Lautenschläger Azekah Expedition has excavated the ancient stronghold of Azekah in central Israel's Elah Valley, working to uncover one of the Kingdom of Judah's key fortresses. i24NEWS traveled to the site and spoke with the team’s directors to learn how their work persists, and in some cases thrives, amid the ongoing conflicts around the world.

Prof. Oded Lipschits, who directs the excavation and serves as dean of the Faculty of Humanities at Tel Aviv University, said the site's importance lies in its location on the border between the Judeans and the Philistines, and later between Judah and Israel to the north. "Anyone who wants to conquer Judah had to cross through this place," he said.

Tel Azekah is over 3,000 years old, and the team continues to make discoveries from across the millennia, including stamp impressions, weights, jewelry, game boxes, weapons, and other finds which Lipschits says tie the site directly to biblical history. It’s not just what’s above ground either. Tel Azekah maintains its own subterranean world. Underneath the large mound is a system full of caves and installations, which will be part of the team’s focus for coming excavation seasons.

"This is a really exciting thing because it's bringing the Bible back; it's bringing the Judean history of the site," Lipchits exclaimed.

A stronghold recorded in biblical and Assyrian texts

Azekah's occupation spans roughly 3,500 years, beginning in the Early Bronze Age, when the site was first settled. It became a strongly fortified, urban city during the Middle Bronze Age (2000-1550 BCE) before its destruction at the end of the Late Bronze Age. After a period of abandonment, it was resettled during the Iron II period (1000-586 BCE) and flourished as a Judean town.

The fortress’s history stretches into some of the best-known narratives of the Hebrew Bible. The book of Joshua lists the city among the towns allotted to the tribe of Judah in the western foothills, naming it alongside Eshtaol, Zorah and Jarmuth as one of "fourteen towns and their villages" (Joshua 15:33-36).

First Samuel 17 places Azekah at the staging ground for the battle between David and Goliath: "Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah” (1 Samuel 17:1).

The fortress also appears in Assyrian records. In 701 BC, King Sennacherib of Assyria recorded his campaign through Judah on the Taylor Prism after King Hezekiah refused to submit to Assyrian rule; one of the cities he claims to have destroyed was Azekah. The City was described as being “Situated upon a mountain peak. Like the blades of daggers without number, they rise high into the heavens... were well fortified and rival high mountains."

Azekah's destruction under Sennacherib was not the end of the city. Jeremiah 34:7 describes Azekah and Lachish as the only fortified cities of Judah. The city would go on to be repopulated by Greeks, Romans, Persians, and the Byzantines before it was forgotten.

Finding the forgotten fortress

The site was left forgotten until the excavations of British archaeologists F.J. Bliss and R.A.S. Macalister on behalf of the Palestine Exploration Fund between 1898 and 1899. Lipschits described their approach as "a very destructive method of archaeology" that damaged other sites they worked at, including Maresha and Gezer, and said it was long believed Azekah had suffered the same fate.

Time constraints forced the pair to abandon the project and backfill it, and for more than a century afterward, most archaeologists believed the site had been fully excavated.

Renewed excavations began in 2012 under Lipschits, Yuval Gadot and Heidelberg University's Manfred Oeming. Dr. Sabine Kleiman, who joined the project as a field director after three seasons as assistant supervisor at the nearby Ramat Rahel excavation, said the depth of prior work at Azekah makes it possible to date material from ceramics and even small potsherds in ways other sites do not allow.

"I can't do this on other sites. It's a big opportunity," Sabine said.

The project has since grown to include archaeologists, historians, scientists and students from Germany, the Czech Republic, Italy, Malta, the United Kingdom, Spain, China, Indonesia, Australia, Canada and the United States.

Fighting the learning amid war and uncertainty

But the dig has not been immune to the region's conflicts. Kleiman said the team has continued excavating every year, including during the COVID pandemic and the wars with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran that followed October 7, though it has been difficult.

"We were not able to really get a hold on good grants, which we usually would go for from abroad," Kleiman explained, noting the excavation now operates with far fewer volunteers than in past seasons.

"Usually we would have in this area 20 volunteers working," she said, describing a crew that has shrunk to two. She said she does not yet feel the strain but expects to "in the long run."

Looking toward the future

Despite the war's toll on funding and staffing, Kleiman said Azekah already draws busloads of school visitors to its lookout point to hear the story of David and Goliath, though she said they currently arrive, hear the story and leave. She said she hopes visitors will eventually be able to buy refreshments on site.

Lipschits said his dream is for visitors within about four years to walk through the citadel's high walls and inner structures and along the street surrounding the fortress, calling it a future "pearl" among Israel's archaeological sites.