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Lachish Fortifications and State Formation in the Biblical Kingdom of Judah in Light of Radiometric Datings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 April 2019

Yosef Garfinkel ,
Michael G Hasel ,
Martin G Klingbeil ,
Hoo-Goo Kang ,
Gwanghyun Choi ,
Sang-Yeup Chang ,
Soonhwa Hong ,
Saar Ganor ,
Igor Kreimerman  and
Christopher Bronk Ramsey
Yosef Garfinkel*
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
Michael G Hasel
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, Southern Adventist University, USA
Martin G Klingbeil
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, Southern Adventist University, USA
Hoo-Goo Kang
Affiliation:
Seoul Jangsin University, Korea
Gwanghyun Choi
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
Sang-Yeup Chang
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
Soonhwa Hong
Affiliation:
Institute of Bible Geography of Korea, Korea
Saar Ganor
Affiliation:
Israel Antiquities Authority, Israel
Igor Kreimerman
Affiliation:
Institute of Archaeology, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
Christopher Bronk Ramsey
Affiliation:
Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, UK
*
*Corresponding author. Email: garfinkel@mscc.huji.ac.il.
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Abstract

When and where the process of state formation took place in the biblical kingdom of Judah is heavily debated. Our regional project in the southwestern part of Judah, carried out from 2007 to the present, includes the excavation of three Iron Age sites: Khirbet Qeiyafa, Tel Lachish, and Khirbet al-Ra’i. New cultural horizons and new fortification systems have been uncovered, and these discoveries have been dated by 59 radiometric determinations. The controversial question of when the kingdom was able to build a fortified city at Lachish, its foremost center after Jerusalem, is now resolved thanks to the excavation of a previously unknown city wall, dated by radiocarbon (14C) to the second half of the 10th century BCE.

Keywords

Iron AgeKingdom of JudahKhirbet al-Ra’iKhirbet QeiyafaLachishradiometric chronology
Type
Research Article
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 61 , Issue 3 , June 2019 , pp. 695 - 712
Copyright
© 2019 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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