The Khirbet Qeiyafa excavation is wrapping up this summer and excavators Yosef Garfinkel and Michael Hasel have just announced their next dig site. The excavation is moving to Lachish. They will proceed with surveying and test pits this summer followed by several years of full excavation seasons beginning in the summer of 2014.
Lachish was the second city of Judah during much of Iron IIB – the Divided Kingdom period. It guarded Judah’s southwest border and projected royal power at a fair distance from the capital. The biblical text states that Rehoboam fortified it as part of his building program following the division of the Israelite kingdom.
The Assyrian king Sennacherib took Lachish during his late-8th century campaign in the reign of Hezekiah. (2 Kings 18:13ff)His conquest of Lachish (not Jerusalem!) was lavishly displayed in reliefs along his palace walls. These panels can be seen today in the British Museum in London.
Tel Lachish has been previously excavated, most recently by scholars from Tel Aviv University. This new excavation by the Hebrew and Southern Adventist Universities will seek more information on Judah during the 10th and 9th centuries B.C. (the United and early Divided kingdom periods). There are many archaeological blanks for this period in Judah. This dig will seek to fill them with fresh information.
Lachish is an excellent juncture of the biblical text, extra-biblical historical sources, and archaeology. All three of these converge in the Assyrian destruction by Sennacherib. This new dig there should be exciting, to say the least. Are you ready to participate? You have a year and a half to prepare. Start planning now.
Bible, Archaeology, and Travel with Luke Chandler 
I was a little confused when I saw the picture and then the title of the post. I knew that this was not Khirbet Qeiyafa. I visited Tel Lachish last summer with Ferrel Jenkins and recognized the picture. This sounds like it will be a good dig. I have Soccoh in the back of my mind, but this might be another option for my first dig.
I’ve lectured at Tel Lachish several times, and am thrilled that the site is to receive further scientific investigation.
I hope the Lachish dig helps rectify Thiele’s chronology of the Hezekiah period. Assyria’s invasion of Judah is usually dated 701 BCE but I think 710 BCE is more realistic.
I WENT THERE SEP/16 THERE WAS NOTHING TO TELL YOU ABOUT THE PLACE I THINK ISRAEL TOURIST BOARD SHOULD TRY TO AT LEAST HAVE A MAP WITH SHORT HISTORY OF SITES
The site is still fairly new but I understand there are plans to develop Khirbet Qeiyafa for visitors in the near future. The area is being designated a National Park and should receive signage and better road access. Perhaps your next visit will see these improvements in place.
Thanks for commenting, and I hope you will enjoy the site in the future.