1 Samuel 30:1 Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire…
Joshua 15:20, 21, 31 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Judah according to their clans. The cities belonging to the tribe of the people of Judah in the extreme south, toward the boundary of Edom, were… (included) Ziklag.
Ziklag was a member of the tribe of Judah. He was a man who inherited a city when the ancient Israelis were given the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua. The word origin and meaning of Ziklag is relatively unknown.
Until recently, the actual location of ancient Ziklag has been a mystery and a point of controversy. But now, new evidence has emerged.
Under the leadership of Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, Head of the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem; the IAA’s Saar Ganor; and Dr. Kyle Keimer and Dr. Gil Davis of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, the location of Khirbet a-Ra‘i has been identified.
Khirbet a-Ra’i is between Lachish and Kiryat Gat. The site is approximately 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem.
This location is believed to be where David took refuge from King Saul.
Pottery discovered at the site is consistent with the era of King David.
See the link below from the Times of Israel for more details.
2 Chronicles 11:5-12 Rehoboam lived in Jerusalem, and he built cities for defense in Judah. He built Bethlehem, Etam, Tekoa, Beth-zur, Soco, Adullam, Gath, Mareshah, Ziph, Adoraim, Lachish, Azekah, Zorah, Aijalon, and Hebron, fortified cities that are in Judah and in Benjamin. He made the fortresses strong, and put commanders in them, and stores of food, oil, and wine. And he put shields and spears in all the cities and made them very strong. So he held Judah and Benjamin.
An ancient fortified wall has been recently discovered in Lachish.
Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, Head of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Institute of Archaeology recently made the following statements.
“We looked in three places, and ultimately, in the northern section, we found a wall between Layer 6 and Layer 4. Later the excavators reached a floor that stretches to the wall, which could be dated using olive pits found beneath the floors. Samples of the pits were sent to the particle accelerator at Oxford, which ruled that the wall had been built around 920 B.C.E., which was exactly the rule of Rehoboam, son of Solomon and grandson of David.”
See the links below from Haaretz and The Times of Israel for more details.
1 Samuel 27:5-7 Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let me be assigned a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. For why should your servant live in the royal city with you?” That day Achish gave him Ziklag, and to this day it still belongs to the kings of Judah. And the time that David lived in Philistine territory amounted to a year and four months.
And once again, the Bible confirms archaeology…
