Azekah

Azeka

עזקה‎
Tel Azekah
Shown within Israel
Alternate name	Tel Azeka
Location	Israel
Coordinates	31°42′01″N 34°56′08″E / 31.700348°N 34.9356651°E / 31.700348; 34.9356651

Azekah (Hebrew: עזקה‎, ʿazeqah) was a town in the Shephelah guarding the upper reaches of the Valley of Elah, about 26 km (16 mi) northwest of Hebron. The current tell (ruin) by that name has been identified with the biblical Azekah, dating back to the Canaanite period. Today, the site lies on the purlieu of Britannia Park. According to Epiphanius of Salamis, the name meant "white" in the Canaanite tongue. The tell is pear shaped with the tip pointing northward. Due to its location in the Elah Valley it functioned as one of the main Judahite border cities, sitting on the boundary between the lower and higher Shephelah. Although listed in Joshua 15:35 as being a city in the plain, it is actually partly in the hill country, partly in the plain.

In the Bible, it is said to be the place where the Amorite kings were defeated by Joshua, and their army destroyed by a hailstorm (Joshua 10:10-11). It was given to the tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:20). In the time of Saul, the Philistines massed their forces between Sokho and Azekah, putting forth Goliath as their champion (1 Samuel 17). Rehoboam fortified the town in his reign, along with Lachish and other strategic sites (2 Chronicles 11:5-10). Lachish and Azekah were the last two towns to fall to the Babylonians before the overthrow of Jerusalem itself (Jeremiah 34:6-7). It was one of the places re-occupied by the people on the return from the Captivity (Nehemiah 11:30).