Location and History of Azekah
Tel Azekah is located on the northern edge of a ridge running north-south dividing the region and forms the boundary between the higher Shephelah to the east and the lower Shephelah to the west. Its unique geographical position sets it as one of the principal Judahite border localities (Lipschits, Godot and Oeming 2017). The name Azekah was first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (Josh 10:10–11; 15:20; 1 Sam 17:1; Jer 34:6–7; Neh 11:30; Chr 11:5–10). Tel Zakariya was identified as biblical Azekah by Schwartz in the middle of the 19th century (Stern 1993).
Tel Azekah Excavation
Tel Azekah was firstly excavated in 1898 and 1899 by Bliss and Macalister. In the last quarter of the twentieth century, a regional survey of the Shephelah which included Azekah was conducted by Dagan in 2000. Another intensive survey in 2009 was conducted by Emmanuilov as a part of the preparations for the renewed excavations. Following the survey, the Lautenschläger Azekah expedition has been conducted since 2012, directed by Prof. Lipschits, Prof. Gadot, and Prof. Oeming under the auspice of Tel Aviv and Heidelberg Universities.
Geology of Azekah
Tel Azekah is situated in the Shephelah, in an intermediate geographical zone between the southern coastal plain to the west and the Judean Hills to the east (Dagan 2004). The most prominent characteristic of the Shephelah's geology is the soft chalky-marl covered by a meter of harder carbonated crust, known as nāri, formulated by erosion and deposition processes in the Mediterranean climate of the Shephelah (Buchbinder and Gvirzman 1978: 15). The landscape of the Shephelah region can be subdivided in two ways. The broad valley of Nahal HaEla divides between the Northern and Southern Shephelah. On the one hand, a north-south ridge created due to the sea's abrasion process in this area during the Miocene epoch divides the Higher Shephelah to the east-west and Lower Shephelah to the west (Dagan 2000). Not only does this ridge set a line of the major rivers that drain the Shephelah, but it also lets the major archaeological sites of the region stand (Marcus 2001). The ancient Miocene ocean's shoreline at the Shephelah has shaped many of the topography visible today. The most identical height of the hilltops found in the lower Shephelah is due to them being submerged under this ancient ocean. Furthermore, oceanic conglomerates formed during the Miocene can be found on these hilltops, much like those typical of coastal regions (Marcus 2001). Solis and alluvial sediments around the site and in the nearby valleys are likely to be rich in clay sediments and, therefore, potential raw materials for ceramics production (Kleiman 2020).
Contributor: Yeonsuk Lee, August 2021
