Azekah

A town in the agricultural plain known as the Shephelah. It existed at least as early as the conquest of Canaan (the Promised Land), since Joshua drove the alliance of Amorite kings to Azekah (Joshua 10:10, 22). It is also mentioned in the story of the encounter of David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17:1). Archaeological digs have shown that Azekah was heavily defended with a system of underground refuge chambers (2 Chronicles 11:9, 11). Azekah, Lachish, and Jerusalem are mentioned as the only remaining walled cities of the southern kingdom of Judah at the time of Nebuchadnezzar’s attack on Jerusalem (Jeremiah 34:7). Some returnees from the exile in Babylon moved into Azekah (Nehemiah 11:30). Today it is known as Tell Zakariyeh.