Lachish
Name meaning: "who walks, or exists, of himself"
Lachish was a fortified royal city in the Shephelah, the lowland foothills of Judah, lying about 25 miles southwest of Jerusalem (Josh. 10:3). Its king Japhia joined the coalition against Gibeon and was defeated by Joshua, who took and destroyed the city (Josh. 10:31–32). It was later fortified by Rehoboam as a key defensive stronghold (2 Chr. 11:9). Sennacherib of Assyria besieged Lachish in 701 B.C. during his campaign against Hezekiah — an event depicted in detail on reliefs from Sennacherib's palace at Nineveh and confirmed by 2 Kings 18:14 and 2 Chronicles 32:9. The prophet Micah singled it out as the "beginning of sin" for Jerusalem (Mic. 1:13). Archaeological excavations at Tell ed-Duweir have uncovered extensive evidence of destruction from both the Assyrian and the subsequent Babylonian siege under Nebuchadnezzar (Jer. 34:7).