Clouds covered the tell 1 we had climbed earlier. Sunrays began to break through the mist. Just a half hour later the sun would transform a pleasant morning into a hot and sweaty day. Now, however, the air still felt fresh, and silence prevailed. In fact, staff and volunteers of the fourth expedition to Lachish from Southern Adventist University in Tennessee, U.S.A., listened intently to a worship talk before vigorous excavating, heavy lifting, careful sifting, and meticulous documenting would transform the morning’s silence into another busy day on the tell.
By Gerald A. Klingbeil
SANDBAGGING HISTORY: An overview of Area A of the Fourth Expedition to Lachish. The sandbags help to stabilize the excavation squares.
HISTORY IN HAND: Volunteer Kiersta Mackey holds a storage jar handle stamped with the seal of the king. Above: POTTERY READING: Excavation directors and others interpret the day’s pottery finds in order to establish a site chronology.
"Recovering the past tells us about the God of the future."
The morning was very silent.
Clouds covered the tell1 we had climbed earlier. Sunrays began to break through the mist. Just a half hour later the sun would transform a pleasant morning into a hot and sweaty day. Now, however, the air still felt fresh, and silence prevailed. In fact, staff and volunteers of the fourth expedition to Lachish from Southern Adventist University in Tennessee, U.S.A., listened intently to a worship talk before vigorous excavating, heavy lifting, careful sifting, and meticulous documenting would transform the morning’s silence into another busy day on the tell.
Why Do They Dig?
Seventh-day Adventists have always been interested in archaeological research. In fact, most scholars working in ancient Near Eastern archaeology (including sites in Israel, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, etc.) would recognize the leadership of Adventist archaeologists working in the field. Beginning with the excavation of Tell Hesban in Jordan by Andrews University under the leadership of Siegfried Horn in 1968, excavations led by Adventist archaeologists and institutions have always been at the cutting edge of archaeological research and technology. Early on, these excavators recognized the importance of a multidisciplinary approach and began to look beyond architectural remains, artifacts, and pottery. This careful integration of all types of data (including bone remains, faunal and floral remains, survey results, etc.) is still the trademark of Adventist archaeological projects. 2
Why invest significant funds to discover more about the past, some may ask. First of all, biblical archaeology focuses upon the lands of the Bible during biblical times. While the denomination “biblical archaeology” may not be in vogue anymore (most scholars now use “ancient Near Eastern archaeology” or “Syro-Palestinian archaeology”), Yossi Garfinkel, one of the three codirectors of the expedition and professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, feels that “biblical archaeology connects better than any other term.” “If you are a car manufacturer and your name is Mercedes, you are not going to change it just because somebody in Copenhagen thinks that biblical archaeology is not the right term,” he continues with a smile. The focus on the reality of biblical history and events narrated in Scripture anchors a discipline that is constantly seeking to illuminate the distant past. Daniella Hasel, high-school aged volunteer, puts it succinctly: “We see that biblical history is actually real.” Real people, real places, real encounters with a God who chose a group of people, living on a relatively small stretch of land connecting Asia and Africa, to tell the world about salvation and the answer to those deep questions that keep us awake at night.
Another volunteer, Malcolm Douglas, who pastors an Adventist church in Arizona, summarizes this nicely: “Archaeology doesn’t prove the Bible, but it certainly helps to validate the things that we do believe about the Bible.” Or, put differently, archaeology is not just a scientific enterprise. It seeks to link to the mission of the church, “thus bringing to life God’s Word for His people,” Martin Klingbeil, a codirector of the expedition and associate director of Southern’s Institute of Archaeology, underlines.
Tell Lachish is one of the major sites in Israel and covers approximately 12.5 hectares (31 acres). In fact, archaeologists tell us that it was the second-largest city in Judah during the biblical period. Located in the southern Shephelah, a geographical region connecting the coastal plain of Palestine with the Judean highland surrounding Jerusalem, the town was very important during Israel’s monarchic period. The site was identified in 1929 and has been the focus of three major excavation projects.
The fourth expedition to Lachish is particularly interested in the early period of Judah following the united monarchy of David and Solomon, a period that has been heatedly debated by historians and archaeologists during the past 20 years.3 Since it was the third expedition to Lachish by an archaeological team from Tel Aviv University, Israel, in the 1970s and 1980s that resulted in a revised chronology of Israel, the directors of the fourth expedition to Lachish felt that Lachish represents the key to clarify these important chronological issues.
“One of our reasons for coming back here,” says Michael Hasel, a codirector of the expedition and director of the Institute of Archaeology at Southern, “is to clarify the dating of he Iron Age, because the site was excavated during a time when we didn’t have a lot of high-precision dating methods.” While most excavators focused upon the upper levels, the lower levels dealing with Judah’s earliest history have not been systematically exposed.
Lachish’s most famous moment in biblical history is documented on reliefs that come from an Assyrian palace in Niniveh. In 701 B.C. Lachish was conquered by the Assyrian king Sennacherib, who took the highly fortified city by building an imposing siege ramp that can still be seen today. The story is told in a large series of reliefs on display at the British Museum in London and is also mentioned 2 Kings 18:14, 17; 19:8; and in Isaiah 36:2 and 37:8.
Nearly 130 years later the Babylonian forces destroyed the city again (Jer. 34:7), an event that is alluded to by an ostracon, a potsherd inscribed with ink, that was found during the first expedition to Lachish in the 1930s. The text mentions a series of watchtowers that apparently communicated by fire and reflects the anxiety that people living during the final Babylonian invasion must have felt. “Then it will be known that we are watching the (fire)-signals of Lachish according to the code which my lord gave us, for we cannot see Azeqah.”4 The last biblical reference to Lachish can be found in Nehemiah 11:30, describing a Jewish settlement of those who had returned from Babylon following the exile.
Looking Beyond Borders
Lachish is a great reminder of God’s engagement in history.
When Scripture tells us that God “stirred up the spirit of Cyrus” (Ezra 1:1) so that His people could finally return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple and the city, it really speaks about God’s sovereignty in human history.5 God is ultimately in control, and at times He even “gives” Jerusalem into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 1:2), making us wonder about His plan and purpose. He looks beyond borders and ethnic lines. When He needs action, he can commandeer a Nebuchadnezzar or a Cyrus. Digging Lachish also means digging into God’s history. We suddenly see the reality of divine intervention manifested in potsherds, city walls, and artifacts. We begin to connect dots—historical, cultural, and religious—and begin to catch a glimpse of the big picture.
The fourth expedition to Lachish, however, is not only interested in ancient history and God’s involvement in human affairs. It also wants to affirm international cooperation and seeks to empower Adventist scholars from institutions located in non-Western contexts to participate in archaeological research.
Martin Klingbeil remembers his first archaeological excavation with the Madaba Plains Project in 1998 while he was serving as a professor at the Adventist University in Bolivia. Earning an equivalent of US$250 a month, normal volunteer rates would have been impossible. Yet one of the sponsoring Adventist institutions gave him a scholarship and invited him to work as a square supervisor. “It was an eye-opening experience that helped me improve my teaching,” he remembers. Bringing back some objects that had been released by the excavation’s registrar, he spent time building a small exhibit with his students. “Just the excitement of the community as they shared in those finds, touched the objects—it made a huge impact and had a powerful ripple effect.”
Considering this special objective, Southern intentionally did significant fund-raising to help Adventist institutions located in the two-world majority to become consortium members. “We provide them with a package that is financially viable,” Klingbeil says. In this sense, The fourth expedition to Lachish is also a teaching excavation, allowing volunteers to experience a wide variety of tasks associated with archaeological research. Additionally, a daily lecture schedule by professors and weekend trips to important sites in Israel and Jordan enhance the learning experience of staff and volunteers.
As a result, the 62 members of the 2014 Southern excavation team at Lachish represented 14 different nationalities, including volunteers and staff from Bolivia, Canada, Peru, Venezuela, Brazil, Korea, Mexico, South Africa, Argentina, Spain, Germany, Austria, England, and the United States.
Keldie Paroschi, a theology major at the Adventist university in Sao Paolo, Brazil, summarizes her experience: “It’s fun; it’s hard work. It’s just exciting to find out what’s underneath and what stories are buried in the soil that we uncover.” Melissa Farrow, a community member from Collegedale, particularly liked the worships and tours that create connections—to God, to one another, and to Scripture.
Michael Sokupa, a lecturer in New Testament at Helderberg College in South Africa, appreciated the mix of experienced archaeologists working with volunteers. He can see the teaching function of the expedition transforming academic programs in South Africa. “We are hoping that in the future we will have some courses and eventually a program running in conjunction with Southern,” he said. “We hope that this will be the beginning for Africa, because at the moment, in the whole continent, there is no institution that has this kind of program.”
Another hot day has come and gone. Silence has returned to Tell Lachish. A glorious sunset bathes the hill in golden and purple hues. Volunteers and staff members of the fourth expedition to Lachish have finished their pottery washing. Tomorrow will be another day full of hard work, hot sun, and, possibly, exciting archaeological finds. Tomorrow, this and many other excavations around Israel and beyond will dig deep into history.
Tomorrow, like today, potsherds, architectural remains, and other artifacts will tell us something about real people, living in a real world. Cherie Lynn Olson, a recent graduate of Southern and one of the square supervisors at Lachish, got it right. “I believe in the Bible, and I’ve spent my whole life studying it. But coming here and getting to experience it at a whole new level, it’s pretty amazing. Now I’m talking about things that I’ve actually seen. You can’t give words to what that does for you.”
(image) MAKING A FIND: Bolivian Adventist University professor Segundo Teofilo Correa excavates a Babylonian destruction level.
(image) BIRD’S EYE VIEW: Aerial pictures taken by the drone provide a wonderful view of the excavation area.
1 A tell is an artificial mound that accumulated during many centuries of human habitation when periods of occupation followed abandonment and earlier periods of occupation.
2 Currently these projects include the continuing Madaba Plains Project in Jordan (encompassing Tell Hesban, Tell ’Umayri, and Tell Jalul and supported by Andrews University and La Sierra University together with other Adventist institutions), the excavation at Khirbet al-’Balul in Moab by Friedensau Adventist University, Germany, as well as earlier work done by Southern Adventist University in cooperation with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem at Tel Hazor from 2003 to 2007 and Khirbet Qeiyafa, Israel, from 2007 to 2013.
3 You can read more about the controversy in Michael G. Hasel, “Another Battle Over David and Goliath,” Adventist Review, Feb. 25, 2010, pp. 18-21.
4 Dennis Pardee, “Lachish Ostraca,” in Context of Scripture: Archival Documents From the Biblical World, ed. William W. Hallo (Leiden: Brill, 2002), vol. 3, p. 82.
5 The motif of God “stirring” or “moving” people—including leaders—is an important staple of biblical theology. Isaiah 41:2, 25 and Jeremiah 51:1, 11 employ the same Hebrew term referring to the future conqueror of Babylon, Cyrus, who is even named in Isaiah 44:28; 45:1.
Gerald A. Klingbeil is passionate about digging up the past and, together with his wife, Chantal, enjoyed a memorable week with the team of the fourth expedition to Lachish in July. When he is not digging, he serves as an associate editor of Adventist World magazine.