Excavations at Tel Lachish and the List of Rehoboam's Fortifications in 2 Chronicles 11

The list of King Rehoboam's fortifications in 2 Chronicles 11 attributes the construction of fifteen fortified cities to the king. This list is exceptional, as no other king of Judah or Israel is credited with such a massive building campaign. Is the list authentic, and does it reflect a historical memory? Some scholars have suggested that the list dates to the reigns of King Hezekiah or King Josiah, or even to the time of the Hellenistic king John Hyrcanus. However, new excavations I conducted at Tel Lachish, a city included in the list, indicate that the site was indeed fortified during the reign of King Rehoboam, thereby lending historical credibility to the list.

Prof. Yosef Garfinkel is an archaeologist whose research has ranged from the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods to the archaeology of the biblical world, with particular attention in recent decades to the relationship between archaeology and the early Kingdom of Judah. His major field projects have included Sha'ar Hagolan, Khirbet Qeiyafa, Tel Lachish, and Khirbet al-Ra'i. His work on tenth-century BCE settlement, fortifications, urban planning, inscriptions, and state formation has been central to current debates concerning Judah in the Iron Age and the archaeological context of biblical traditions.

Prof. Yosef Garfinkel is Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and formerly held the Yigael Yadin Chair in Archaeology of Israel. He was trained at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in archaeology, geography, prehistory, and biblical archaeology. His doctoral research focused on the material culture of the Pottery Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic periods.

His early research concentrated on the protohistoric archaeology of the Southern Levant, including major excavations at Sha'ar Hagolan. From 2007 onward, a major part of his work has focused on archaeology and the biblical world, particularly the emergence and territorial development of the Kingdom of Judah in the tenth and ninth centuries BCE.

He directed excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa from 2007 to 2013, excavated at Tel Lachish in 2013–2017, directed work at Khirbet al-Ra'i in 2015–2021, and returned to excavations at Lachish from 2022. His research addresses settlement patterns, fortified cities, urban planning, inscriptions, cultic objects, chronology, and state formation in ancient Judah.