Editing Tel Lachish (section)

===Garfinkel expedition (2013)===
In 2013, a fourth expedition to Lachish was begun under the direction of [[Yosef Garfinkel]], Michael G. Hasel, and Martin G. Klingbeil to investigate the Iron Age history of the site on behalf of the Institute of Archaeology, The [[Hebrew University]] of Jerusalem, and the Institute of Archaeology, [[Southern Adventist University]]. Other consortium institutions include [[Virginia Commonwealth University]], [[Oakland University]] and Korea Biblical Geography Research Institute.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/khirbet-qeiyafa-and-tel-lachish-excavations-explore-early-kingdom-of-judah |title=Khirbet Qeiyafa and Tel Lachish Excavations Explore Early Kingdom of Judah: After seven seasons at Khirbet Qeiyafa, the team heads to Lachish |first=Noah |last=Wiener |date=November 8, 2013 |access-date=January 30, 2018 |publisher=[[Biblical Archaeology Society]] |location=Washington, D.C.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www1.southern.edu/lachish/reports-and-publications/publications.html |publisher=Southern Adventist University |access-date=January 30, 2018 |title=Publications and Bibliography |date=nd |location=Collegedale, TN |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826173100/http://www1.southern.edu/lachish/reports-and-publications/publications.html |archive-date=August 26, 2016}}</ref> The excavations were concentrated in the northeast corner of the site near the location of the Middle Bronze Age gate and fortress.<ref>Garfinkel, Yosef, et al. "The Canaanite and Judean Cities of Lachish, Israel: Preliminary Report of the Fourth Expedition, 2013–2017.", ''American Journal of Archaeology'', vol. 125, no. 3, 2021, pp. 419–459, https://doi.org/10.3764/aja.125.3.0419</ref> In the topsoil, unstratified, was found a dark blue diorite scarab of the Egyptian New Kingdom period.<ref>Brand, Baruch, et al., "A DIORITE NEW KINGDOM SCARAB FROM TEL LACHISH." Ägypten Und Levante / Egypt and the Levant, vol. 29, 2019, pp. 159–170</ref>

In 2014, during the Fourth Expedition to Lachish, led by archaeologist [[Saar Ganor]], a small potsherd with letters from a 12th-century BCE alphabet, was found in the ruins of a Late Bronze Age temple. One researcher called it, a "once in a generation" find.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.ca/2015/12/potsherd-with-canaanite-inscription.html#pFvGYXgreEHrIMm7.97 |title=Potsherd With Canaanite Inscription Unearthed At Tel Lachish |date=December 12, 2017 |access-date=January 30, 2018}}</ref><ref name= C12jar>{{cite journal |series=The Fourth Expedition to Lachish |first1=Benjamin |last1=Sass |first2=Yosef |last2=Garfinkel |first3=Michael G. |last3=Hasel |first4=Martin G. |last4=Klingbeil |title=The Lachish Jar Sherd: An Early Alphabetic Inscription Discovered in 2014 |journal=Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research |volume=374 |issue=374 |year=2015 |pages=233–245 |doi=10.5615/bullamerschoorie.374.0233|s2cid=163289016 }}</ref><ref>[[Israel Antiquities Authority]], [http://www.antiquities.org.il/m_digs_eng.aspx?shana=2014 Excavators and Excavations Permit for Year 2014], Survey Permit # A-7073</ref>

A fifth expedition, running from 2015 to 2016, was conducted as part of developing the site as a national park. A gate shrine of Level III, destroyed during the Assyrian assault and a toilet installation were found.<ref>Ganor, S., and I. Kreimerman. (2019). "An Eighth Century BCE Gate Shrine at Tel Lachish." BASOR 381, pp. 211–236</ref> It has been suggested that the toilet, in a gate shrine, was part of Hezekiah's campaign against idolatry. Two altars in the shrine also had their horns damaged in possible desecration.<ref>{{cite web |title= When a king means business: Archaeologists find stone toilet that desecrated massive shrine |website= New Atlas |publisher= Gizmag Pty Ltd. |date= 29 September 2016 |url= http://newatlas.com/tel-lachisch-shrine-discovery/45663/ |access-date= 7 January 2017}}</ref>