Khirbet el Rai
Khirbet el Rai is located ca. 3 km west of Lachish. The site is located on the top of a hill which overlooks the Lachish stream, where the main road from Ashkelon and Lachish to Hebron passes. The site was settled mainly in the 12, 11 and beginning of the 10th centuries BC. Excavations at the site revealed the occupational stages that were missing in the nearby Tel Lachish. The site served as a local commerce area in the 11 century BC and evidence of monumental building, ceramics, stone tools and metal tools were recovered there. The expedition suggest that this is the location of biblical Ziklag, a town of the Philistine kingdom of Gath, that later was given to David.
