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Kh al–Ra'i

Kh al–Ra'i

Khirbet al–Ra'i is a small archaeological site located about 1.5 miles to the west of Lachish on the southern bank of the Nahal Lachish.  It is situated on the ridge that separates the Shephelah from the Philistine Plain.  Yosef Garfinkel, the same person who excavated the important site of Kh. Qeiyafa, excavated it (2015–2018).

On July 8, 2019, the Times of Israel published a story indicating that some scholars now identify this site as biblical Ziklag.  See here.

In a one hour Lanier Theological Library lecture, Searching for the Historical King David: Khirbet Qeiyafa and Khirbet al–Ra'i, Garfinkel describes Kh. al–Ra'i for 4 minutes, beginning at the 49th minute.  He describes the site and provides helpful photos and labeled ones as well.  According to Garfinkel, it was inhabited in the 11th, 10th, 8th, 7th centuries and later.