“We have found biblical Ziklag,” declared a July 7, 2019, press release from the Khirbet al-Ra’i excavation team. Between 2015 and 2019, archaeologists conducted a massive archaeological effort, excavating through a square kilometer (0.4 square miles) and uncovering evidence of what could be considered King David’s “first” city.
Ziklag is mentioned 15 times in the Bible and has a rather peculiar story. The Bible says that the western city belonged to the Philistines until it changed hands rather peaceably with an unlikely individual: King David.
The history is recorded in 1 Samuel 27. David, who was on the run from King Saul with 600 men, had become weary of being constantly on the move within the land of Israel. He decided to take his men to the Philistine city of Gath and seek refuge with King Achish. Surprisingly, the Philistine king befriended David, seeing in him a fellow “enemy” of Israel (or, at least, an enemy of the Saulide regime).
King Achish gave David a remarkable gift: “And David said unto Achish: ‘If now I have found favour in thine eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may dwell there; for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?’ Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day; wherefore Ziklag belongeth unto the kings of Judah unto this day” (verses 5-6).
Ziklag was the first city David received, even before he officially became king following Saul’s death. Verse 7 shows that David lived at Ziklag for one year and four months.
Ziklag has long been an elusive city for archaeologists. At least a dozen different biblical sites have been suggested over the years. None, however, quite fit the bill—until 2019.
Finds at Khirbet al-Ra’i match with several elements of the biblical account of Ziklag.
First, the city showed heavy evidence of Philistine settlement from the 12th to 11th century b.c.e. (the period of the primary Philistine invasion into the Levant). Finds include “foundation offerings” set beneath buildings in order to bring good luck to their construction, massive stone structures and general Philistine pottery—discoveries that matched with the other excavated Philistine sites of Gath, Ashkelon, Ekron and Ashdod.
Remarkably, the remains of Philistine settlement showed a smooth transition into evidence of rural Judean settlement, dating to the early 10th century b.c.e.
Discoveries belonging to this Judean settlement included nearly 100 complete vessels, identical to another early Davidic city: Khirbet Qeiyafa (biblical Shaaraim). Like Khirbet Qeiyafa, Khirbet al-Ra’i (Ziklag) was a frontier city, located atop a prominent hill near the border between the two nations of Israel and Philistia. (The similarity of Khirbet al-Ra’i and Khirbet Qeiyafa is well attested to, as they were both excavated by professors Yosef Garfinkel and Saar Ganor, and carbon-14 dated to the identical period.)
It is during this period of Judean occupation that an intense fire destroyed the site. This, too, matches with the biblical account of Ziklag. While David and his men were drafted on an expedition with Achish, “the Amalekites had made a raid upon the South, and upon Ziklag, and had smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire” (1 Samuel 30:1), taking the women and children captive. When David returned, he and his men quickly routed the Amalekites and rescued the captives.
