Judith Dekel

The once-and-future gate. This reconstruction of the Lachish gateway, the largest and most impressive in ancient Israel, represents its appearance just before Sennacherib’s conquest in 701 B.C. Rebuilt and destroyed, along with the city, twice in the next 600 years, the gates of all three cities occupied the same southwest corner of the tell, with the blocks of the new rising on the remnants of the old.

The tower at center is probably the one pictured in the Nineveh relief. Walking in the steps of the ancient city’s inhabitants, the modern visitor approaches the preserved site on the original road, proceeding from the lower right to the center. The restorers hope to complete their work on the gate complex in four more years.