Azekah

Azekah was a fortified town in the Shephelah of Judah, the scene of Joshua's rout of five Amorite kings during a hailstorm (Joshua 10:10-11) and later resettled by returning exiles (Nehemiah 11:30). One of the Lachish ostraca, letters written by a Judean officer during Nebuchadnezzar's final campaign against Judah, report watching for signal fires from Lachish because "we cannot see Azekah," widely read as evidence the town had already fallen, which corroborates Jeremiah 34:7's note that Azekah and Lachish were the last fortified cities of Judah still holding out. Letter 4 says the writer watches for Lachish's signals 'but we do not see Azekah'. That is often read as meaning Azekah had already fallen, but it can as easily be read geographically, that Azekah's beacons were not visible from where the writer stood. Both readings are current.