Ziklag

Ziklag was a town in the Negev assigned to Judah and Simeon that fell under Philistine control; King Achish of Gath gave it to David as a base during his flight from Saul, and David used it as his home for over a year. While David's men were away, Amalekite raiders burned Ziklag and carried off the women and children, prompting David's pursuit and recovery of the captives. It was at Ziklag that David received news of Saul and Jonathan's deaths at Gilboa. Archaeologists led by Yosef Garfinkel have proposed Khirbet a-Ra'i, between Kiryat Gat and Lachish, as the site of Ziklag, based on a destruction layer and finds dated to the time of David, though the identification is contested by other scholars.