Ziklag () is the biblical name of a town in the Negev region in the southwest of what was the Kingdom of Judah. It was a provincial town in the Philistine kingdom of Gath when Achish was king. Its exact location has not been identified with any certainty.
Identification
At least 14 sites have been proposed as the location of Ziklag. and Khirbet Zuheiliqah (northwest of Beersheba and south-southeast of Gaza City) had been suggested as possible locations. Conder and Kitchener identified Khirbet Zuheiliqah as the location on the basis of Ziklag being a corruption of Zahaliku, whence also Zuheiliqah.
- Tell esh-Sharia (Arabic) or Tel Sera (Hebrew). In June 2020, Moshe Garsiel and Bath-Sheva Garsiel suggested that since the name of the Tell as well as the Wadi both mean "law" in Arabic, it commemorates David's law of sharing the spoils of war between the warriors and those left behind, which occurred in the vicinity (1 Sam 30: 22–26).
- Tell el-Far'ah (South)
- Khirbet a-Ra'i in the Shephelah, close to modern-day Kiryat Gat, proposed in 2019 by excavating archaeologists Yosef Garfinkel and Saar Ganor and contested mainly on grounds of biblical geography and lacking name continuity by Aren Maeir and Israel Finkelstein. Kyle Keimer supported this identification in 2023.
In the Bible
Philistines' original base
The Book of Genesis (in ) refers to Casluhim as the origin of the Philistines. Biblical scholars regard this as an eponym rather than a person, and it is thought possible that the name is a corruption of Halusah; with the identification of Ziklag as Haluza, this suggests that Ziklag was the original base from which the Philistines captured the remainder of their territory. which he conducted away from Achish's oversight. David's reports to Achish say that he had been conducting raids on Saul's lands in southern Judah and on the Jerahmeelites.
Biblical scholars argue that the town was probably on the eastern fringe of the Philistines' territory, and that it was natural for it to be annexed to Judah when David became king. Since textual scholars regard the compilation of the Book of Joshua as late, probably due to the deuteronomist, it is possible that the tribal allocations in it date from after this annexation, rather than before.
In the narrative, when David's men discover that their families have been captured, they become angry with David. David seeks the face of his God to determine whether to pursue the Amalekites. The Lord answers and says to pursue them for he would recover all. Initially, 600 men go in pursuit, but a third of them are too exhausted to go further than the HaBesor Stream. They find an abandoned and starving slave, formerly belonging to one of the Amalekites who had raided Ziklag, and after giving him fig cake, raisin cake, and water, persuade him to lead them to the Amalekite raiders. The slave leads them to the captors' camp and finds them feasting and celebrating, due to the size of their spoil; David's forces engage in battle with them for a night and a day, and are victorious.
Textual scholars ascribe this narrative to the monarchial source of the Books of Samuel; the rival source, known as the republican source (named this due to its negative presentation of David, Saul, and other kings), does not at first glance appear to contain a similar narrative. The same narrative position is occupied in the republican source by the story of Nabal, who lived in the region south of Hebron (which includes the Negev).