James Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Taanach

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James Hastings Dictionary of the Bible: Taanach


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TAANACH (Jos_12:21, 1Ki_4:12, 1Ch_7:29).—One of the royal Canaanite cities, mentioned in OT always along with Megiddo. Though in the territory of Issachar, it belonged to Manasseh; the native Canaanites were, however, not driven out (Jos_17:11-13, Jdg_1:27). It was allotted to the Levites of the children of Kohath (Jos_21:25). It was one of the four fortress cities on the ‘border of Manasseh’ (1Ch_7:29). The fight of Deborah and Barak with the Canaanites is described (Jdg_5:19) as ‘in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo.” The site is to-day Tell Ta‘annak, four miles S.E. from Tell el-Mutesellim (Megiddo). The hill has been excavated by Prof. Sellin of Vienna. Many remains of Canaanite and Jewish civilization have been found, and also a considerable number of clay tablets with cuneiform inscriptions similar to those discovered at Tell el-Amarna in Egypt. See Sellin in Mem. Vienna Acad., 1. (1904), lii. (1905).

E. W. G. Masterman.