LANDS AND PLACES
Included as part of the inheritance of Judah, Madmannah is to be found in the extreme southwest of Palestine near the arid Negev and the territory of the Philistines. The town was close to Ziklag (Josh. 15:31), the city given to David by the Philistine king of Gath. Since Philistines inhabited Ziklag (likely Tell Sera’) during Iron Age I, they may have also controlled Madmannah. Isaiah 10:31 mentions Madmannah in a prophecy predicting Israel’s triumph.
Archaeologists have identified at least three sites as potential candidates for Madmannah. The first is Khirbet Umm Deimnah. Although located in the region where we would expect to find Madmannah, its archaeological remains thus far only indicate settlement beginning in the Late Roman period, around AD 300. Excavations have provided no evidence that Khirbet Umm Deimnah was inhabited during the Late Bronze or Early Iron Ages, as stated in Joshua. The second possible site match is Khirbet Tatrit and the third is Menois. Eusebius, a third-century historian, identified the site with Menois, a city on the Madaba map that agrees with the Septuagint transliteration of the name in Joshua 15:31.
Rainey, “The Biblical Shephelah of Judah,” 1-22.
Magen and Batz, “Khirbet Umm Deimnah,” The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land, 2058-2059.