LANDS AND PLACES
The ancient mound of Taanach, lying next to the modern village that shares its name, covers about 14 acres in size and is located on the southwestern edge of the Jezreel Plain about eight km southeast of Megiddo. It appears as a battle site in the story of Deborah and Barak fighting the Canaanites (Judg. 5:19). Although assigned by lot to the tribe Manasseh (Josh. 17:12), they failed to conquer it (Judg. 1:27). By the tenth century BC, the town belonged to Solomon’s fifth administrative district (1 Kings 4:12). Other biblical references include Joshua 12:21, 21:25, and 1 Chronicles 7:29.
Archeological excavations first took place at the site at the turn of the twentieth century, with later digs conducted in the 1960s. Even though several gaps remain in its history, archaeological evidence indicates that it has been occupied since around 2700 BC and seems to have developed into an important metal production center by the eighteenth century BC. An Egyptian eighteenth dynasty document reveals that Taanach provided warriors for the Egyptian court at the time of Thutmose III. A possible reference to Taanach appears in the Amarna letters, and Shishak, who founded the twenty-second Egyptian dynasty in 918 BC, listed it as one of the cities he conquered.
Glock, “Ta’anach,” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, 149.
Mills, “Taanach,” Mercer Dictionary of the Bible, 871.