Home > Sites >Yizreel Valley > Tell Yokneam (Jokneam, Yoqne'am)

 

Contents: Background Location History Aerial Map Photos Biblical Archaeological Etymology Sites nearby

Background:

 

   Tell (Mound) Yokneam stands as a gate to the entrance of a pass through Mount Carmel towards the south. This steep hill was a mighty city in the biblical times, and due to its strategic location played an important role in ancient history of the region. 

 

    Today the Tell is in ruins, and the agriculture village of Yokneam (established 1935) is built east of the site. The modern city of Yokneam Illit (Upper), established in 1967,  is built south of the site.  An Advanced Technology park is located west of the site, across the highway.

 

Location:

 

While driving on the modern north-south highway through Mount Carmel you can easily notice this steep hill in the north-east side of Yokneam. 

 

   As in many ancient roads in Israel, modern highways follow the ancient routes due to their topographic advantages. Thus, traveling in Israel is usually travel by of the greater ancient cities, like Megiddo (which is the second pass through the Carmel/Menashe mountains).

 

History of the place:

 

•  Pre-history

 

  According to the Archaeological survey, there were few pottery findings from the Chalcolithic period (4,500-3150BC). The city continued to be populated in the Early Bronze (3150-2200 BC), and especially in the middle Bronze (Caananite) period (2200-1550BC).

 

•  Late Bronze (Canaanite)

 

   In the late Bronze period (1550BC- 1200BC) the city expanded.   Yokneam was an important city in this period. It was mentioned in list of cities that were conquered in 1468BC by  Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III.

 

•  Israelites

 

  The Bible told us that it was then one of Zebulon tribe cities (Joshua) and the city and the area around it was a Levite city. The city of Yokneam also was one of the 31 cities that assembled their forces to fight against Joshua and the Israelites but were defeated.

 

   A Biblical map is shown in the map below, with the city Jokneam in the center of the most important trade routes in the northern Israel (Via Maris to south, north, and east;  southeast to Megiddo/BethShean) .

 

    (based on Bible Mapper 3.0)

 

•  Later periods

 

    Later, the city flourished from the commercially strategic location. It was populated throughout the Persian and Hellenistic periods, Roman/Byzantine, Arab and Crusaders,  Mamluks and Ottomans.

 

• Modern times

 

   There are two types of modern settlements in Yokneam: an agriculture village (Moshav Yokneam, established in 1935), and the city of Yokneam, established in 1967 as an immigration town ("Yokneam Illit"), expanded and was recognized as a city in 2006.

 

Map / Aerial View:

 

An aerial photo of Yokneam is shown below, indicating the major points of interest.

 

             

 

Photos:

 

   This is a view from the top of the Carmel (at the horns of Carmel - 'Muhraka'). The Tell of Yokneam is located to the east side of the main road (both modern and ancient roads passed at the same place). In the far background is Jezreel valley, and the road to Megiddo. The Tell has two parts: the upper city on the right (south) side, and the lower city on the left (north) side.

 

Click on the photo to view it in higher resolution...

 

The following photo shows the view of the steep Tell (Mound) from the north. This side was probably the "lower" city.

 

 

A view from the north east, from the agriculture village (Moshav)  of Yokneam.

 

 

Biblical References:

 

(a) Joshua 12: 1, 22

 

These 31 kings were defeated by the Joshua and the Israelites, including the city of Yokneam (Jokneam). It is interesting that the suffix "Jokneam in Carmel" was added, since there was another Yokneam in another region.

 

(1) Now these are the kings of the land, whom the children of Israel smote, and possessed their land...

(22) ...the king of Kedesh, one; the king of Jokneam in Carmel, one;

 

(b) Joshua 19: 10-11

 

This text described the borders of the Tribe of Zebulun (Zevulun), including this city in the south of the tribe's region.  The brook that the text refers to "before Jokneam" is probably the Kishon river, which is 0.5KM to the north.

 

10 And the third lot came up for the children of Zebulun according to their families; and the border of their inheritance was unto Sarid.

11 And their border went up westward, even to Maralah, and reached to Dabbesheth; and it reached to the brook that is before Jokneam.

 

(c) Joshua 21: 34

 

Yokneam was a Levite city. This tribe settled among the other tribe regions and had religious and political duties. In this text Yokneam was listed as one of these cities, including the area around it:

 

1 Then came near the heads of fathers' houses of the Levites unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua the son of Nun, and unto the heads of fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of Israel;

2 and they spoke unto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying: 'The HaShem commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the open land thereabout for our cattle.'

3 And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of HaShem, these cities with the open land about them.

...

34 And unto the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with the open land about it, and Kartah with the open land about it;

 

 

Archaeological  References:

 

• Arch. Survey of Israel - Nahalal Map (28) - Avner Raban [1982] , sites #13, 15, 16

• Arch. digs (1977-1981) by Prof A. Ben Hur and Dr Y. Portugali. See Am. J. of Arch #104.  (Jan 2000.)

• Carta's Atlas of the Bible - Y. Aharoni [Carta Jerusalem 1974] - Shop for this must-have book.

  Maps: 34, 59,63,71, 72, 108

 

Etymology (behind the name):

 

The Canaanite name was perhaps " Anaknam", as referred in the lists of 119 conquered cities by Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III  after his  victory in the great  Megiddo battle (1468BC).   The Crusader name was "Cain Mons", which means "the mountain of Cain", since the tradition was that the Cain, son of Adam (Genesis 4: 23-24), was killed in this site.   The Arabic name is Tell Qamun (also appears on the 1940 British maps)   Name in the survey of Western Palestine (1881): Kh. Kaimun   Another name from Jacotin map (1826):  Shatou D'el Kirah

Other ancient sites close to Yokneam:

 

• Tell Kassis (Qashis, Kashish) - maybe  Biblical Khelkat - a site from the Middle and late bronze age. It is located 2KM to the North, on the Via Maris road towards north.
• Tell Meamer (Biblical Geva-Shemen, Roman "Geva") - located 7 KM to the North.

 

You can also learn about the story of a Tell in our info page.

 

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