TAANACH tā ə năk (תַּעְנַכְ׃֙), spelled once as Ta’nach (Josh 21:25 KJV), one of the royal Canaanite cities (Josh 12:21; 1 Kings 4:12; 1 Chron 7:29). Situated on the southern flank of the Vale of Jezreel, where the important coast road (Via Maris) struck inland from Sharon, the forested ravines of the northern Ephraim hill country were the most sensitive points of the route for ambush. Three major tells on the southwestern edge of the Jezreel Plain—Taanach, Megiddo and Jokneam—guarded these three important passes of the Via Maris. These towns are first mentioned in the Egyp. chronicle of Thutmose III, in the 13th cent. b.c., about the time the Israelites were threatening the Egyp. lines of communication from the hinterland of the interior hills (ANET, p. 235). From tablets excavated at Taanach in the reign of Thutmose III or Amen-hotep II, it is clear it was an important fortress town having juridical links with other towns: Rehob, or Tell es-Sarem, in the Beth-shean valley; Gurra (cf. “the ascent of Gur,” 2 Kings 9:27); Rubute (Rabah in northern Shephelah, between Gezer and Jerusalem). The king of Taanach was defeated and slain by Joshua (Josh 12:21).

Residence of Taanach was assigned to the Kohathite Levites (21:25) but the Manassites failed to expel the Canaanite inhabitants, making them tributary (Judg 1:27). There followed a period of Canaanite oppression when the Canaanite cities tried to impose their authority over the Israelite tribes in Galilee (5:6). The Song of Deborah narrates the list of Canaanite cities, including Taanach (5:19), and the route of the 900 chariots of iron at their disposal (4:3), which Barak achieved at the foot of Mt. Tabor (4:13, 14) near Taanach. Under the united monarchy Taanach is described as a Levitical city (1 Chron 6), and in Solomon’s reign it was an important center (1 Kings 4:12). Later it was taken by the Egyp. Pharaoh Shishak, to which allusion is made in his chronicles.

Tell Ta’annak, the site of the ancient city, is situated on low hills, five m. SE of Megiddo, with which it has been clearly identified in its military history. The Tell was first excavated in 1901-1904 by Professor Sellin of Vienna, who discovered twelve cuneiform tablets of c. 1450 b.c., and revealed the strong later Bronze Age defensive system, later modified in the Iron Age as a chariot garrison.

Bibliography E. Sellin, Tell Ta’annek, (1904); P. W. Lapp, BASOR, 173 (1964), 4-44.