Jokneam
JOKNEAM (jŏk'nē-ăm, Heb. yoqne‘ām). A town on or near Mount Carmel (Josh.12.22). It was assigned to the Merarite Levites (Josh.21.34). It was located on the southern margin of the Plain of Esdraelon, about fifteen miles (twenty-five km.) NW of Jezreel.
JOKNEAM jŏk’ nĭ əm (יָקְנְעָֽם; LXX ̓Ιεκμάν). A city in the territory of Zebulun (Josh 19:11) which was assigned to the Merarite families as a Levitical city (21:34). The king of this royal Canaanite city “in Carmel” is included in the list of kings defeated by Joshua on the W of the Jordan (12:22). This list prob. includes the major cities that participated in the war as allies of Hazor against Israel. Jokneam is identified with Tell Quimun (Heb. Tel Yoqneam), a mound located at 160/230 on the Pal. grid of coordinates, or at the NW end of the plain of Esdraelon, seven m. NW of Megiddo. It is one of the fortresses that guarded the routes across Carmel. Although it was not on the main N-S trade route (Via Maris), it was on the branch of it which ran from Megiddo to the plain of Acco. It secured the only pass across Carmel which had access to the port of Dor, and it had the advantage of being the lowest of the passes in elevation. Jokneam appears as number 113 in a list of 119 towns captured by Thutmose III (written ’-n q-n-'-m). The route was considered by the officers of Thutmose as a possible alternate to the Megiddo route. Napoleon used this route for his march against Acre.
Bibliography
D. Baly, The Geography of the Bible (1957), 115, 131, 151, 153; Y. Aharoni, The Land of the Bible (1967), 47f., 139, 151, 203, 209f., 237, 379.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)
A royal city of the Canaanites taken by Joshua and described as "in Carmel" (Jos 12:22), in the territory of Zebulun, and allotted to the Merarite Levites (21:34). The border of Zebulun "reached to the brook that is before Jokneam" (19:11). In 1Ki 4:12 the name appears in the King James Version where, with the Revised Version (British and American), we should read "Jokmeam." Eusebius, Onomasticon places it 6 Roman miles from Lejio (Lejjun) on the way to Ptolemais (Acre). This points to Tell Kaimun, a striking mound on the eastern slope of Mt. Carmel. To the East of it runs the "torrent bed" of the Kishon. It stands about 300 ft. above the valley to the North of it, and the sides are steep. It is crowned by the ruins of an 18th-century fortress. A little lower down are the remains of a small chapel. There are fine springs at the foot (PEFM, II, 69 f). In Judith 7:3 it appears as "Cyamon" (Kuamon). It is the "Mons Cain" of the Middle Ages. "In the Samaritan Book of Judges it is noticed as the scene of a conflict between the Hebrews and the Giants; and Joshua is said to have been shut up here in magic walls of brass, till on sending a dove to the Hebrew king of Gilead, he was rescued" (Conder, HDB, under the word).