MAHANAIM (Hebrew «two hosts» or «two encampments»). — A locality in Jordan. The name was given by Jacob when, on his return journey from Laban, before reaching the river Jabbok (= Wādi ez-Zerqā), he encountered hosts of angels (Gen. 32:2). It lay on the border between the tribes of Gad and Manasseh (Josh. 13:26, 30). David withdrew there during the rebellion of Absalom, who died not far from M. (2 Sam. 17:24, 29; 19:32; 1 Kgs. 2:8).
According to the traveler Estori ha-Parchi (c. 1315), who seems to represent the Hebrew tradition, M. should be identified with the present ruins of Hürbet Mahneh, situated 7 km north of 'Aglān. The identification, accepted by Heidet, Abel, and others, fits very well if one considers Hürbet Umm el-Hedamus (better than the proposed et-Tijarrah) lying west of the former, separated by a perennial spring, where surface pottery of the Bronze and Iron Ages is found in both places. Other sites proposed by scholars for M. are: Tulul ed-Dahab (Dalman, Fernández), Tel el-Emrameh (Ubach), Tell Heğag (de Vaux).