MAON. - City of the tribe of Judah. Mentioned together with Carmel and Ziph in Ios. 15, 55, it is commonly identified with present-day Tell Mâ'in, situated not far from the two localities and 14 km. Hebron (v.). The city gave its name to the nearby desert, that is, to a
partly uninhabited area used for grazing, which forms part of the desert of Judah. The locality is known above all for the deeds of David, pursued by Saul (I Sam. 23, 24-28), and in conflict with Nabal the Calebite, whose wife Abigail he later married (ibid. 25, 1-42).
In the early Christian period M. was inhabited by Christians and Jews; however, no remains of churches have been found, as in the neighboring localities. There are, instead, many remains of houses, rock-hewn cisterns and caves on the western slope of the Tell, and a tower made of squared and rusticated stones (measuring 7 x 8 m.) in the highest part, which suggest that the site was already of some importance. Megalithic remains have also been observed, in the form of a broad roadway and circles, which have suggested a «high place» of worship.