THANACH (Heb. Ta'ānākh and Ta'nākh; Septuagint Gevez). - A vanished city of Palestine, identified with Tell Ta'annek, on the southern edge of the Plain of Esdrelon, 11 km west of Jenin and 8 km southeast of Megiddo (v.) or Tell el-Mutesellim.

Occupied by Thutmose III, it passed under Egyptian sovereignty; in the mid-15th century its governor Rewassa controlled the territory of the Plain of Esdrelon as far as Beisan. In the el-'Amārnah period (letter 248,14) there were movements in the city hostile to Egypt. At the time of the Israelite conquest, Joshua defeated and killed its king (Josh. 12:21); but the city remained in the power of the Canaanites.

Declared a Levitical city (ibid. 21:25), it was reduced to tribute of the Manassites (Judg. 1:27). In the vicinity of T. the war between the army of Sisera and Barak was fought (ibid. 5:19). Incorporated into the Davidic Kingdom, it was the capital of the 5th Solomonic district (1 Kings 4:17).

The archaeological excavations carried out partially in the years 1901-1904 brought to light the ruins of the city from the Bronze II and III periods, with a massive circuit wall, fortress, place of worship, hypogea, of still uncertain dating. Twelve cuneiform tablets were found there, from which one can learn of the interesting ethnic and linguistic complex prevailing at T. in the 15th century B.C. Most of the objects found show Egyptian influence. Two fortresses, one of the 10th century B.C. and the other of the 8th century B.C., protected its north side. Among the cult objects, the incense altar, decorated with lions' heads, of the 8th or 9th century, is worthy of note. Elements from the Hellenistic period are scarce.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: E. Selim, Tell Ta'annek (Denbschriften der haizel. Akad. der Wissenschaft, Phil.-hist. Klasse, 50, IV), Vienna 1904; id., Eine Nachlese auf dem Tell Ta'annek in Palästina (ibid., 52, III), ibid. 1906; W. F. Albright, A prince of Taanach in the fifteenth century B. C., in Bull. of the Am. Schools of Orient. Research, 94 (1944), pp. 12-17.

Donato Baldi

@incollection{ec12_thanach_ebr_ta_anakh_e_ta_nakh, author = {Baldi, Donato}, title = {Thanach (Ebr. Ta'AnĀKh e Ta'NĀKh; Settanta Gevez)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XII}, pages = {39--40}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1954}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/thanach-ebr-ta-anakh-e-ta-nakh-settanta-gevez} }

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