MADON

MADON (Heb. מָדוֹן), Canaanite city in the north of Ereẓ Israel whose king was defeated by Joshua in the battle at the waters of Merom (Josh. 11:1; 12:19). It is usually identified with the tell at Qarn Ḥiṭṭīn (Horns of Hittin), a peak about 4 mi. (7 km.) west of Tiberias. Remains of walls, including one of cyclopean masonry, and potsherds from the Canaanite and Israelite periods were found on this tell. The identification is based on the similarity between the names Madon and Khirbat Madīn, situated south of Qarn Ḥiṭṭīn, which Arabic tradition connects with Moses' father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian, whose grave is venerated nearby. Some scholars, however, question the form of the name Madon, which is the sole basis for the identification. No town with this name is known from any other source; the Septuagint calls it Marron and identifies it with the city Merom near the site of the battle (in LXX: Hydor Marron, "waters of Merom"). merom is known from various sources as an important city in Upper Galilee and Madon may be a corrupt form of its name. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Abel, Geog, 2 (1938), 372f.; J. Garstang, Joshua, Judges (1931), 102, 187ff.; Aharoni, Land, index; idem, Hitnaḥalut Shivtei Yisrael ba-Galil ha-Elyon (1957), 91f. (Yohanan Aharoni)