Eglon ( he, עֶגְלוֹן, translit=) was a

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

ite

city-state A city-state is an independent sovereign city which serves as the center of political, economic, and cultural life over its contiguous territory. They have existed in many parts of the world since the dawn of history, including cities such as ...

mentioned in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Book of Joshua The Book of Joshua ( he, סֵפֶר יְהוֹשֻׁעַ‎ ', Tiberian: ''Sēp̄er Yŏhōšūaʿ'') is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament, and is the first book of the Deuteronomistic history, the story of Isra ...

Debir A Biblical word, dvir () may refer to: __NOTOC__ Names * Debir King of Eglon, a Canaanite king of Eglon, slain by Joshua (). Aided by miracles, Joshua's army routed the Canaanite military, forcing Debir and the other kings to seek refuge in a cave ...

, king of Eglon, joined a

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical iss ...

against Gibeon when that city made peace with Israel. The five kings involved were slain and Eglon was later conquered and its inhabitants condemned to destruction. It was thereafter included in the territory of the

Tribe of Judah According to the Hebrew Bible, the tribe of Judah (, ''Shevet Yehudah'') was one of the twelve Tribes of Israel, named after Judah, the son of Jacob. Judah was the first tribe to take its place in the Land of Israel, occupying the southern ...

, although it is not mentioned outside of the Book of Joshua.. Note: this citation supports the claim that Eglon is only mentioned in Joshua. It does not make any comment as to whether Eglon stayed in the possession of the tribe of Judah. According to K. van Bekkum, the location of Eglon is unknown, but the most plausible candidate is Tel 'Eton.

Tel 'Eton

Tel 'Eton ( he, תל עיטון, translit=) is an archaeological site excavated by an the

Bar Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

, managed by Avraham Faust. It is the probable site of ancient Eglon. The site of Tel Eton was transformed in the 10th century BCE, and some of the structures built in this site involved ashlar in construction. Prior to these findings, the lack of ashlar construction in this period in the region of Judah was an "oftquoted evidence against the historical plausibility of a kingdom centered in Judah".Faust, Avraham, and Yair Sapir. "The “Governor’s Residency” at Tel ‘Eton, the united monarchy, and the impact of the old-house effect on large-scale archaeological reconstructions." Radiocarbon 60.3 (2018): 801-820.

References

{{Sites of the Israelite Settlement Canaanite cities Hebrew Bible places City-states Former kingdoms