Achshaph
Achshaph is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Galilee in modern-day Israel. Known today as Tel Regev. It appears across 3 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
Achshaph was a Canaanite royal city in the northwestern Galilee region that figures in three significant passages of Joshua. It first appears in Joshua 11:1 when Jabin king of Hazor, alarmed by Israel's southern conquests under Joshua, assembles a broad northern coalition of Canaanite kings — including the king of Achshaph — for battle at the waters of Merom. God assures Joshua that Israel will defeat this imposing alliance, and the subsequent battle results in a decisive Israelite victory. Achshaph is subsequently listed in Joshua 12:20 among the thirty-one Canaanite kings defeated by Joshua, confirming its subjugation. In Joshua 19:25, Achshaph is designated as part of the territorial allotment of the tribe of Asher, one of the cities that defined Asher's eastern border in the Jezreel and Acco plain region. Its inclusion in Asher's territory connects it to the broader challenge that tribe faced in subduing the dense Canaanite urban landscape of northern Israel, as noted in Judges 1:31–32. Achshaph's participation in the northern coalition under Jabin of Hazor underscores its regional significance — it was not a peripheral settlement but one of the established power centers that Israel encountered and defeated as part of God's judgment on Canaanite civilization and the fulfillment of the land promises to the patriarchs.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The identification of Achshaph has been debated, with several sites proposed. Tel Regev, located in the Jezreel Valley near the Kishon River in northern Israel, is one candidate, as is Tel Keisan on the Acco plain. Tel Keisan has received the most extensive excavation, conducted by the École Biblique et Archéologique Française in the 1970s and 1980s. Excavations there revealed continuous occupation from the Bronze Age through the Persian period, including Late Bronze Age remains consistent with the Canaanite city period of Joshua's conquest. The site's position on the Acco plain aligns with Asher's territorial boundaries as described in Joshua 19. Other scholars have proposed Khirbet Harbaj. The debate has not been definitively resolved, and multiple candidates remain viable in current scholarship.
Verse Appearances (3)
Sources: ISBE Encyclopedia · OpenBible Geocoding (CC BY) · Pleiades Gazetteer View all →