Kattath
Kattath is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Galilee in modern-day Israel. Known today as Khirbet Qutteina. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Kattath is mentioned in Joshua 19:15 as one of the cities allotted to the tribe of Zebulun during the division of the Promised Land under Joshua's leadership. It is listed among the twelve cities, with their villages, that comprised Zebulun's inheritance. Kattath is generally identified with the Kitron mentioned in Judges 1:30, where the text records that Zebulun failed to drive out the Canaanite inhabitants of Kitron and Nahalol, instead subjecting them to forced labor. If this identification is correct, Kattath represents one of many instances in the early settlement period where Israelite tribes compromised God's command for complete dispossession of the land's prior inhabitants (Deuteronomy 7:1-2). This pattern of incomplete conquest, repeated across multiple tribes in Judges 1, set the stage for the recurring cycles of apostasy, oppression, and deliverance that characterize the entire book of Judges. Kattath's location in the Jezreel Valley area placed it in agriculturally rich but strategically contested territory.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Kattath is commonly identified with Khirbet Qutteina (also written Khirbet Coteina), located in the western part of the Jezreel Valley in the lower Galilee. The site sits near the coastal road connecting Egypt with Mesopotamia, which would account for its strategic and commercial significance. Some scholars alternatively identify Kattath with Tell el-Far in the same region. Surface surveys at Khirbet Qutteina have revealed pottery from the Late Bronze and Iron Ages, consistent with the period of Israelite settlement. The site has not been subject to systematic excavation. The surrounding Jezreel Valley remains one of Israel's most productive agricultural zones, preserving the character of the fertile landscape described in ancient sources.
Verse Appearances (1)
Josh
Sources: ISBE Encyclopedia · OpenBible Geocoding (CC BY) · Pleiades Gazetteer View all →