Dabbesheth
Dabbesheth is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Galilee in modern-day Israel. Known today as Tel Shem. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Dabbesheth is a minor boundary city mentioned once in the Old Testament, in Joshua 19:11, as part of the description of the territorial allotment of the tribe of Zebulun. The border of Zebulun is said to go up to the sea and Maralah, then reach Dabbesheth, and then come to the ravine that is east of Jokneam. The city thus functioned as a landmark in defining Zebulun's western and southern boundary toward the territories of Manasseh and Issachar. Its mention alongside the Kishon area suggests it was located in the northwestern reaches of the Jezreel Valley or the foothills approaching the Carmel ridge. Though Dabbesheth receives no narrative treatment and appears in no other biblical passage, its inclusion in the boundary lists of Joshua reflects the careful administrative precision of these tribal allotment records, which scholars regard as preserving genuinely ancient geographic data about Israel's settlement period in Canaan.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
Dabbesheth is tentatively identified with Tel Shem (Tell esh-Shemmam), a site in the Jezreel Valley of northern Israel near the base of the Carmel ridge. The identification is based primarily on geographic correspondence with the boundary descriptions in Joshua 19. Surface surveys of the region have identified Iron Age occupation at numerous tells in the Jezreel Valley, consistent with Zebulunite settlement in the period following the Israelite entry into Canaan. No significant dedicated excavations of Tel Shem have been published. The broader Jezreel Valley has been extensively surveyed and excavated at major sites including Megiddo, Jezreel, and Tel Qiri, providing rich context for the region's ancient settlement patterns.
Verse Appearances (1)
Josh
Sources: ISBE Encyclopedia · OpenBible Geocoding (CC BY) · Pleiades Gazetteer View all →