Naamah
Naamah is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Coastal Plain in modern-day Israel. Known today as Tell ed Duweir. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
Naamah is mentioned once in Scripture, in Joshua 15:41, as one of the cities in the lowland (Shephelah) allotted to the tribe of Judah during the division of the Promised Land. It appears in a cluster of cities that includes Gederoth, Beth-dagon, and Makkedah, all situated in the western foothills between the Judean highlands and the coastal plain. While no specific events are narrated at Naamah, its location in the Shephelah placed it in a region of considerable military and agricultural importance. The Shephelah served as a buffer zone between the Israelites in the hill country and the Philistines on the coastal plain, making its towns frequent theaters of conflict throughout the period of the Judges and the monarchy. The name Naamah means "pleasant" or "lovely," suggesting the site may have been known for its agreeable surroundings. Some scholars have noted that Naamah was also the name of a Canaanite wife of Solomon and an Ammonite princess (1 Kings 14:21), though any connection to this town remains purely conjectural.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The identification of biblical Naamah remains uncertain. The association with Tell ed-Duweir is problematic, as that site is more commonly identified with ancient Lachish, one of Judah's most important fortified cities. Alternative proposals include Khirbet Fered and Na'aneh, a village in the southern Shephelah whose name may preserve the ancient toponym. The broader region of the Judean Shephelah has been extensively surveyed, revealing dense patterns of Iron Age settlement. If Naamah is to be sought near Na'aneh, the area contains scattered ancient remains but no major excavation has been conducted at a site definitively identified as biblical Naamah. Further survey work and toponymic analysis may eventually resolve the identification.
Verse Appearances (1)
Josh
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]