‘ And Manasseh had to Issachar, and to Asher, Beth-shean and her towns (daughters), and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of En-dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, even the three heights.'
This probably signifies that these cities with their surrounding towns, making up regions, were on the border, and were seen as belonging to Manasseh while the connecting lands belonged to Issachar and Asher, with the borders not too clear. They were in territory which was dangerous to enter in order to survey it accurately. Dor and her towns formed a region which must have reached to Carmel (Joshua 19:26).
Beth-shean and her towns were situated at the important junction of the Valley of Jezreel with the Jordan Valley. It is at Tell el-Husn. Two 14th century BC royal stelae of Sethos I were found there, one recording that he had a clash with the ‘pr.w (Hapiru). Thus at this time it had come back into Egyptian control. The 13th century BC level contained a temple in which a stela was found depicting a goddess with a two-horned headdress. A similar temple and a statue of Raamses III were found in the 12th century level together with anthropoid clay coffins reminiscent of the Philistines. It would seem that it was controlled by the Philistines as vassals of Egypt.
“Ibleam and her towns.” Ibleam is now Khirbet Bil‘ameh, about sixteen kilometres south east of Meggido on the road from Beth-shean (2 Kings 9:27). It occurs in Egyptian lists as Ybr‘m.
“And the inhabitants of Dor and her towns.” Dor was the important seaport on the Mediterranean coast south of Carmel mentioned by Raamses II and later conquered by the Sea Peoples (the Tjeker). Its towns seemingly stretched up to Carmel.
“And the inhabitants of En-dor and her towns.” This was modern ‘En-dur, six kilometres south of Mount Tabor. It lay outside the chain of fortified towns from Beth-shean to Dor described here which prevented Manasseh's advance on the plains.
“And the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns.” This was one of the major cities of Canaan, situated at one side of the Plain of Esdraelon, having a large population in the tens of thousands. It was an important city on the main trade route through Canaan. Excavations in Taanach produced fourteen tablets written in Akkadian cuneiform demonstrating that the language was used even between local officials. In the debris of a late bronze age destruction a tablet was found in the Canaanite cuneiform alphabet. Taanach is mentioned by Thothmes III, by Shishak, and in the Amarna letters for raiding Megiddo which was loyal to Egypt.
“And the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, even the three heights.” This was the second of the two major cities of Canaan, situated on either side of the Plain of Esdraelon, again having a large population in the tens of thousands. Megiddo was the largest of the two, controlling the pass that led onto the Plain. It also was an important city on the main trade route through Canaan, and for this reason was a main target for Egypt when Egypt was strong. It also had connections with Mesopotmia, and a fragment of the Babylonian epic of Gilgamesh was found on the site.
Megiddo was destroyed in about 1150 BC, well after the time of Joshua and before the time of Deborah. This may have been the work of Israel, but it could in fact have had any number of causes. Israel were not the only predators. The small settlement then built on the site may well have been an Israelite village. But Megiddo was shortly to be rebuilt by Egypt.
“Even the three heights.” It will be noted that the line from Beth-shean to Dor is covered by the first three towns, then the further three were added on, out of order. This may be because the latter were known as ‘the three heights'. This chain of fortified towns (excluding En-dor, slightly further to the north) protected the valley through which the trade routes passed. ‘With their towns' demonstrates how towns proliferated in the plains making it difficult for Israel to make inroads there.