The ruins of the ancient Canaanite village of Kedesh are
located within the modern Kibbutz Malkiya in Israel on the
Israeli-Lebanese border.[1]
Kedesh was first documented in the Book of Joshua as a
Canaanite citadel that was conquered by the Israelites under
the leadership of Joshua. Ownership for Kedesh was turned
over, by lot, to the tribe of Naphtali and subsequently, at
the command of God, Kedesh was set apart by Joshua as one of
the Cities of Refuge along with Shechem and Kiriath Arba
(Hebron) (Joshua 20:7 ).
In the 8th century BCE during the reign of Pekah king of
Israel, Tiglath-Pileser III king of Assyria took Kedesh and
deported its inhabitants to Assyria (2 Kings 15:29 ).
Later, in the 5th century BCE Kedesh may have become the
capital for the Persian controlled, Tyrian administrated
province of the Upper Galilee[2].
In 259 BC Kedesh was mentioned by Zenon, a traveling
merchant from Egypt[3].
Between 145 BC and 143 BC Kedesh (Cades) was overthrown by
Jonathan Maccabeus in his fight against the Seleucid king
Demetrius I Soter [4] [5]. It remains abandoned until this
day. Tel Kedesh continues to be excavated by the University
of Michigan.
Other
In the Book of Judges, the great oak tree in Zaanaim is
stated to be near Kedesh (Judges 4:11 ).
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