Description : Tel Yokneam (also spelled Yoqne'am, (Hebrew: תֵּל יָקְנְעָם) is an elevated mound and archeological site located between the modern city of Yokneam Illit and the town of Yokneam. In Arabic, and for the most part of recent history the place was known as a variation of the name Tell Qamun (Arabic: تل قامون), which is believed to be a corruption of the Hebrew name. The site spans around 40 dunams, rising steeply to a height of 60 meters. With a few short breaks, Yokneam was settled for 4,000 years, from the Early Bronze Age, to the times of the Mamluk Sultanate.The city is first mentioned in Egyptian sources as a city conquered by Pharaoh Thutmose III and later in the Hebrew Bible as a city defeated by Israelite leader Joshua, settled by the Israelite Tribe of Levi. It is mentioned twice in Roman scripts and the remains of a church from the Byzantine era is found there. During the Crusader period the settlement was called Caymont and was for a while, the center of a lordship, the smallest of all in the history of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. In the 13th century, the settlement was captured by the Muslim Mamluks. It is possible that during the Ottoman period, a fort was built in the site, but this is not fully confirmed.Tel Yokneam was excavated as part of a regional project. The two other sites studied in that project are Tel Qashish and Tel Qiri.
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