Ijon

Ijon was a fortified city in the territory of Naphtali in northern Israel, situated near the headwaters of the Jordan River in the Huleh basin region. The name may mean ruin or a fountain. Ijon is mentioned in two military contexts: Ben-hadad of Syria captured it along with Dan and Abel-beth-maacah during his invasion of northern Israel at the instigation of King Asa of Judah (1 Kings 15:20; 2 Chronicles 16:4), and Tiglath-pileser III of Assyria captured it again as part of his campaign against the northern kingdom during the reign of Pekah (2 Kings 15:29), after which its population was deported to Assyria.

These two captures illustrate the vulnerability of Naphtali's northernmost cities to invasion along the natural corridor that ran through the Huleh valley from the north. The site is generally identified with Tell ed-Dibbin, north of Lake Huleh, and represents one of the first Israelite territories to fall to Assyrian expansion in the 730s BC.