Kanah

Kanah (meaning reedy or of reeds) refers to two distinct biblical locations. The more geographically significant was a brook or stream forming the boundary between the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh in the central hill country, flowing westward toward the Mediterranean. The Kanah brook is mentioned in Joshua 16:8 and 17:9 as a landmark in the tribal boundary descriptions, and its identification with the modern Wadi Qana (which drains the western slopes of the Samarian hills) is generally accepted.

A second Kanah was a town in the territory of Asher (Joshua 19:28), located in the northern coastal region near Tyre and Sidon. This Kanah has been identified with Qana el-Jalil, a village in the hills east of Tyre. The shared name reflects the common occurrence of reed-beds along streams and near springs throughout ancient Palestine. The brook Kanah's role as a tribal boundary marker gives it greater significance in the biblical land allotments than the town, whose only mention is in the Asherite city list.