Kartan

Kartan (meaning double city) was a town of Naphtali assigned to the Gershonite Levites, appearing in Joshua 21:32 as one of three cities from Naphtali given to the Gershonites. It is identified with Kirjathaim of 1 Chronicles 6:76, where the same Levitical assignment is recorded under a slightly different form of the name. The dual form of the name (kartan suggesting two components or two quarters) may reflect an ancient settlement that grew from paired villages.

Naphtali's territory lay in the upper Galilee region, and Kartan's location there placed it in one of the northernmost districts of ancient Israel. The identification with Kirjathaim allows tentative localization somewhere in the highlands of northern Galilee, though the precise site remains unidentified. Like other Levitical cities, Kartan's significance derived not from its size but from its function as a pastoral and instructional center for the tribe of Naphtali, maintaining the Levitical presence in a territory prone to foreign religious influence due to its proximity to Phoenicia and Aram.