A royal city of the Canaanites, Joshua 10:33 12:12; between Bethhoron and the Mediterranean, Joshua 16:3; afterwards on the western border of Ephraim, and assigned to the Levites, Joshua 16:3 21:21 . The Canaanites long retained a foothold in it, Joshua 16:10 Judges 1:29; but were dispossessed by a king of Egypt, and the place given to his daughter, the wife of Solomon, 1 Kings 9:16 , who fortified it.