Majus See May Makkedah

Majus. See MAY Makkedah

"El-Mfughar ('the Cave'), the site which captain Warren proposes for Makkedah, is a remarkable place, and one of the most conspicuous sites in the plain. A promontory of brown sandy rock juts out southwards, and at the end is the village, climbing up the hillside. The huts are of mud, and stand in many cases in front of caves; there are also small excavations on the north-east, and remains of an old Jewish tomb, with Kokim. From the caves the modern name is derived, and it is worthy of notice that this is the only village in the Philistine plain at which we found such caves. The proximity of Gederoth (Katrah) and Naaamah (Na'aneh) to El-Mughar also increases the probability that captain Warren's identification of El-Mughar with Makkedah is correct, for those places were near Makkedah (Jos 15:41), (Conder, Tent Work, 2:174). This position is defended at length by the same writer in the Quar. Statement of the "Pal. Explor. Soc." 1875, page 165. The place is situated nine miles north-east of Ashdod, and is briefly described in the Memoirs accompanying the Ordnance Survey, 2:411, and its antiquities, ibid. page 427.