Dothan was a location mentioned twice in the bible. It has been identified with Tel Dothan, also known as Tel al-Hafireh, located adjacent to the Palestinian town of Bir al-Basha, and ten kilometers southwest of Jenin, near Dotan Junction of Route 60.
History
Dothan is first mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in connection with the history of Joseph, as the place where Jacob sons had moved their sheep and where, at the suggestion of Judah, the brothers sold Joseph to the Ishmaelite merchants. It later appears as the residence of Elisha and the scene of a vision of chariots and horses of fire surrounding the mountain on which the city stood. The city served as an Israelite administrative center during this period and archaeology has discovered a large complex and Hebrew inscriptions from the site. The Israeli settlement of Mevo Dotan is named for the city, as is Dothan, Alabama.
visited the site in 1851, and was considered the first modern traveller to visit it. He described the discovery in his 1854 book:
...I saw a huge tell at the distance of only a few hundred yards from our way, covered over with ruins, and the fragment of an ancient aqueduct, that had been supported on arches. I asked Abu Monsur the name of the tell, and the answer was, "Haida Dothan". "Dothan," I asked, "Dothan?" "Nahm; Dothan, Dothan, Dothan!" exclaimed the testy old shech, as if hurt at my not believing him at the instant. My object in reiterating the question was to get him to repeat the name; for the discovery of Dothan was a very special circumstance, with respect to which I was anxious to assure myself, by having the name properly pronounced.
van de Velde's visit had taken place a few days before Edward Robinson's; Robinson credited van ve Velde with the discovery. Eusebius places Dothan 12 miles to the north of Sebaste; broadly consistent with the modern location.
Castellum Beleismum or Chastiau St Job was the Frankish name of a tower built by the Crusaders on the ancient tell in 1156 and given to the Hospitallers in 1187.
