Migdol

Migdol, or migdal, is a Hebrew word (מגדּלה מגדּל, מגדּל מגדּול) which means either a tower (from its size or height), an elevated stage (a rostrum or pulpit), or a raised bed (within a river). Physically, it can mean fortified land, i.e. a walled city or castle; or elevated land, as in a raised bed, like a platform, possibly a lookout.

"Migdol" has been suggested as a loanword from Egyptian (mktr), mekter, or mgatir meaning "fort," "fortification," or "stronghold," and the corresponding term in Coptic is ⲙⲉϣⲧⲱⲗ meštôl. (Figuratively, "tower" has connotations of proud authority.) However, the word clearly entered Egyptian from the original Northwest Semitic term magdalu, which itself originated with the Akkadian verb dagalu, meaning "to look or watch." The association of the toponym with watchtowers is confirmed by the relationship of sites bearing Arabic place names related to Ar. majdal or majdaluna, which were strategically located along routes between Bronze Age centers.

Although archaeologically, migdol has been traditionally identified with a specific type of temple, examples of which have been discovered, for instance, at Hazor, Megiddo, Tel Haror, Pella and Shechem, no temples are identified as migdols in ancient sources, outside of associations made by biblical scholars with a single passage in Judges 9 referencing a Migdol-Shechem. This identificaiton can be regarded as questionable, and particularly so in light of the evidence offered by more than sixty toponyms in the Levant, which are associated with important vista points above major routes.