Tel Megiddo

Short description: Site of an ancient city in northern Israel's Jezreel Valley

Tel Megiddo

תל מגידו

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Alternative name| Tell el-Muteselim (Arabic)
Location| northern end of Wadi Ara toward Jezreel Valley, Israel
Region| Levant
Coordinates|  [ ⚑ ] : 32°35′07″N 35°11′04″E﻿ / ﻿32.58528°N 35.18444°E﻿ / 32.58528; 35.18444
Type| Settlement
Part of| Canaanite city-state (Early to Middle Bronze Age)
Egyptian empire (Late Bronze Age)
Kingdom of Israel (Iron Age II)
History
Abandoned| 350 BCE
Site notes
Public access| yes (national park)
Website| Tel Megiddo National Park website
The Megiddo Expedition website

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Official name| Biblical Tells – Megiddo, Hazor, Beer Sheba
Type| Cultural
Criteria| ii, iii, iv, vi
Designated| 2005 (29th session)
Reference no.| 1108
Region| Asia-Pacific

Tel Megiddo (from Hebrew: תל מגידו; Arabic: تل المتسلم, Tell el-Muteselim, is the site of the ancient city of Megiddo (/məˈɡɪdoʊ/; Hebrew: מגידו; Greek: Μεγιδδώ), the remains of which form a tell or archaeological mound, situated in northern Israel at the western edge of the Jezreel Valley. During the Bronze Age, Megiddo was an important Canaanite city-state, and in the Iron Age, it became a royal city in the Kingdom of Israel. The site is renowned for its historical, geographical, and theological significance, especially under its Greek name Armageddon (Ἁρμαγεδών) which appears once in the Koine Greek New Testament in Revelation 16:16.

Excavations have unearthed 20 strata of ruins since the Neolithic phase, indicating a long settlement period.[1] Occupied continuously from the early Bronze Age (c. 3000 BCE) to the Persian period (

Short description: Latin loanword meaning "approximately, around"

CA|other uses of "Cca"|CCA (disambiguation)|CCA|other uses of "Circa"|Circa (disambiguation)}}Template:TWCleanup2Circa (from la 'around, about, roughly, approximately') - frequently abbreviated ca. or c. and less frequently circ., cca. or cc. - signifies "approximately" in several European languages and is used as a loanword in English, usually in reference to a date.[2] Circa is widely used in historical writing when the dates of events are not accurately known.

When used in date ranges, circa is applied before each approximate date, while dates without circa immediately preceding them are generally assumed to be known with certainty.

## Contents

* 1 Examples
* 2 See also
* 3 References
* 4 External links
* 5 Etymology
* 6 Location
* 7 History
* 7.1 Neolithic
* 7.1.1 Yarmukian culture
* 7.2 Chalcolithic
* 7.2.1 Wadi Rabah culture
* 7.3 Early Bronze Age
* 7.3.1 Early Bronze I
* 7.3.2 Early Bronze II–III
* 7.3.3 Early Bronze IV
* 7.4 Middle Bronze Age
* 7.4.1 Middle Bronze I
* 7.4.2 Middle Bronze II
* 7.5 Late Bronze Age
* 7.5.1 Late Bronze IA
* 7.5.2 Late Bronze IB
* 7.5.3 Late Bronze II – Egyptian period
* 7.6 Iron Age
* 7.6.1 Iron Age I
* 7.6.2 Iron Age II
* 7.6.3 Assyrian period
* 7.6.4 Egyptian period
* 7.6.5 Babylonian period
* 7.7 Roman and Byzantine periods
* 7.7.1 Megiddo church
* 7.8 Modern period
* 7.9 Battles
* 8 Archaeological features
* 8.1 The Great Temple
* 8.2 Jewelry
* 8.3 Megiddo ivories
* 8.4 Megiddo stables
* 8.5 The Bronze Age tomb
* 9 Excavations
* 10 See also
* 11 Notes
* 12 References
* 13 Further reading
* 14 External links

## Examples

* 1732–1799: Both years are known precisely.
* c. 1732 – 1799: The beginning year is approximate; the end year is known precisely.
* 1732 – c. 1799: The beginning year is known precisely; the end year is approximate.
* c. 1732 – c. 1799: Both years are approximate.

## See also

* Floruit

## References

1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Cline, Eric`
2. ↑ "circa". Dictionary.com. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/circa.

## External links

* v
* t
* e

Chronology

Key topics|

* Archaeology
* Astronomy
* Geology
* History
* Big History
* Paleontology
* Time

* Periods
* Eras
* Epochs

| Calendar eras|

* Human Era
* Ab urbe condita
* Anno Domini / Common Era
* Anno Mundi
* Byzantine era
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* Spanish era
* Before Present
* Hijri
* Egyptian
* Sothic cycle
* Hindu units of time (Yuga)
* Mesoamerican
* Long Count
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|

Regnal year|

* Canon of Kings
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Era names|

* Chinese
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Calendars|

| Pre-Julian / Julian|

* Pre-Julian Roman
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|

Gregorian|

* Gregorian
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* Old Style and New Style dates
* Adoption of the Gregorian calendar
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Astronomical|

* Lunisolar
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Others|

* Chinese sexagenary cycle
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Astronomic time|

* Cosmic Calendar
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Geologic time|

| Concepts|

* Deep time
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|

Standards|

* Global Standard Stratigraphic Age (GSSA)
* Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP)

Methods|

* Chronostratigraphy
* Geochronology
* Isotope geochemistry
* Law of superposition
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* Samarium–neodymium dating

Chronological
dating|

| Absolute dating|

* Amino acid racemisation
* Archaeomagnetic dating
* Dendrochronology
* Ice core
* Incremental dating
* Lichenometry
* Paleomagnetism
* Radiometric dating
* Radiocarbon
* Uranium–lead
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* Luminescence dating
* Thermoluminescence dating

|

Relative dating|

* Fluorine absorption
* Nitrogen dating
* Obsidian hydration
* Seriation
* Stratigraphy

Genetic methods|

* Molecular clock

Linguistic methods|

* Glottochronology

Related topics|

* Chronicle
* New Chronology
* Synchronoptic view
* Timeline
* Year zero
* Circa
* Floruit
* Terminus post quem
* ASPRO chronology

0.00

(0 votes)

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), Megiddo was strategically located at the crossroads of major ancient trade routes, making it a key center for trade, politics, and military affairs. Excavations have uncovered impressive fortifications, including massive city walls and gates, as well as palaces, temples, residential buildings, and a sophisticated water system. The site is protected as Megiddo National Park and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[1]

## Etymology

Megiddo was known in the Akkadian language used in Assyria as Magiddu, Magaddu. In Egyptian, it was Maketi, Makitu, and Makedo. In the Canaanite-influenced Akkadian used in the Amarna letters, it was known as Magidda and Makida. It was Koinē Greek: Μαγεδών/Μαγεδδώ, Magedón/Mageddó in the Septuagint;[lower-alpha 1] Latin: Mageddo in the Vulgate.[2] Koinē Greek: Ἁρμαγεδών, romanized: Harmagedōn, a transliteration of the Hebrew Har Megiddo "Mount Megiddo".[3] The Book of Revelation describes an apocalyptic battle at Armageddon in Revelation 16:14. From this appearance in a well-known eschatological text, the term "Armageddon" has come to signify any world-ending catastrophe.[lower-alpha 2]

## Location

The tell in the 1940s Survey of Palestine, northeast of Lajjun.

The tel is situated about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southeast of Haifa near the depopulated Palestinian town of Lajjun and subsequently Kibbutz Megiddo. Its strategic location at the northern end of the defile of the Wadi Ara, which acts as a pass through the Carmel Ridge, and its position overlooking the rich Jezreel Valley from the west gave it much of its importance.

The location of the Megiddo was widely debated by scholars throughout the 19th century, using Biblical, Egyptian and classical sources. Marino Sanuto’s map of 1322 CE showed Megiddo adjacent to Zububa.[5] Edward Robinson, in his Biblical Researches in Palestine, identified it with Lajjun, due to its position as an important town, and its being close to the village Ti'inik: “The distance of Taanach from Legio is given by Eusebius and Jerome at three or four Roman miles; and it is somewhat remarkable, that Megiddo is rarely spoken of in Scripture, except in conjunction with Taanach; a circumstance which likewise implies their vicinity to each other... All these circumstances make out a strong case in favour of the identity of Legio and Megiddo; and leave in my own mind little doubt upon the point.”[6] The PEF Survey of Palestine noted the same, but preferred the site of Mujedda near the village of Al-Ashrafiyya, writing that: “The site of Megiddo is generally placed at Lejjûn. The site of Khŭrbet Mujedda, near Beisân, fits well the requirements of the Egyptian accounts, and the Biblical account of the battle of Tabor (Judges iv.), when the kings are said to have fought 'in Taanach by the waters of Megiddo,' and again (Psa. lxxxiii. 9) to have 'perished in Endor.'” They followed with nine pages of various scholars’ debates regarding the location.[7]

The debate over the location of Megiddo was settled in George Adam Smith's The Historical Geography of the Holy Land;[8] the work's final edition explained it as follows:[9]

> The excavations which have proved Robinson’s theory of the site of Megiddo as only approximately true were those on Tell el-Mutesellem by Schumacher in 1903-5, and recently renewed at Professor Breasted’s suggestion by the Oriental Institute of Chicago University. They have shown so far that not Lejjun, but the Tell or Mound about a mile farther north is the ancient Megiddo. A wall has been traced almost all round the Tell with a city gate of well-dressed ashlar, presumed to be the work of Phoenician masons employed by Solomon but bearing some Hittite features. Some debris and ashes above this stratum suggest a destruction of the city. Above all this are two strata with walls mostly of unhewn stone assigned to the period of the N. Israel monarchy ; and here was found a cartouche of the Pharaoh Shoshenk, Heb. Shishak or Shoshak, whose record at Karnak of the cities subjected by him includes both Megiddo (Makidu) and Ta'anach. Above those two strata there is nothing that can be dated later than 350 B.c. about which date therefore the inhabitants of Megiddo appear to have removed to a site a mile farther south on the same ridge which the Romans when they came fortified and called Legio.

## History

Megiddo was important in the ancient world. It guarded the western branch of a narrow pass on the most important trade route of the ancient Fertile Crescent, linking Egypt with Mesopotamia and Anatolia and known today as Via Maris. Because of its strategic location, Megiddo was the site of several battles. It was inhabited approximately from 5000 to 350 BCE,[10] or even, as Megiddo Expedition archaeologists suggest, since around 7000 BCE.[11]

### Neolithic

#### Yarmukian culture

Archaeological Stratum XX at Tel Megiddo began around 5000 BCE during the Neolithic.[10] The first Yarmukian culture remains were found at this level in 1930s excavations, but they were not recognized as such then. These remains, found in Area BB, were pottery, a figurine, and flint items.[12]

### Chalcolithic

#### Wadi Rabah culture

The Chalcolithic period came next, with significant content around 4500–3500 BCE, as part of the Wadi Rabah culture, at the following base level of Tel Megiddo, as other large tell sites in the region, was located near a spring.[13][14]

### Early Bronze Age

#### Early Bronze I

Megiddo's Early Bronze Age I (3500–2950 BCE) was originally worked in 1933–1938 by the Oriental Institute, now the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures. Decades later, a temple from the end of this period was found and dated to Early Bronze Age IB (ca. 3000 BCE) and described by its excavators, Adams, Finkelstein, and Ussishkin,[15] as "the most monumental single edifice so far uncovered" in the early Bronze Age Levant and among the largest structures of its time in the Near East.[16]

Samples, obtained by Israel Finkelstein's Megiddo Expedition, at the temple-hall in the year 2000, provided calibrated dates from the 31st and 30th century BCE.[17] The temple is the most monumental Early Bronze I structure known in the Levant, if not the entire Ancient Near East. Archaeologists' view is that "taking into account the manpower and administrative work required for its construction, it provides the best manifestation for the first wave of urban life and, probably, city-state formation in the Levant".[18]

To the South of this temple there is an unparalleled monumental compound. It was excavated by the Megiddo Expedition in 1996 and 1998, and belongs to the later phase of Early Bronze IB,[19] ca. 3090–2950 BCE.[20] It consists of several long, parallel stone walls, each of which is 4 meters wide. Between the walls were narrow corridors, filled hip-deep with the remains of animal sacrifice. These walls lie immediately below the huge 'megaron' temples of the Early Bronze III (2700–2300 BCE).[19] The megaron temples remained in use through the Intermediate Bronze period.[21]

Magnetometer research, before the 2006 excavations, found that the entire Tel Megiddo settlement covered an area of ca. 50 hectares, being the largest known Early Bronze Age I site in the Levant.[18] In 2014, the archaeologist Pierre de Miroschedji stated that Tel Megiddo covered around 25 hectares in the Early Bronze IA and IB periods, when most settlements in the region only covered a maximum area of 5 hectares, but that excavations suggest large sites like Tel Megiddo were "sparsely built, with dwellings disorderly distributed and separated by open spaces."[22]

#### Early Bronze II–III

Tel Megiddo was still among the large fortified sites, between 5 and 12 hectares, during the Early Bronze II–III period, when its palace testifies that it was a real city-state "characterized by a strong social hierarchy, a hereditary centralized power, and the functioning of a palatial economy."[23]

Stratum XVI (EB IIA-B; 3000-2750 BCE; decline). Stratum XVb (EB IIIA; 2720-2500 BCE; peak economy). Contemporary to the 3rd and 4th dynasties of Egypt. Stratum XVa (EB IIIB; 2500-2350 BCE; drier climate cause intensified centralization and urbanization). Contemporary to the 5th Dynasty of Egypt. The end of Stratum XV is marked by the abandonment of the temples as the economy declines.

#### Early Bronze IV

The town declined in the Early Bronze Age IV period (2300–2000 BCE) as the Early Bronze Age political systems collapsed at the last quarter of the third millennium BCE.[24]

Stratum XIVB (EB IVA; 2350-2150 BCE). At the end of this period, the Fall of the Akkadian Empire (c. 2334-2154 BCE) and Fall of the Old Egyptian Kingdom. 4.2 ka event.

Stratum XIVA (EB IVB; 2150-2020/2000 BCE). At the end of this period, the Fall of the Ur III Empire (c. 2112-2004 BCE). End of the Early Bronze Age. 4.0 ka event. The local water source at 'Ain el-Qubbi spring allowed the city to withstand shorter droughts.

### Middle Bronze Age

#### Middle Bronze I

Early in the second millennium BCE, at the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1950 BCE), urbanism once again took hold throughout of the southern Levant. Large urban centers served as political power in city-states.

Stratum XIII (MB I) can be subdivided into XIIIB (MB IA; 2020/2000-1900 BCE; semi-rural) and XIIIA (MB IB; 1900-1820 BCE; fortified settlement).[25]

#### Middle Bronze II

By the later Middle Bronze Age, the inland valleys were dominated by regional centers such as Megiddo, which reached a size of more than 20 hectares, including the upper and lower cities.[26] A royal burial was found in Tel Megiddo, dating to the later phase of the Middle Bronze Age, around 1700–1600 BCE, when the power of Canaanite Megiddo was at its peak and before the ruling dynasty collapsed under the might of Thutmose's army.[27]

Stratum XII (MB IIA peak economy). In MB IIA the "Nordburg" belongs to Level XII.[28] Compare with the nearby city of Shimron to the north.

Stratum XI (MB IIB-C/MB III/LB IA). In the Southern Levant, the Middle Bronze IIC (c. 1590-1550 BCE) corresponds with Late Bronze IA in the Northern Levant, where Mursili I of the Hittites around 1600 BCE destroyed the Great Kingdom of Yamhad (Aleppo) causing political turmoil.

In mortuary contexts, in a dental calculus of individual MGD018 (c. 1630–1550 BCE), at Tel Megiddo, turmeric and soybean proteins were found, which are South Asian products, suggesting he may have been a merchant or trader who "consumed foods seasoned with turmeric or prepared with soy oil in the Levant, in South Asia, or elsewhere," indicating the possible existence of an Indo-Mediterranean trade.[29] Sesamum protein (sesame), another South Asian product, was found in individual MGD011 (c. 1688–1535 BCE).[30]

### Late Bronze Age

#### Late Bronze IA

In Egypt, the New Kingdom began with Ahmose I (r. 1570-1546 hCh) who along with his successors conducted military campaigns into the Southern Levant, destroying or subjugating many of the MB IIC settlements. At Tel Megiddo areas H and K, radiocarbon datings indicate the LBA began in the first half of the 16th century BCE (c. 1585–1545 BCE).[31]

Stratum X (LB IA).

#### Late Bronze IB

Late Bronze Age city gate

Stratum IX (LB IB). Megiddo Stratum IX "was better protected than it was in the Middle Bronze Age, as the old brick wall was still in use, and houses that created a continuous outer stone wall were constructed on top of it".[32] It was a vassal of the early 18th Dynasty until the reign of Hatshepsut.

At the end of Stratum IX (LB IB/IIA), during the Battle of Megiddo, the city was subjugated by Thutmose III (r. 1479–1425 BCE),[33] and became part of the Egyptian Empire. The city still prospered, and a massive and elaborate government palace was constructed in the Late Bronze Age.[34] Thutmose III's campaign is attested in Stratum IX at Tel Megiddo, a well fortified site in Late Bronze Age I.[35]

#### Late Bronze II – Egyptian period

Stratum VIII (LB IIA). Palace.[36] In the Amarna period (c. 1353–1336 BCE), Megiddo was a vassal of the Egyptian Empire.

The Amarna Archive (c. 1350 BC), contains letters from the time of Amenhotep III, Akhenaten and Tutankhamen. Megiddo is mentioned in seven letters (EA 242, 243, 244, 245, 246, 246 and 365).[37] Biridya of Megiddo is mentioned in several letters from Megiddo (EA 242, 243, 244, 246, 247, 365) and from Taanach (EA 248).

The Amarna Letter E245 mentions local ruler Biridiya of Megiddo. Other contemporary rulers mentioned were Labaya of Shechem and Surata of Akka, nearby cities. This ruler is mentioned in the corpus from the city of 'Kumidu', the Kamid al lawz. This indicates that there were relations between Megiddo and Kumidu.

Stratum VIIA (LB IIB). Palace.[38] During the reign of Merneptah, Hazor and several other cities including the Jezreel Valley rebelled against the Egyptians.

Stratum VIIB (LB IIB/Iron IA). Megiddo's Stratum VIIB lasted until slightly before or in the reign of Ramesses III (c. 1184–1153 BCE).[39]

### Iron Age

#### Iron Age I

Iron Age I (c. 1150–950 BCE) began in Tel Megiddo around 1150 BCE.[40] Egypt's control of this Canaanite region ended around 1130 BCE,[41] as Stratum VIIA was destroyed around this date or shortly thereafter,[42] attested in the palace and adjacent Level H-11 building.[43] A Canaanite dynasty still controlled the city after the Egyptians abandoned the region.[44]

Stratum VIB (Iron IA; Early Iron I) can be aligned with the late 20th Dynasty of Egypt. The Transitional Iron IA/IB may reflect the end of the Egyptian Empire in the Southern Levant.

Stratum VIA (Iron IB; Late Iron I) correspond with the 21st Dynasty in Egypt. Radiocarbon dating indicate that Philistine Bichrome appeared at Megiddo around 1111-1086 BC (68%) or 1128-1079 BC (95.4%).[45]

The Iron I/II transition saw a fierce conflagration that consumed Stratum VIA.[46][47][48][49] The transition led to the end of the old culture which had lingered since the Late Bronze and the beginning of a new culture forming the Northern Kingdom. Scholars debate the exact timing of this transition.

The city represented by Stratum VI is considered completely Canaanite by Israel Finkelstein. It is thought to have a mixed Canaanite and Philistine character by archaeologists Yigael Yadin and Amihai Mazar (2005).[50] It fell victim to fire,[16] when the earliest fragmentary Gate 3165 from Stratum VIA in the Late Iron Age I (c. 1050–950 BCE) was destroyed along with the whole city at the end of this period,[51] marking the end of Iron I in the Jezreel Valley and of Canaanite culture there.[52] This destruction was "caused by the growing proto-Israelite power in the central hill country, out of which [emerged] the Northern Kingdom of Israel [that] should be dated to the first half of the 10th century BCE," related to "the biblical narrative of the war led by Deborah and Barak in Judges 4–5."[53]

Ben-Dor Evian and Finkelstein (2023), based on an updated Bayesian model and recent radiocarbon datings, proposed that Stratum VIA ended sometime between 999 and 974 BCE,[54] not due to the conquest of Shoshenq I but by "the expansion of the highlanders into the valley, a development that soon brought about the emergence of the Israelite Northern Kingdom."[55] Applying Bayesian model inference (OxCal v.4.4 software), archaeologist Enrique Gil Orduña (2024) considers this destruction took place sometime around 986 to 983 BCE.[56]

#### Iron Age II

Stratum V. There have been several contradictory proposals for the political history of the Early Iron Age excavation layers.[57] The destruction of Stratum V was attributed, by Yadin and Mazar, to Shoshenq I, the first pharaoh of the 22nd Dynasty of Egypt, who would have taken Megiddo sometime around 926 BCE,[58] which is attested in a cartouche on a stele fragment, found in a spoil heap of the Shumacher excavation by the Oriental Institute team, and in a partial and damaged list of toponyms at the Temple of Karnak.[59] However, recalibration of radiocarbon datings, using calibration curve (IntCal20), supports Finkelstein's view that the destruction of Stratum V was due to Hazael's campaign, c. 835 BCE (9th century BCE).[60]

Gate 2156, built by a proto-Israelite power or during the Omride dynasty (Late Iron Age IIA, c. 900–780 BCE).

Rulers of the Israelite Northern Kingdom improved the fortress from around 900 to 750 BCE. The palaces, water systems and fortifications of the site at this period were among the most elaborate Iron Age constructions found in the Levant.[59] There is a putative "Solomonic gate" (Gate 2156), which belongs to Stratum VA-IVB, dated by recent excavations and new radiocarbon analysis by Megiddo Expedition, led by Israel Finkelstein, during the time of the Omrides, (c. 886–835 BCE), in the Late Iron Age IIA (around 900–780 BCE).[51]

Hendrik J. Bruins recalibrated Israel Finkelstein's radiocarbon available samples, using the latest 2020 calibration curve (IntCal20), and concluded that the initial establishment of Stratum VB belongs to the 10th century BC, during the time of the possible United Monarchy, based on two radiocarbon samples.[61] These two samples are RTT-5498 and RTK-6755, dated to 961 cal BC (median) and 928 cal BCE (median) respectively.[62] Four other samples from Stratum VA-IVB, which are RTK-6408, 6760, 6429, and RTT-3948, belong to the period of the Omrides, dated to 865, 858, 858, and 857 cal BCE (median) respectively.[63]

Tel Megiddo became an important city, before being destroyed, possibly by Aramaean raiders. The Aramean occupation was around 845–815 BCE.[64] Jeroboam II (c. 789–748 BCE) reigned over Megiddo.

#### Assyrian period

The Assyrian period, when the site was called Magiddu, c. 732–609 BCE – plan and ruins

Tiglath-Pileser III of Assyria conquered Megiddo in 732 BCE, turning it to the capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire's province of Magiddu.[16] Hoshea (c. 732–721 BCE), the last king of the Israelite Northern Kingdom, was vassal to Tiglath-Pileser III. The site was rebuilt as an administrative center for Tiglath-Pileser III's occupation of Samaria.

#### Egyptian period

In 609 BCE, Megiddo was conquered by Egyptians under Necho II, during the Battle of Megiddo.

#### Babylonian period

Its importance soon dwindled, and it was thought as finally abandoned around 586 BCE.[65] Since that time it would have remained uninhabited, preserving ruins pre-dating 586 BCE without settlements ever disturbing them. Archaeologist Eric Cline considers that Tel Megiddo came to an end later, around 350 BCE, during Achaemenid times.[10] Then, the town of al-Lajjun, not to be confused with the al-Lajjun archaeological site in Jordan, was built up near to the site, but without inhabiting or disturbing its remains.

### Roman and Byzantine periods

During the Roman and Byzantine periods, while the site was part of the provinces of Syria Palaestina (136-390) and Palaestina Secunda (390-638), there were three settlements in the vicinity of the tell: the Jewish village of Kefar 'Othnay (Caparcotna in Latin or Kaperkotnei in Greek); Legio, the Roman military camp of the Legio VI Ferrata ('6th "Ironclad" Legion'); and later, in the 4th and 5th centuries during Byzantine rule, a polis named Maximianopolis.[66] J. C. Howry, processing the results of a surface reconnaissance survey in 2019 which had used LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology to obtain enhanced images of the ground, places Maximianopolis northwest of the tell, Legio south-southeast of it, and a village which grew next to the legion camp for which it provided services (the future Arab village of Lejjun), southwest of the tell.[67] Adams, David and Tepper (2014) write that the VIth Legion was deployed to the country sometime between 100 and 132, and was stationed there through most of the 3rd century;[66] Howry (2020) places it at Legio between 192 and 316.[67]

#### Megiddo church

The Megiddo church is next to Megiddo Junction, inside the precinct of the Megiddo Prison. It was built within the ancient city of Legio. It is believed to date to the 3rd century, making it one of the oldest Christian churches in the world. It was a few hundred yards from the Roman base camp of Legio VI Ferrata. A centurion donated one of the mosaics found in the church.[68]

### Modern period

A view of Jezreel Valley and Mount Tabor from Megiddo

Megiddo is south of Kibbutz Megiddo by 1 kilometre (0.62 mi). Today, Megiddo Junction is on the main road connecting the center of Palestine with lower Galilee and the north. It lies at the northern entrance to Wadi Ara, an important mountain pass connecting the Jezreel Valley within Israel's coastal plain.[69]

In 1964, during Pope Paul VI's visit to the Holy Land, Megiddo was the site where he met with dignitaries, including President Zalman Shazar and the Prime Minister Levi Eshkol.[70]

### Battles

Famous battles include:

* Battle of Megiddo (15th century BCE): fought between the armies of the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition led by the rulers of Megiddo and Kadesh.
* Battle of Megiddo (609 BCE): fought between Necho II, pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, and the Kingdom of Judah, during which King Josiah fell.
* Battle of Megiddo (1918): fought during World War I between Allied troops, led by General Edmund Allenby and the defending Ottoman army.

## Archaeological features

A path leads up through a six-chambered gate, considered by some archaeologists to have been built by Solomon,[71][72] but which Israel Finkelstein dates to the Omrides, found in Stratum VA-IVB, late Iron IIA period.[51] It overlooks the excavations of the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures. A solid circular stone structure has been interpreted as an altar or a high place from the Canaanite period. Further on is a grain pit from the Israelite period for storing provisions in case of siege. There are stables, originally thought to date from the time of Solomon but now dated a century and a half later to the time of Ahab. A water system consists of a square shaft 35 metres (115 ft) deep, the bottom of which opens into a tunnel bored through rock for 100 metres (330 ft) to a pool of water.

### The Great Temple

A circular altar-like shrine from the Early Bronze Age

Megiddo's 5,000-year-old "Great Temple", dated to the Early Bronze Age IB (ca. 3000 BC), has been described by its excavators as "the most monumental single edifice so far uncovered in the EB I Levant and ranks among the largest structures of its time in the Near East."[73] The structure includes an immense 47.5 by 22 meters sanctuary. The temple was more than ten times larger than a typical temple of that era and was determined to be the site of ritual animal sacrifice. Corridors were used as favissae (deposits of cultic artifacts) to store bones after ritual sacrifice. More than 80% of the animal remains were young sheep and goats. The rest were cattle.[74]

### Jewelry

In 2010, a collection of jewelry pieces was found in a ceramic jug.[75][76] The jewelry dates to around 1100 BC.[77] The collection includes beads made of carnelian stone, a ring and earrings. The jug was subjected to molecular analysis to determine the contents. The collection was probably owned by a wealthy Canaanite family, likely belonging to the ruling elite.[78]

### Megiddo ivories

A female sphynx plaque, ivory, Megiddo 1300-1200 BC

The Megiddo ivories are thin carvings in ivory found at Tel Megiddo, mostly excavated by Gordon Loud. The ivories are on display at the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures in Chicago and the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem. They were found in the stratum VIIA or Late Bronze Age layer of the site. Carved from hippopotamus incisors from the Nile, they show Egyptian stylistic influence. An ivory pen case was found inscribed with the cartouche of Ramses III.

### Megiddo stables

Southern stables

At Megiddo two stable complexes were excavated from Stratum IVA, one in the north and one in the south. Stratum VA-IVB has also been proposed for this area.[79][80] The southern complex contained five structures built around a lime paved courtyard. The buildings were divided into three sections.[81]

Two long stone paved aisles were built adjacent to a main corridor, paved with lime. The buildings were about twenty-one meters long by eleven meters wide. Separating the main corridor from outside aisles was a series of stone pillars. Holes were bored into many of these pillars so horses could be tied to them. The remains of stone mangers were found in the buildings. These mangers were placed between the pillars to feed the horses.[81]

It is suggested that each side could hold fifteen horses, giving each building an overall capacity of thirty horses. The buildings on the northern side of the city were similar in their construction. There was no central courtyard. The capacity of the buildings of the north was about three hundred horses altogether. Both complexes could hold from 450 to 480 horses combined.[81]

The buildings were found during excavations between 1927 and 1934. The head excavator initially interpreted the buildings as stables. Since then, his conclusions have been challenged by James B. Pritchard, Dr Adrian Curtis of Manchester University Ze'ev Herzog, and Yohanan Aharoni, who suggest they were storehouses, marketplaces or barracks.[81]

### The Bronze Age tomb

In February 2023, the remains of two elite brothers buried with Cypriot pottery, food and other valuable possessions were found in a Bronze Age tomb. Bioarchaeologists identified the early evidence of a Bronze Age cranial surgery called trepanation in one of the brothers. The study published in PLOS One, reports that the younger brother died in his teens or early 20s, most likely from an infectious illness like leprosy or tuberculosis. The older brother, who died immediately after the surgery, had angular notched trephination and was thought to be between the ages of 20 and 40. A 30-millimetre (1.2-inch) square-shaped hole was created on the frontal bone of the skull after his scalp was cut with a sharp instrument with a bevelled edge.[82][83][84]

## Excavations

Megiddo has been excavated three times and is currently being excavated. The first excavations were carried out between 1903 and 1905 by Gottlieb Schumacher for the German Society for the Study of Palestine, excavating one main north-south trench and some subsidiary trenches and probes.[85] Techniques used were rudimentary by later standards, and Schumacher's field notes and records were destroyed in World War I before being published. After the war, Carl Watzinger published the remaining data from the dig.[86]

In 1925, digging was resumed by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, financed by John D. Rockefeller Jr., continuing until the outbreak of the Second World War. The work was led initially by Clarence S. Fisher, and later by P. L. O. Guy, Robert Lamon, and Gordon Loud.[87][88][89][90][91][92] The Oriental Institute intended to completely excavate the whole tel, layer by layer. Money ran out before they could do so. Today, excavators limit themselves to a square or a trench because they must leave something for future archaeologists with better techniques and methods. During these excavations, it was discovered that there were around eight levels of habitation. Many of the uncovered remains are preserved at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem and the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures. The East Slope area of Megiddo was excavated to the bedrock to serve as a spoil area. The full results of that excavation were not published until decades later.[93]

Yigael Yadin conducted excavations in 1960, 1966, 1967 (with Yigal shiloh), and 1971 for the Hebrew University.[94][95] Anabel Zarzecki-Peleg published the formal results of those digs in Hebrew University's Qedem 56 (2016).[96]

Since 1994, Megiddo has been the subject of biannual excavation campaigns conducted by the Megiddo Expedition of Tel Aviv University, co-directed by Israel Finkelstein, David Ussishkin, Norma Franklin, and Baruch Halpern with Eric H. Cline of The George Washington University serving as associate director (USA), together with a consortium of international universities.[97][98][99][100] One notable feature of the dig is close on-site cooperation between archaeologists and specialist scientists, with detailed chemical analysis being performed at the dig itself using a field infrared spectrometer.[101]

In 2010, the Jezreel Valley Regional Project, directed by Matthew J. Adams of Bucknell University in cooperation with the Megiddo Expedition, undertook excavations of the eastern extension of the Early Bronze Age town at the site known as Tel Megiddo East.[102]

## See also

* Lajjun
* Cities of the ancient Near East

## Notes

1. ↑ "Error: no `|title=` specified when using {{Cite web}}". https://www.septuagint.bible/joshua/-/asset_publisher/TKUcY6iZbwnU/content/iesous-tou-naue-kephalaio-12?inheritRedirect=false&redirect=https://www.septuagint.bible/joshua?p_p_id=101_INSTANCE_TKUcY6iZbwnU&p;_p_lifecycle=0&p;_p_state=normal&p;_p_mode=view&p;_p_col_id=column-1&p;_p_col_pos=1&p;_p_col_count=2. "βασιλέα Μαγεδών "The king of Magedón""Error:+no+`|title=`+specified when+using+{{[[Template:Cite+web|Cite+web]]}}&rft.atitle=&rft_id=https://www.septuagint.bible/joshua/-/asset_publisher/TKUcY6iZbwnU/content/iesous-tou-naue-kephalaio-12?inheritRedirect=false&redirect;=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.septuagint.bible%2Fjoshua%3Fp_p_id%3D101_INSTANCE_TKUcY6iZbwnU%26p_p_lifecycle%3D0%26p_p_state%3Dnormal%26p_p_mode%3Dview%26p_p_col_id%3Dcolumn-1%26p_p_col_pos%3D1%26p_p_col_count%3D2&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikibooks.org:Unsolved:Tel_Megiddo"> ; "Error: no `|title=` specified when using {{Cite web}}". https://www.septuagint.bible/joshua/-/asset_publisher/TKUcY6iZbwnU/content/iesous-tou-naue-kephalaio-17?inheritRedirect=false&redirect=https://www.septuagint.bible/joshua?p_p_id=101_INSTANCE_TKUcY6iZbwnU&p;_p_lifecycle=0&p;_p_state=normal&p;_p_mode=view&p;_p_col_id=column-1&p;_p_col_pos=1&p;_p_col_count=2. "καὶ ἔσται Μανασσῆ ἐν ᾿Ισσάχαρ καὶ ἐν ᾿Ασὴρ Βαιθσὰν καὶ αἱ κῶμαι αὐτῶν καὶ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας Δὼρ καὶ τὰς κώμας αὐτῆς, καὶ τοὺς κατοικοῦντας Μαγεδδώ, καὶ τὰς κώμας αὐτῆς... ["And Manasses shall have Issachar and Aser Baethsan and their villages, and the inhabitants of Dor, and its villages, and the inhabitants of Mageddó and its villages..."]"Error:+no+`|title=`+specified when+using+{{[[Template:Cite+web|Cite+web]]}}&rft.atitle=&rft_id=https://www.septuagint.bible/joshua/-/asset_publisher/TKUcY6iZbwnU/content/iesous-tou-naue-kephalaio-17?inheritRedirect=false&redirect;=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.septuagint.bible%2Fjoshua%3Fp_p_id%3D101_INSTANCE_TKUcY6iZbwnU%26p_p_lifecycle%3D0%26p_p_state%3Dnormal%26p_p_mode%3Dview%26p_p_col_id%3Dcolumn-1%26p_p_col_pos%3D1%26p_p_col_count%3D2&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikibooks.org:Unsolved:Tel_Megiddo"> ; "Error: no `|title=` specified when using {{Cite web}}". https://www.septuagint.bible/judges/-/asset_publisher/TKUcY6iZbwnU/content/ktritai-kephalaio-5?inheritRedirect=false&redirect=https://www.septuagint.bible/judges?p_p_id=101_INSTANCE_TKUcY6iZbwnU&p;_p_lifecycle=0&p;_p_state=normal&p;_p_m. "ἦλθον αὐτῶν βασιλεῖς, παρετάξαντο, τότε ἐπολέμησαν βασιλεῖς Χαναὰν ἐν Θαναὰχ ἐπὶ ὕδατι Μαγεδδώ. ["Kings set themselves in array, then the kings of Chanaan fought in Thanaach at the water of Mageddó."]"Error:+no+`|title=`+specified when+using+{{[[Template:Cite+web|Cite+web]]}}&rft.atitle=&rft_id=https://www.septuagint.bible/judges/-/asset_publisher/TKUcY6iZbwnU/content/ktritai-kephalaio-5?inheritRedirect=false&redirect;=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.septuagint.bible%2Fjudges%3Fp_p_id%3D101_INSTANCE_TKUcY6iZbwnU%26p_p_lifecycle%3D0%26p_p_state%3Dnormal%26p_p_m&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikibooks.org:Unsolved:Tel_Megiddo"> ; "Judges 5 - LXX" (in en). https://www.biblestudytools.com/lxx/judges/5.html.
2. ↑ [4]

## References

1. ↑ "UNESCO World Heritage Centre - Document - Tel Megiddo National Park". https://whc.unesco.org/en/documents/9642.
2. ↑ Ministry, TruthBeTold (18 August 2017) (in en). English Latin Bible: Basic English 1949 - Biblia Sacra Vulgata 405. TruthBeTold Ministry. ISBN 978-82-8381-038-7. https://books.google.com/books?id=xaWUDwAAQBAJ&dq=mageddo+in+latin+bible&pg=PT1807. "et abiit Iosias rex in occursum eius et occisus est in Mageddo cum vidisset eum..."
3. ↑ Introducing Megiddo , in Megiddo Expedition, retrieved on 25 March 2020: "In the New Testament it appears as Armageddon (a Greek corruption of the Hebrew Har [=Mount] Megiddo), location of the millennial battle between the forces of good and evil[.]"
4. ↑ "Megiddo". 23 January 2013. https://www.touristisrael.com/megiddo/9448/. "For Christians the word Megiddo is synonymous with the end of the world as mentioned in the Book of Revelation, Megiddo or Armageddon as it is also known will be the site of the Final Battle."
5. ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 49: “In the fourteenth century Marino Sanuto places Megiddo at a place called Sububa on his map, evidently Ezbuba.”
6. ↑ Robinson, Edward (1856). Biblical Researches in Palestine and the Adjacent Regions: A Journal of Travels in the Years 1838 & 1852 : in Three Volumes. Murray. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Biblical_Researches_in_Palestine_and_the/5YtCAAAAcAAJ. " As we travelled across the plain, and had Ta'annuk and the place of Lejjun continually in view, we could not resist the impression, that the latter probably occupies the site of the ancient Megiddo, so often mentioned along with Taanach. The distance of Taanach from Legio is given by Eusebius and Jerome at three or four Roman miles; and it is somewhat remarkable, that Megiddo is rarely spoken of in Scripture, except in conjunction with Taanach; a circumstance which likewise implies their vicinity to each other... All these circumstances make out a strong case in favour of the identity of Legio and Megiddo; and leave in my own mind little doubt upon the point."
7. ↑ Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p. 90-99
8. ↑ Cline: "The debate over the location of biblical Megiddo continued for another two decades, until the Scottish theologian George Adam Smith convincingly showed that Megiddo and Tell el-Mutesellim were one and the same. He did so by using both direct and indirect evidence, including connecting biblical passages to geographical locations and documenting mentions within Egyptian inscriptions in his 1894 book The Historical Geography of the Holy Land, which was a landmark publication in all senses of the word."
9. ↑ The Historical Geography of the Holy Land, Twenty Sixth edition, 1935, p.412
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Cline, Eric, (2020). "Megiddo", in Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, Vol. 18, De Gruyter.
11. ↑ Introducing Megiddo , in Megiddo Expedition, retrieved on 21 March 2020.
12. ↑ Garfinkel, Yosef (1993). "The Yarmukian Culture in Israel." (in en). Paléorient 19 (1): 115, 117. doi:10.3406/paleo.1993.4587. https://www.persee.fr/doc/paleo_0153-9345_1993_num_19_1_4587.
13. ↑ Issar, A., & Mattanyah Zohar, (2004). "Climate Change: Environment and Civilization in the Middle East", Springer Science & Business Media, p. 70.
14. ↑ Nativ, Assaf; Rosenberg, Danny; Nadel, Dani (2014). "The Southern tip of the Northern Levant? The Early Pottery Neolithic assemblage of Tel Ro'im West, Israel". Paléorient 40 (1): 99. doi:10.3406/paleo.2014.5618. ISSN 0153-9345.
15. ↑ Adams, Matthew J., Israel Finkelstein, and David Ussishkin, (2014). "The Great Temple of Early Bronze I Megiddo", in American Journal of Archaeology Vol. 118, No. 2, April, pp. 285–305.
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Wiener, Noah." Early Bronze Age: Megiddo's Great Temple and the Birth of Urban Culture in the Levant" Bible History Daily, Biblical Archaeology Society, 2014.
17. ↑ Megiddo Expedition 2004 , in Area J of Tel Megiddo.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Megiddo Expedition 2006 , in Area J of Tel Megiddo.
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Megiddo Expedition 1994-1998 , in Area J of Tel Megiddo.
20. ↑ Sapir-Hen, Lidar, Deirdre N. Fulton, Matthew J. Adams, and Israel Finkelstein, (2022). "The Temple and the Town at Early Bronze Age I Megiddo: Faunal Evidence for the Emergence of Complexity", in Bulletin of ASOR, Volume 387, May 2022, Abstract: "...faunal assemblages from...Megiddo, a cult site, and Tel Megiddo East, a town site...are dated to the Early Bronze Age IB (EB IB; 3090–2950 b.c.e.), at the dawn of urbanization in the Near East."
21. ↑ David Ussishkin. "The Sacred Area of Early Bronze Megiddo: History and Interpretation." Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, no. 373, 2015, pp. 69–104
22. ↑ De Miroschedji, Pierre, (2014). "The Southern Levant (Cisjordan) during the Early Bronze Age", in M.L. Steiner and A.E. Killebrew (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant c.8000–332 BCE, Oxford University Press, pp. 309, 310.
23. ↑ De Miroschedji, Pierre, (2014). "The Southern Levant (Cisjordan) during the Early Bronze Age", in M.L. Steiner and A.E. Killebrew (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant c.8000–332 BCE, Oxford University Press, pp. 314, 319, and Fig. 22.1.
24. ↑ Golden, Jonathan M., 2004. Ancient Canaan and Israel: New Perspectives, ABC-CLIO, Library of Congress, Santa Barbara-California, p. 144.
25. ↑ Finkelstein et al., The Archaeology of Tel Megiddo
26. ↑ Golden, Jonathan M., 2004. Ancient Canaan and Israel: New Perspectives, ABC-CLIO, Library of Congress, Santa Barbara-California, pp. 144–145.
27. ↑ Bohstrom, Phlippe, (13 March 2018). "Exclusive Royal Burial in Ancient Canaan May Shed New Light on Biblical City", in National Geographic.
28. ↑ Nigro 1994, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270412526_The_Nordburg_of_Megiddo_A_New_Reconstruction_on_the_Basis_of_Schumacher's_Plan#:~:text=Abstract,identifying its most characteristic features.
29. ↑ Scott, Ashley, et al., (2020). "Exotic foods reveal contact between South Asia and the Near East during the second millennium BCE", in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118(2), pp. 7–8, and Table 1.
30. ↑ Scott et al. (2020), Table 1, p.4.
31. ↑ The Megiddo Expedition, (March 17, 2024). "Megiddo: News from the Bronze Age," Webinar Session 1.
32. ↑ Israel Finkelstein (2024) Megiddo and Thutmose III: An Update
33. ↑ Eshel, T., & Finkelstein, I. (2025). Lead isotopes may link the earliest silver hoard from Megiddo to the military campaign of Thutmose III. Archaeometry, 67(2), 380–398. https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.13021
34. ↑ "Merchants and Empires. Late Bronze Age. 1539-1200 BCE". https://www.penn.museum/sites/Canaan/LateBronzeAge.html.
35. ↑ Finkelstein, Israel, (2024). "Megiddo and Thutmose III: An Update", in: Egypt and the Levant XXXIII, pp. 255–262, Abstract: "The work shows that it was the city of Stratum IX of LB I that confronted the pharaoh. And, contrary to conventional wisdom, it also demonstrates that in the Stratum IX era, Megiddo was better protected than it was in the Middle Bronze Age, as the old brick wall was still in use, and houses that created a continuous outer stone wall were constructed on top of it."
36. ↑ David Ussishkin (2021) The Late Bronze II˗III Royal Palaces at Megiddo: A Rejoinder
37. ↑ https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/aemw/amarna?zoom=24
38. ↑ David Ussishkin (2021) The Late Bronze II˗III Royal Palaces at Megiddo: A Rejoinder
39. ↑ Levy, Eythan, et al., (2021). "The Date of Appearance of Philistine Pottery at Megiddo: A Computational Approach", in Bulletin of ASOR, Ahead of Print.
40. ↑ Langgut, Dafna, and Israel Finkelstein, (May 24, 2023). "Environment, subsistence strategies and settlement seasonality in the Negev Highlands (Israel) during the Bronze and Iron Ages: The palynological evidence", in: PLoS ONE 18(5): e0285358, pp. 5–6: "Based on [L]ake Kinneret [Sea of Galilee] and Dead Sea high-resolution, well-dated palynological-climatological investigation, [...] Iron I (ca. 1150–950 [BCE]) and the Iron IIA (ca. 950–780 BCE), [t]he Iron IIB (ca. 780–680 BCE) and Iron IIC (ca. 680–586 BCE)[...]"
41. ↑ Pioske, Daniel, (2022). "The Historian and the Assemblage: On the Interpretation of Texts and Artifacts for the History of Ancient Israel", in: The Ancient Israelite World, p. 61: "But around 1130 BC Egyptian control of Canaan comes to an end."
42. ↑ Arie, Eran, (2023). "Canaanites in a Changing World: The Jezreel Valley during the Iron Age I", in: From Nomadism to Monarchy, p. 120: "The destruction of Tel Megiddo VIIA has traditionally been dated to 1130 BC, due to several Egyptian objects bearing names of Pharaohs of the Twentieth Dynasty, the latest of whom is Ramesses VI, [but] recent excavations in area H, [o]nly some 30 meters from the palace, [in] the only destruction [a]ssociated with the nearby burnt palace, [uncovered] two complete Philistine strainer jugs [...]"
43. ↑ Finkelstein, Israel, et al., (2017). "New Evidence on the Late Bronze/Iron I Transition at Megiddo: Implications for the End of the Egyptian Rule and the Appearance of Philistine Pottery", in Egypt and the Levant 27, p. 277: "[T]he destruction of Stratum VIIA in the palace and adjacent Level H-11 building – took place in the early Iron I, in the middle decades of the 11th century BCE [sic]."
44. ↑ Arie, Eran, (2023). "Canaanites in a Changing World: The Jezreel Valley during the Iron Age I", in: From Nomadism to Monarchy, p. 120: "[I]t appears that the Canaanite dynasty ruling Megiddo successfully continued to control the city for some decades after the Egyptians had withdrawn from the region, until local factors led to the destruction of the city around 1080 BCE or shortly thereafter."
45. ↑ Eythan Levy, Israel Finkelstein, Mario A. S. Martin, and Eli Piasetzky (2022) The Date of Appearance of Philistine Pottery at Megiddo: A Computational Approach
46. ↑ Kleiman, Assaf et al. (2023). "Crisis in Motion: The Final Days of Iron Age I Megiddo". Levant 56 (1): 66–93. doi:10.1080/00758914.2023.2230039.
47. ↑ Arie 2011:89–94
48. ↑ Ussishkin 2018:309–15
49. ↑ Ilan et al. 2000:97–99
50. ↑ Bruins, Hendrik J. (2023). "Time and Paradigm at Tel Megiddo: David, Shoshenq I, Hazael and Radiocarbon Dating". in Ben-Yosef, Erez. "And in Length of Days Understanding" (Job 12:12): Essays on Archaeology in the Eastern Mediterranean and Beyond in Honor of Thomas E. Levy. Springer Nature. pp. 811–837. ISBN 978-3-031-27330-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=NcPOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA811. "See Fig. 2, p. 813."
51. ↑ 51.0 51.1 51.2 Finkelstein, Israel et al. (2019). "The Iron Age Gates of Megiddo: New Evidence and Updated Interpretations". Tel Aviv 46 (2): 167. doi:10.1080/03344355.2019.1650492.
52. ↑ Arie, Eran, (2023). "Canaanites in a Changing World: The Jezreel Valley during the Iron Age I", in: From Nomadism to Monarchy, p. 120: "The massive and complete destruction of Tel Megiddo VIA and Tel Yoqne'am XVII mark the end of the Iron I in the valley [of Jezreel] and have been considered the end of Canaanite culture in the northern valleys, since the region's material culture in the subsequent Iron IIA is remarkably different in most respects[...]"
53. ↑ Arie, Eran, (2023). "Canaanites in a Changing World: The Jezreel Valley during the Iron Age I", in: From Nomadism to Monarchy, p. 120: "[P]reserved in the biblical narrative of the war led by Deborah and Barak in Judges 4–5, [t]he only possible background for this story is the battles [b]etween the Israelites from the hill country and the Canaanites who lived in the valley during the Iron I [...]"
54. ↑ Ben-Dor Evian, Shirley; Finkelstein, Israel (2023). "The Sheshonq Fragment from Megiddo: A New Interpretation". Bulletin of ASOR 390: 97–111. doi:10.1086/727430. https://www.academia.edu/112554867. "An updated Bayesian model for Megiddo (with additional dates for the Iron IIA) places [the end of Stratum VIA] in the 999–974 B.C.E. range (989–953 B.C.E. if the nearby Tel Rehov dates are incorporated in the model —for both, see Finkelstein and Piasetzky in press).".
55. ↑ Kleiman, Assaf et al. (2023). "Crisis in Motion: The Final Days of Iron Age I Megiddo". Levant 56 (1): 66–93. doi:10.1080/00758914.2023.2230039. "As for the destruction of Stratum VIA, a radiocarbon study published a few years ago, which was based on a larger quantity of samples, suggested that the event occurred in the range of 985–935 BCE (Toffolo et al. 2014). A more recent model puts it in the early 10th century BC (Finkelstein and Piasetzky in press) ...".
56. ↑ Gil Orduña, Enrique, (June 29, 2024). "A Bayesian Statistical Reassessment of Levantine Late Iron Age I Radiocarbon Data", in: Cuadernos de Prehistoria y Arqueología de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 50(1), p. 151.
57. ↑ Thomas, Z., "The Political History of Megiddo in the Early Iron Age and the Ambiguities of Evidence", Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History, 9(1), pp. 69–94, 2022
58. ↑ Bruins, Hendrik J., (2023), (Fig. 2, p. 812).
59. ↑ 59.0 59.1 Megiddo Expedition, "History of Megiddo" , Tel Aviv University.
60. ↑ Bruins, Hendrik J., (2023): "...the destruction layer of Stratum VA-IVB dates to the ninth century BC, supporting Finkelstein who related this devastation to Hazael's Campaign..." (p. 811, and Fig. 2).
61. ↑ Bruins, Hendrik J. (2023). "Time and Paradigm at Tel Megiddo: David, Shoshenq I, Hazael and Radiocarbon Dating". in Ben-Yosef, Erez. "And in Length of Days Understanding" (Job 12:12): Essays on Archaeology in the Eastern Mediterranean and Beyond in Honor of Thomas E. Levy. Springer Nature. pp. 811–837. ISBN 978-3-031-27330-8. https://books.google.com/books?id=NcPOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA811.
62. ↑ Bruins, Hendrik J., (2023), (p. 828).
63. ↑ Bruins, Hendrik J., (2023), (Table 2, p. 828).
64. ↑ Shaar, Ron, et al., (2022). "Archaeomagnetism in the Levant and Mesopotamia Reveals the Largest Changes in the Geomagnetic Field", in: JGR Solid Earth Volume127, Issue12, December 2022: "In addition, the Aramean occupation (845–815 BCE), which is dated using both radiocarbon and historical constraints, is also used as a useful chronological anchor."
65. ↑ Bahn, Paul. Lost Cities: 50 Discoveries in World Archaeology. London: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 1997. 88–91. Print.
66. ↑ 66.0 66.1 Adams, Matthew J.; David, Jonathan; Tepper, Yotam (1 May 2014). "Legio: Excavations at the Camp of the Roman Sixth Ferrata Legion in Israel". Biblical Archaeology Society. https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/legio/.
67. ↑ 67.0 67.1 Howry, Jeffrey C. (2020). "The Tale of Two Villages: New Perspective on the Historic Palestinian Landscape". Jerusalem Quarterly 82 (Summer 2020). doi:10.70190/jq.I82.p38. https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1650284. Retrieved 14 July 2025. With map showing Abu Shusha, Maximianopolis, Lejjun, Tel Megiddo, Legio.
68. ↑ Ben Zion, Ilan (2023-08-15). "Israel may uproot ancient Christian mosaic near Armageddon. Where it could go next sparks outcry". https://apnews.com/article/jesus-bible-armageddon-israel-museum-mosaic-christian-2b3a1806e238e995d51d11a8acbf2935.
69. ↑ Davies, Graham, Megiddo, (Lutterworth press, 1986), pg 1.
70. ↑ "The Megiddo Expedition". https://megiddoexpedition.wordpress.com/.
71. ↑ Schniedewind, William M. (2016). "Excavating the Text of I Kings 9: In Search of the Gates of Solomon". in Levy, Thomas Evan. Historical Biblical Archaeology and the Future: The New Pragmatism. Routledge. pp. 241–249. ISBN 978-1-134-93746-2. https://books.google.com/books?id=NLbsCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA241.
72. ↑ Dever, William G. (2021). "Solomon, Scripture, and Science: The Rise of the Judahite State in the 10th Century BC". Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology 1: 102–125. doi:10.52486/01.00001.4. ISSN 2788-8819.
73. ↑ Wiener, Noah. "Early Bronze Age: Megiddo's Great Temple and the Birth of Urban Culture in the Levant" Bible History Daily, Biblical Archaeology Society, 2014.
74. ↑ Shapira, Ran, (Oct. 1, 2014). "5,000-year Old Megiddo Temple Yields Evidence of Industrial Animal Sacrifice", in Haaretz.
75. ↑ Unique Gold Earring Found in Intriguing Collection of Ancient Jewelry at Tel Megiddo
76. ↑ "Gold Egyptian Earring Found in Israel". 21 May 2012. http://www.livescience.com/20463-gold-egyptian-earring-israel.html.
77. ↑ Hasson, Nir (2012-05-22). "Megiddo Dig Unearths Cache of Buried Canaanite Treasure". Haaretz. https://www.haaretz.com/news/national/megiddo-dig-unearths-cache-of-buried-canaanite-treasure.premium-1.431797.
78. ↑ "Trove of 3,000-year-old jewelry found in Israel". 26 May 2012. https://www.inquirer.com/philly/news/nation_world/20120526_Trove_of_3_000-year-old_jewelry_found_in_Israel.html.
79. ↑ Kleiman, Assaf, et al. "Building 338 at Megiddo: New Evidence from the Field." Israel Exploration Journal, vol. 66, no. 2, 2016, pp. 161–76
80. ↑ Ussishkin, David. "The Date of Building 338 at Megiddo: A Rejoinder." Israel Exploration Journal, vol. 67, no. 1, 2017, pp. 50–60
81. ↑ 81.0 81.1 81.2 81.3 Amihai Mazar, Archaeology of the Land of the Bible (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 476–78.
82. ↑ Kalisher, Rachel; Cradic, Melissa S.; Adams, Matthew J.; Martin, Mario A. S.; Finkelstein, Israel (2023-02-22). "Cranial trephination and infectious disease in the Eastern Mediterranean: The evidence from two elite brothers from Late Bronze Megiddo, Israel" (in en). PLOS ONE 18 (2). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0281020. ISSN 1932-6203. PMID 36812179. Bibcode: 2023PLoSO..1881020K.
83. ↑ Strickland, Ashley (2023-02-22). "An elite Bronze Age man had brain surgery more than 3,000 years ago" (in en). https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/22/world/bronze-age-brain-surgery-scn/index.html.
84. ↑ Milligan, Markus (2023-02-22). "Evidence of Bronze Age cranial surgery found at ancient Megiddo" (in en-US). https://www.heritagedaily.com/2023/02/evidence-of-bronze-age-cranial-surgery-found-at-ancient-megiddo/146270.
85. ↑ Schumacher, Gottlieb; Watzinger, Carl (1908): Tell el Mutesellim; Bericht über die 1903 bis 1905 mit Unterstützung SR. Majestät des deutschen Kaisers und der Deutschen Orientgesellschaft vom deutschen Verein zur Erforschung Palästinas Veranstalteten Ausgrabungen Volume: 1
86. ↑ Schumacher, Gottlieb; Watzinger, Carl, 1877-1948, (1929): Tell el Mutesellim; Bericht über die 1903 bis 1905 mit Unterstützung SR. Majestät des deutschen Kaisers und der Deutschen Orientgesellschaft vom deutschen Verein zur Erforschung Palästinas Veranstalteten Ausgrabungen, vol. 2.
87. ↑ oi.uchigao.edu Clarence S. Fisher, The Excavation of Armageddon, Oriental Institute Communications 4, University of Chicago Press, 1929
88. ↑ oi.uchigao.edu P. L. O. Guy, New Light from Armageddon: Second Provisional Report (1927-29) on the Excavations at Megiddo in Palestine, Oriental Institute Communications 9, University of Chicago Press, 1931
89. ↑ oi.uchigao.edu Robert S. Lamon and Geoffrey M. Shipton, Megiddo 1. Seasons of 1925-34: Strata I-V, Oriental Institute Publication 42, Oriental Institute of Chicago, 1939, ISBN 978-0-226-14233-3
90. ↑ [1] , Gordon Loud, Megiddo 2. Seasons of 1935-1939 - The Text, Oriental Institute Publication 62, Oriental Institute of Chicago, 1948, ISBN 978-965-266-013-8
91. ↑ Gordon Loud (1948). Plates. Megiddo 2. Seasons of 1935-1939, Oriental Institute Publication 62, Oriental Institute of Chicago. ISBN 978-0-226-49385-5. http://oi.uchicago.edu/pdf/oip62_plates.pdf.
92. ↑ oi.uchigao.edu Timothy P. Harrison, Megiddo 3. Final Report on the Stratum VI Excavations, Oriental Institute Publication 127, Oriental Institute of Chicago, 2004, ISBN 978-1-885923-31-8
93. ↑ [2] Eliot Braun, Early Megiddo on the East Slope (the "Megiddo Stages"): A Report on the Early Occupation of the East Slope of Megiddo (Results of the Oriental Institute's Excavations, 1925-1933, Oriental Institute Publication 139, Oriental Institute of Chicago, 2013, ISBN 978-1-885923-98-1
94. ↑ Yigael Yadin, "New Light on Solomon's Megiddo," Biblical Archaeology, vol. 23, pp. 62–68, 1960
95. ↑ Yigael Yadin, "Megiddo of the Kings of Israel," Biblical Archaeology, vol. 33, pp. 66–96, 1970
96. ↑ Anabel Zarzecki-Peleg, Yadin's Expedition to Megiddo - Final Report of the Archaeological Excavations (1960,1966,1967, and 1971/2 Seasons, Vols. I&II, Jerusalem, Israel Exploration Society - Qedem #56, Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2016
97. ↑ Israel Finkelstein, David Ussishkin and Baruch Halpern (eds.), Megiddo III: The 1992–1996 Seasons, Tel Aviv University, 2000, ISBN 978-965-266-013-8
98. ↑ Israel Finkelstein, David Ussishkin and Baruch Halpern (eds.), Megiddo IV: The 1998–2002 Seasons, Tel Aviv University, 2006, ISBN 978-965-266-022-0
99. ↑ Finkelstein, Israel, David Ussishkin, and Eric H. Cline, eds. Megiddo V: The 2004–2008 Seasons. Vol. 31. Penn State Press, 2013 ISBN 978-1-57506-276-1
100. ↑ Finkelstein, Israel, et al. Megiddo VI: The 2010-2014 Seasons. Eisenbrauns, 2022 ISBN 978-1-64602-165-9
101. ↑ Haim Watzman (2010), Chemists help archaeologists to probe biblical history, Nature, 468 614–615. doi:10.1038/468614a
102. ↑ "Early Bronze Age: Megiddo's Great Temple and the Birth of Urban Culture in the Levant - Biblical Archaeology Society". 9 October 2016. http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/ancient-cultures/ancient-israel/early-bronze-age-megiddos-great-temple-and-the-birth-of-urban-culture-in-the-levant/.

## Further reading

* [3] Rupert Chapman, Putting Sheshonq I in his Place, 2009 (dating, context and analysis of the Sheshonq Fragment), with a reconstruction of the stele
* [4] Breasted's reconstruction of the Sheshonq I Victory Stela (1929: Fig 9). Download Scientific Diagram
* Marian H Feldman, Luxurious forms: Redefining a Mediterranean "International Style," 1400-1200 B.C., The Art Bulletin, New York, vol. 84, iss. 1, March 2002
* [5] P. L. O. Guy, Megiddo Tombs, Oriental Institute Publications 33, The University of Chicago Press, 1938
* [6] Robert S. Lamon, The Megiddo Water System, Oriental Institute Publication 32, University of Chicago Press, 1935
* [7] Gordon Loud, The Megiddo Ivories, Oriental Institute Publication 52, University of Chicago Press, 1939 ISBN 978-0-226-49390-9
* Martin, Mario AS, Israel Finkelstein, and Eli Piasetzky, "Radiocarbon-dating the Late Bronze Age: cultural and historical considerations on Megiddo and beyond", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 384.1, pp. 211–240, 2020
* [8] H.G. May, Material Remains of the Megiddo Cult, Oriental Institute Publication 26, University of Chicago Press, 1935
* [9] Gabrielle V. Novacek, Ancient Israel: Highlights from the Collections of the Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, Oriental Institute Museum Publications 31, Oriental Institute, 2011 ISBN 978-1-885923-65-3
* [10] Geoffrey M. Shipton, Notes on the Megiddo Pottery of Strata VI-XX, Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 17, University of Chicago Press, 1939
* John A. Wilson, The Megiddo Ivories, American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 333–336, (Jul. - September, 1938)
* Zarzecki-Peleg, Anabel, "Reexamining Area DD at Megiddo", The Fire Signals of Lachish: Studies in the Archaeology and History of Israel in the Late Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Persian Period in Honor of David Ussishkin, edited by Israel Finkelstein and Nadav Na'aman, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 373–386, 2011

## External links

* Tel Megiddo National Park \- official site at the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority
* The Megiddo Expedition
* Jezreel Valley Regional Project
* Pamela Weintraub, Rewriting Tel Megiddo's Violent History: At the ancient site of Megiddo, archaeologists unearth new scientific insights that may turn centuries of gospel on its head., Discover Magazine, November 2015 issue
* Megiddo At Bibleplaces.com
* Megiddo: Tell el-Mutesellim from Images of Archaeological Sites in Israel
* "Mageddo". Catholic Encyclopedia. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09526a.htm. \- contains list of Biblical references
* Excavation of an early christian building in Megiddo, with floor mosaics (fish) and three inscriptions
* The Devil Is Not So Black as He Is Painted: BAR Interviews Israel Finkelstein Biblical Archaeology Review
* Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago Palestine Collection
* The Megiddo Expedition: Archaeology and the Bible , UW-L Journal of Undergraduate Research VIII (2005)
* H.G. May Archaeology of Palestine Collection \- contains images of several archaeological sites, including Tel Megiddo
* English translation Schumacher's Tell el-Mutesellim, Volume I: Report of Finds
* Digging Up Armageddon: Chicago's Search for the Lost City of Solomon Eric Cline - ISAC - Nov 17, 2021

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