Megiddo
RENEWED EXCAVATIONS
The renewed excavations at Megiddo have been undertaken under the auspices of Tel Aviv University, with Pennsylvania State University as the senior American partner. Consortium institutions are George Washington University, Loyola Marymount University, the University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University, the University of Bern, and Rostock University. The directors of the expedition are I. Finkelstein and D. Ussishkin, who lead the excavation; and B. Halpern, who heads the academic program and acts as the coordinator of the consortium. The expedition is endorsed by the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority, which maintains the site as a national park, and the Israel Exploration Society.
The renewed excavations, aiming at a long-term, systematic study of Tel Megiddo and its history, commenced in two short seasons in 1992 and 1993. The first full season took place in 1994, and the expedition has operated in the field every other year since. Eight areas have thus far been chosen for excavation. They include two trenches in the upper periphery of the site—one to the northwest and the other to the southeast; one trench in the lower mound; two areas aimed at further investigating remains uncovered in the previous excavations; and three areas in conjunction with development plans of the Nature and National Parks Protection Authority. These excavation areas consist of the following:
Area F: Located in the lower terrace of the mound, with remains of the Middle Bronze Age earthen embankment, Late Bronze Age I and Iron Age I domestic houses, and a Late Bronze Age II monumental building.
Area G: The Late Bronze Age city gate excavated by the University of Chicago team in their area AA.
Area H: A sectional trench on the northwestern edge of the mound; investigation concentrated on the relationship between the Assyrian palaces excavated in the 1920s, the destruction debris of stratum IVA, and Iron Age II stratigraphy.
Area J: A renewed study of the Early Bronze Age temples, uncovered by the University of Chicago excavations in area BB.
Area K: A sectional trench in the southeastern edge of the mound, with remains of Iron Age I–II domestic buildings.
Area L: A renewed study of palace 6000 partly excavated by Y. Yadin, and the “northern stables” partially unearthed by the University of Chicago team.
Area M: Located in the center of the mound, in and around the great north–south trench dug by G. Schumacher in the early twentieth century. Excavation was devoted to the clarification of the date and nature of the Nordburg and the monumental chamber tomb f uncovered by Schumacher, and to the exposure of an elaborate building of stratum VI to the east of Schumacher’s trench.
Area N: Located at the northwestern foot of the mound and containing Middle Bronze Age III/Late Bronze Age I remains.
The renewed excavations dealt with almost the entire sequence of occupation at Megiddo, from stratum XX of the Chalcolithic/Early Bronze Age IA to stratum III of the late Iron Age II. A dual system for labeling the strata has been adopted. In each excavation area the local strata have been labeled as “levels,” the letter designating the area used as a prefix for the number of the level, e.g., “level K-3” in area K or “level H-2” in area H. In each excavation area the levels are counted from top to bottom, except for area J, where local conditions dictated a count from bottom up. As to the general stratigraphy of the site, the Chicago Expedition’s strata numbering system, e.g., “stratum XII,” has been followed.
University of Chicago Stratum | Period | Area F Level | Area H Level | Area J Level | Area K Level | Area L Level | Area M Level | Area N Level |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
XX? | EB I | J-1 | ||||||
Phase in XIX; not identified as a separate level | EB IB | J-2 | ||||||
XIX | EB IB | J-3 | ||||||
XVIII | EB IB | J-4B | ||||||
Not detected | EB IB | J-4A | ||||||
XVII | EB III | J-5 | ||||||
XVI | EB III | J-6 | ||||||
XV | EB III | J-7 | ||||||
XIII? | MB I | M-10 | ||||||
XII | MB II | F-12 | M-9 | |||||
XI? | MB II | M-8 | ||||||
X | MB III/LB I | F-11 | M-7 | N-4 N-3 N-2 |
||||
IX | LB I | F-10 | N-1 | |||||
VIII? | LB II | F-9 | M-6? | |||||
VIIB? | LB II | F-8 | M-6 | |||||
VIIA? | LB II | F-7 | M-6 | |||||
VIIA or slightly later | LB II/IA I | K-6 | ||||||
VIB | Iron I | F-6 | K-5 | M-5 | ||||
VIA | Iron I/II | F-5 | K-4 | L-5 | M-4 | |||
VB | Iron II | H-6 | K-3 | L-4 | ||||
VA–IVB | Iron II | H-5 | K-2 | L-3 | ||||
IVA | Iron II | F-4b | H-4 H-3 |
K-1 | L-2 | |||
Not detected | Iron II | H-2 | ||||||
III | Iron II | F-4a | H-1 | L-1 | ||||
II | Iron II | F-3 | ||||||
Late Roman | F-2 | |||||||
20th century CE | F-1 |
EXCAVATION RESULTS
THE EARLY BRONZE AGE. Excavations in area J on the eastern slope of area BB, beneath and to the east of temple 4050 of stratum XIX, unearthed fragmentary remains of level J-1 (late phase of stratum XX) in cavities in the bedrock. Level J-1 dates to the Chalcolithic and/or the Early Bronze Age IA.
Soundings in temple 4050 of stratum XIX (level J-3) revealed that it conceals the remains of two superimposed buildings, the earlier not detected in the University of Chicago excavations. The side pillar-bases of the earlier building predate temple 4050, as their top elevation is lower than both the floor and the bottom of the walls of the temple. A plaster floor connected to the side pillar-bases extends below the plaster floor related to the temple. The side bases apparently supported two lines of pillars of an earlier temple, belonging to level J-2 (an early phase of stratum XIX, dating to Early Bronze Age IB). The walls of the earlier temple lie under later architectural elements, or were removed when temple 4050 was erected, and therefore its layout cannot be reconstructed. It follows that temple 4050 of level J-3 (later phase of stratum XIX, Early Bronze Age IB) should be reconstructed without the side pillars. The excavation traced the southern wall of the building, which was not tracked by the University of Chicago team.
The next stage in area J is level J-4 (stratum XVIII, Early Bronze Age IB). The main phase of this level—level J-4B—features a monumental temple compound. The main elements of this temple are two massive parallel walls, 3.5 m thick, their lower part built of stone and their upper part of large square mud bricks. Remains of the walls were explored in a sector c. 47 m long, and their ends were not reached on either side; they were preserved to a height of up to 1.5 m. To their south runs a parallel, narrower wall, 1.85 m thick. Two long and narrow corridors, 2.4 m wide, separate the parallel walls. A thick (up to 25 cm) accumulation of animal bones—some in articulation—was found along the corridors. A similar accumulation was exposed to the south of the corridors, near (and under) the later, round altar 4017. These bones represent the discard of the remains of animals which were brought as offerings and sacrificed in the temple. A study of the bones made it possible to trace the type of animals, gender, age, parts preferred, and the ways the bones were discarded during the sacrificial procedure. The temple hall lies to the north of the parallel walls. Unearthed so far are only a section of its front wall (2.6 m thick) and two very large rectangular basalt pillar bases, the one completely uncovered measuring 1.8 by 1 m. These remains facilitate the reconstruction of the temple hall as a large broad room that measured c. 9 by 30 m, with four sets of two pillars to support its roof.
A survey of the proto-historic site located in the area immediately to the east of the main mound has indicated that this area reached its peak activity in the Early Bronze Age IB. Magnetometer investigation has shown that the entire area was built up. In this case, Early Bronze Age IB Megiddo reached a huge size of roughly 125 a., with a cult compound on the summit and the main habitation site to the east of the mound.
The temple of level J-4B was not destroyed by fire. Investigation of cracks in its walls revealed that it was probably damaged in a major earthquake and then abandoned for several decades. Radiocarbon dating of three short-lived samples from level J-4B produced calibrated dates between 3090 and 2910 BCE. During the abandonment period the corridors of the level J-4B temple started filling up with eroded material from the bricks of the upper parts of the walls. Level J-4A represents an attempt to reoccupy the temple, still within the framework of the Early Bronze Age IB. This phase was probably short lived and is characterized by fragmentary remains. The top of one of the parallel walls was repaired, two supporting brick walls were built in one of the corridors, and the floor of the temple hall was raised to the elevation of the top of the large basalt pillar bases. Animal bones were found on this later floor. A cache of 16 vessels found in one of the corridors apparently belongs to level J-4A; they were locally made in Egyptian style. Shortly thereafter the temple compound was deserted for a few hundred years. No evidence has thus far been found for activity at Megiddo (including the area to the east of the mound) in the Early Bronze Age II.
Level J-5 (stratum XVII) represents the renewal of activity in the temple compound in the Early Bronze Age III. Its fragmentary remains are comprised of a few walls, patches of floors, and several installations. Level J-6 (stratum XVI, Early Bronze Age III), with two sub-phases, is characterized by remains of modest domestic buildings. They appear under both temples 4040 and 5192, meaning that all three “megaron” temples were constructed within the time frame of stratum XV. Round altar 4017 (of strata XVII–XV) was uncovered by the University of Chicago Expedition, but no remains of temples were detected in levels J-5 and J-6.
THE MIDDLE BRONZE AGE. Middle Bronze Age remains have primarily been found in areas F and M. The main feature of this period in area F is the elaborate earthen embankment of level F-12, which stabilized and protected the slope of the lower mound. The embankment is built of several layers of earth, its lower part supported by a stone revetment. It should apparently be affiliated with stratum XII and its embankment on the upper mound, and dated to the Middle Bronze Age II. Three levels with remains dating to the Middle Bronze Age II and III—F-13, F-12, and F-11—were unearthed along the inner (southern) slope of the rampart.
In area M, remains of three levels unearthed in a limited area under the Nordburg—M-10, M-9, and M-8—date to the Middle Bronze Age II and III. Level M-7, traced under the southern sector of the Nordburg, dates to the Middle Bronze Age III/Late Bronze Age I. It seems to correspond to chamber tombs I and II uncovered by Schumacher in the Mittleburg, located to the south of the Nordburg. Remains uncovered at the northwestern foot of the mound (area N) also date to this phase in the history of Megiddo.
THE LATE BRONZE AGE. Late Bronze Age remains have so far been unearthed in areas F, G, M, and K. In area F, level F-10 (with two phases) dates to the Late Bronze Age I (University of Chicago’s stratum IX). It features domestic houses built on top of a thick plaster layer, which covered the crest and inner slope of the Middle Bronze Age embankment. The buildings reach the slope, and no evidence for a fortification system built on top of the embankment has been discerned. Level F-10 yielded a typical assemblage of Late Bronze Age I pottery, including bichrome vessels. Radiocarbon measurements of several short-lived samples gave calibrated dates in the sixteenth–fourteenth centuries BCE. Remains of a large, monumental Late Bronze Age II building, assigned to level F-9, were uncovered on top of a thick earth fill laid over the remains of the Late Bronze Age I houses. The building must have had a public function, probably as a fort which guarded the approach to the gate, or as a caravanserai. There was no sign of destruction in the building. Similarly, no destruction has been traced in a second phase of the building—level F-7—at a later stage of the Late Bronze Age II.
In area G, soundings were carried out in the Late Bronze Age city gate, uncovered by the University of Chicago team in area AA. The gatehouse was subsequently reblocked by the Chicago expedition, and the recent digging was carried out as part of the plan of the Nature and National Parks Protection Authority to enable visitors to enter the site through this gate. The soundings revealed that the excavation of the gate in the 1930s had not been completed. The floor of the passageway in the gate was unearthed to its entire length. Two large tabuns were uncovered in one of the gate chambers, with pottery dating to stratum VIIA or shortly thereafter. This indicates that the gate had only one floor (rather than two, as argued by the University of Chicago team), and that in the last phase of Late Bronze Age Megiddo, probably when the city was besieged, the gate was used as a cooking area. It appears that the wall blocking the entrance, which according to the Chicago expedition supported the upper, later floor, was built in order to enclose this cooking area.
Excavation in area M shed light on two monuments uncovered by G. Schumacher: the Nordburg and chamber tomb f. The Nordburg was built over Middle Bronze Age III/Late Bronze Age I remains and covered by Iron Age I remains (stratum VI). Late Bronze Age II sherds were found on a floor in its southern sector, indicating that it was built in that period and should be affiliated with stratum VIII or VIIB; it is labeled level M-6. The monumental chamber tomb f, with its unique corbelled roof, was incorporated into the Nordburg in the original phase of construction or somewhat later. This monument is either covered by a public building of level M-4 (stratum VIA) or contemporary with it, a stratigraphical and chronological question hopefully to be clarified in future excavations. Presently it appears that chamber tomb f, which was possibly constructed as a royal tomb but never used, was built either in stratum VIIA—the last phase of Late Bronze Age Megiddo—or stratum VIA.
Excavation in area K seems to have shed light on the last phase of Late Bronze Age Megiddo. Level K-6, with remains of a large domestic building and a stone-built olive-oil press similar to the one uncovered by G. Schumacher in the Nordburg, should apparently be affiliated with stratum VIIA of the University of Chicago. This level shows evidence of abandonment but no trace of a heavy conflagration similar to the one unearthed by the University of Chicago in area AA.
THE IRON AGE I. Remains dating to the Iron Age I have been uncovered in areas K, M, F, and L. In area K, level K-5 (stratum VIB, early Iron Age I) revealed fragmentary remains of a domestic building; this level produced a unique stirrup-jar, locally made in Mycenean IIIC style, as well as evidence for metallurgical activity. A large domestic building (c. 15 by 15 m), featuring a central courtyard surrounded by nine rooms, was erected in level K-4 (stratum VIA, late Iron Age I). The building came to an end in a fierce conflagration, with the destruction debris up to one meter deep in some places. It yielded a rich assemblage of pottery, consisting of over 100 complete vessels. Radiocarbon measurements of both timber and short-lived samples provided calibrated dates in the tenth century BCE. In area M, an elaborate building of level M-4 (stratum VIA) is being excavated immediately to the east of the Schumacher trench. This building—like the entire city of that period—came to an end in fire. A collapse of mud bricks nearly petrified by the conflagration reaches over one meter in depth. In area F, remains of level F-6 (stratum VIB) consist of a single tomb; while level F-5 (stratum VIA) is preserved in simple domestic houses. The town of this period was the last to occupy both the upper and lower tells. Burnt remains of it were also found in area L (level L-5), under palace 6000.
THE IRON AGE II. Iron Age II remains have been found in areas K, L, and H. Activity in area K was resumed in level K-3 and continued in level K-2 (strata VB and VA–IVB, respectively). Remains of domestic buildings, each consisting of several phases, were uncovered on the edge of the mound, corresponding to the houses unearthed by the University of Chicago team in their area C. These buildings were cut by the offsets-insets city wall of level K-1 (wall 325 of stratum IVA).
A few meager remains of level L-4 (stratum VB) were uncovered in the northeastern sector of area L, sandwiched between the destruction debris of level L-5 (stratum VIA) and palace 6000 of level L-3 (stratum VA–IVB). Palace 6000, partly excavated by Y. Yadin, has now been uncovered in its entirety, as part of an objective in conjunction with the Nature and National Parks Protection Authority to present the edifice and a superimposed stable building to visitors. It became clear that the palace is somewhat smaller than the one reconstructed by Yadin and I. Dunayevsky—its eastern sector being an open broad corridor or a porch rather than an integral part of the structure. The building is nearly square in plan, resembling in size the contemporary southern palace 1723. Like palace 1723, palace 6000 seems to have stood in an enclosed courtyard. The wall to its east formerly considered to be the exterior eastern wall of the building, the casemate rooms uncovered to the west by Yadin, and a stone structure to its south, which may have been part of a gatehouse, all seem to be part of the enclosing wall. The ashlar walls of the building were poorly preserved and its plan is difficult to reconstruct. The monumental entrance must have been in the southern façade of the structure; rows of small rooms extended along the western side and back of the building; and one unit on the northeastern side apparently served as a kitchen, as three tabuns were fitted into its floor. Its floors were lime-plastered.
Excavation in the northeastern sector of area L has indicated that, contrary to Yadin’s proposal, there was no casemate wall in this spot. Rather, houses of level L-4 (stratum VB) were built along the edge of the mound, similar to the ones uncovered by the University of Chicago in area C and in the renewed excavations in area K. Their outer walls formed a line on the edge of the mound. Their northern rooms are the units identified by Yadin as casemates. The houses were severed and replaced by palace 6000.
After palace 6000 had been destroyed, its ashlar blocks were robbed for reuse. A complex of five units of pillared buildings known as the “northern stables” was built on top of the palace in level L-2 (stratum IVA). One of these units was found almost intact and is today the best preserved of the 17 such units uncovered at Megiddo. The lower parts of the walls of the pillared buildings were built of stones and their upper parts of large white mud bricks. The collapse of the mud bricks—with no sign of destruction by fire—shows that the buildings were abandoned or pulled down, rather than violently destroyed, possibly in preparation for the construction of stratum III. Attempts to clarify the function of the buildings by different methods have failed, mainly because the entire area was contaminated by material from the deteriorated mud bricks. Examination of the buildings by horse specialists revealed several indications that they functioned as stables, such as marks of cribbing on the inner lip of some of the troughs and signs of pawing on the outside surface of the base of a trough facing the side aisle.
A dense Iron Age II sequence was studied in area H. Level H-6 dates to the Iron Age IIA, as does level H-5, which was destroyed by fire. The latter should probably be equated with stratum VA–IVB. The city wall (offsets-insets wall 325 of the University of Chicago excavation) was constructed in the next level, H-4. This level featured domestic buildings, which were replaced by more elaborate residences in level H-3. Both levels H-4 and H-3 date to the time of stratum IVA. Level H-3 was destroyed by fire, the first evidence at Megiddo for the Assyrian conquest in the late eighth century BCE. It yielded a rich assemblage of pottery and several uninscribed bullae. Level H-2 was not detected by previous excavators. Its remains are sandwiched between the destruction layer of level H-3 and the Assyrian palaces of level H-1 (stratum III). It features a large building, most of which is covered by Assyrian palace 1369.
The excavation in area H shed light on the relationship between the two Assyrian palaces—1052 and 1369—uncovered by the University of Chicago team in the 1920s. It seems that palace 1052, located closer to the city gate, was built first; and that palace 1369, which features more elaborate Assyrian building techniques, was built later. Two typical Assyrian iron door sockets, similar to ones unearthed at Khorsabad, were uncovered in building 1853, immediately to the northwest of palace 1369.
ISRAEL FINKELSTEIN, DAVID USSISHKIN, BARUCH HALPERN
Ivories
Water Supply
RENEWED EXCAVATIONS
The renewed excavations at Megiddo have been undertaken under the auspices of Tel Aviv University, with Pennsylvania State University as the senior American partner. Consortium institutions are George Washington University, Loyola Marymount University, the University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University, the University of Bern, and Rostock University. The directors of the expedition are I. Finkelstein and D. Ussishkin, who lead the excavation; and B. Halpern, who heads the academic program and acts as the coordinator of the consortium. The expedition is endorsed by the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority, which maintains the site as a national park, and the Israel Exploration Society.
The renewed excavations, aiming at a long-term, systematic study of Tel Megiddo and its history, commenced in two short seasons in 1992 and 1993. The first full season took place in 1994, and the expedition has operated in the field every other year since. Eight areas have thus far been chosen for excavation. They include two trenches in the upper periphery of the site—one to the northwest and the other to the southeast; one trench in the lower mound; two areas aimed at further investigating remains uncovered in the previous excavations; and three areas in conjunction with development plans of the Nature and National Parks Protection Authority. These excavation areas consist of the following: