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Back to Megiddo

A new expedition will explore the jewel in the crown of Canaan/Israel

By Israel Finkelstein, David Ussishkin

Tel Megiddo is widely regarded as the most important archaeological site in Israel from Biblical times, and as one of the most significant sites for the study of the ancient Near East generally. It was inhabited continuously for more than five millennia, from about 6000 to around 500 B.C.E. Megiddo’s military importance and long history as an international battleground is aptly reflected in the Apocalypse, the New Testament book of Revelation. Armageddon (a corruption of the Hebrew Har Megiddo—The Mount of Megiddo) is where, at the end of days, demons will gather the hosts of the nations for […]

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Footnotes

1.

A broadroom is a rectangular room with its entrance on one of the long sides.

2.

Tikva Frymer-Kensky, “What the Babylonian Stories Can and Cannot Teach Us About the Genesis Flood,” BAR 04:04.

3.

See Hershel Shanks, “Ancient Ivory—The Story of Wealth, Decadence and Beauty,” BAR 11:05.

4.

Solomon divided the country into 12 districts The boundaries of some of them did not follow old tribal lines, an apparent effort to break down old tribal loyalties.

5.

See Yigael Yadin, “In Defense of the Stables at Megiddo,” BAR 02:03; “Megiddo Stables or Storehouses?” BAR 02:03; John D. Currid, “Puzzling Public Buildings,” BAR 18:01.

Endnotes

1.

For summaries of the results of past excavations, see G.I. Davies, Megiddo (Cambridge, 1986) and Aharon Kempinsky Megiddo: A City State and Royal Centre in North Israel (Munich, 1989).

2.

The project is sponsored by the Israel Exploration Society and by the Israel Parks Authority, which maintains the site as a national park. Pennsylvania State University will take part in the expedition as a leading American sponsor and will be represented by Prof. Baruch Halpern, principal investigator and North American coordinator of the project. The project is funded by Earthwatch and its research corps. Other American, European and Israeli institutions will participate in the excavation consortium. The expedition will run an educational project for overseas students.

3.

G. Schumacher, Tell el-Mutesellim 1 (Leipzig, 1908); C. Watzinger, Tell el-Mutesellim 2 (Leipzig, 1929).

4.

For the final publication of the results, see the following titles by Oriental Institute Publications: R.S. Lamon, The Megiddo Water System (1935); H.G. May, Material Remains of the Megiddo Cult (1935); P.L.O. Guy, Megiddo Tombs (1938); R. Lamon and G.M. Shipton, Megiddo I (1939); G. Loud, The Megiddo Ivories (1939); G. Loud, Megiddo II. Seasons of 1935–1939 (1948).

5.

Yigael Yadin, “Megiddo of the Kings of Israel,” Biblical Archaeologist 33 (1970), pp. 66–96.

6.

Ussishkin attributes Palace 338 to this stratum, but other scholars would assign it to 9th-century B.C.E. Stratum IVA.