WHY DIG MEGIDDO?

BECAUSE: MEGIDDO IS AN ARCHAEO-LOGICALLY UNPARALLELED SITE WHERE ONE CAN LITERALLY SEE AND TOUCH AND BE INSPIRED BY MONUMENTS FROM BIBLICAL TIMES

BECAUSE: MEGIDDO APPEARS IN BOTH THE OLD TESTAMENT AND NEW TESTAMENT (AS ARMAGEDDON)

“And this is the account of the forced labour which King Solomon levied to build … Hazor and Megiddo and Gezer” (1 Kings 9:15)

“…they assembled them at the place which is called in Hebrew Armageddon”

(Revelations 16:16)

BECAUSE:MEGIDDO IS THE ONLY SITE IN THE LEVANT MENTIONED IN ALL GREAT RECORDS OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST: THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS ON THE ONE HAND, AND EGYPTIAN, ASSYRIAN AND HITTITE SOURCES ON THE OTHER

Letter sent by the king of Megiddo to the Pharaoh, 14th century BCE

BECAUSE:MEGIDDO IS LINKED TO GREAT FIGURES IN WORLD HISTORY

King Solomon

Pharaoh Thutmose III, founder of the Egyptian empire

Seal of Jeroboam II King of Israel, discovered at

Megiddo. The earliest such seal ever found

Tiglath-pileser III, founder of

the Assyrian empire

BECAUSE:MEGIDDO’S STORMY HISTORY COVERS OVER SIX MILLENNIA, FROM THE PRE-POTTERY NEOLITHIC PERIOD TO THE PERSIAN PERIOD

Early Bronze temples Late Bronze tomb

Late Bronze gate Assyrian palace

BECAUSE:MEGIDDO IS THE ONLY SITE IN THE LAND OF THE BIBLE WITH REMAINS OF THIRTY CITIES BUILT ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER

The great trench: a series of settlements from the seventh millennium to the fifth century BCE

BECAUSE:MEGIDDO WAS THE SCENE OF MANY BATTLES THAT DECIDED THE FATE OF NATIONS AND EMPIRES

Pharaoh Thutmose III defeated a coalition of Canaanite kings at Megiddo in the 15th century BCE and established the Egyptian empire in Asia. The first recorded battle in history

The victory of Field Marshal Allenby near Megiddo in 1918 opened the route to Damascus and to the end of WWI. When knighted after the war, he chose the title “Lord Allenby of Megiddo”

BECAUSE:

MEGIDDO GUARDS THE MOST IMPORTANT HIGHWAY OF THE ANCIENT WORLD, THE VIA MARIS THAT CONNECTED EGYPT WITH MESOPOTAMIA

The Aruna Pass near Megiddo, early 20th century

BECAUSE:

MEGIDDO HAS BEEN EXCAVATED FOR OVER A CENTURY, STARTING ON APRIL 1ST, 2003

The University of Chicago’s Expedition

Gottlieb Schumacher at Megiddo, early 20th century

Yadin at Megiddo, 1960s

The Megiddo Expedition, 2002

The President of the State of Israel and other dignitaries at the Megiddo Centennial, April 1st, 2003

BECAUSE:MEGIDDO HAS BECOME THE CRADLE OF THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF ISRAEL, THE SOURCE AND ANSWER TO ALMOST EVERY PROBLEM RELATED TO THE BRONZE AND IRON AGES IN THE HOLY LAND

The first urbanization (fourth millennium BCE Egyptianized vessels)

The end of the Late Bronze Age (Ramses VI at Megiddo)

Stables or storehouses?

Solomonic gates?

The Great Debate on the chronology of the

Iron Age strata and the nature of the

United Monarchy focuses on Megiddo

BECAUSE:MEGIDDO EXHIBITS AN UNPARALLELED NUMBER OF MONUMENTS: FORTIFICATIONS TEMPLES, PALACES, WATER SYSTEMS AND OTHER PUBLIC EDIFICES

Iron Age water system

Early Bronze Temples

Iron Age palace (left) and stables

(right)

BECAUSE:

MEGIDDO FEATURES MONUMENTS FROM MANY PERIODS AND RELATES TO DIFFERENT PROBLEMS IN THE HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST

Area K: Late Bronze/Iron I

Area H: Iron II

Area F: Middle Bronze and Late Bronze

Area L: Iron II palace and stables

Area J: Early Bronze temples

Area M: monumental Late Bronze tomb; Iron I palace (?)

BECAUSE:

MEGIDDO HAS YIELDED AN EXCEPTIONAL NUMBER OF RICH FINDS

1

2

34

5

1. Late Bronze Ivory box

2. Late Bronze statuette

3. Late Bronze cuneiform tablet

4. Iron Age Babylonian bottle

5. Iron Age cult stand

BECAUSE:

MEGIDDO IS UNIQUE IN PROVIDING INTENSIVE INFORMATION ON CITY PLANNING IN ANTIQUITY

The Assyrian city

The Israelite cities

BECAUSE:MEGIDDO WAS CHOSEN AS THE SCENE OF THE HISTORIC MEETING BETWEEN POPE PAUL VI AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL IN 1964, IN THE FIRST VISIT EVER OF A POPE TO THE HOLY LAND

BECAUSE:MEGIDDO IS THE ONLY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE IN ISRAEL TO HAVE BECOME A SYMBOL IN POPULAR CULTURE

BECAUSE:

IT’S FUN TO BE THERE!