The Biblical Archaeology of the Megiddo Excavations
December 31st, 2009 Posted in Recent Articles
Tel Megiddo, in modern Israel, is a hill near the Kibbutz of Megiddo. It is known by Biblical Archaeologists equally for its historical, geographical , and theological value. While in ancient times, it is an important city state guarding the western section of a narrow pass and an early trade route that connects the lands of Egypt and Assyria. For biblical archaeologists, it is a hill of 26 layers of ancient cities ruins at the head of a pass through the Carmel Ridge overlooking the Jezreel Valley in the west. Megiddo was populated from approximately 7000 BC to 586 BC.
Megiddo is located in several strategical locations of several major routes, and became the witness to major saga battles. There are three renowned battles that happened in the history of the city, of which King Thutmose III of Egypt pursued a war against a large Canaanite union led by Megiddo rulers in Kadesh in 1478 BC. The war is pictured in detail in Egyptian hieroglyphics found on the King’s temple wall in Upper Egypt. It has become an important military weaponry on the Roman Empire named as Via Maris. In 609 BC, Egypt and the Kingdom of Judah fought a hard battle where King Joshia lost the war, and during World War I in 1918, Allied troops and Ottoman army exchanged fighting. The name Armageddon in the Book of Revelation was derived from Har Megiddo, the Mount of Megiddo which soon a byword for the end of the world.
The excavation of the city was done three consecutive times. Gottlieb Schumacher of the German Society for Oriental Research first dig the city in 1903 then in 1905. It was continued by the Oriental Institute, Chicago in 1925 funded by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. until the World War II erupted. The discoveries uncovered 20 levels of habitation being preserved at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem and in the Oriental Institute in Chicago.
Small excavations were administered by Yigael Yadin in the 1960s and since then, Megiddo had been the focus of biannual digging campaigns led by the Megiddo Excavation of Tel Aviv University together with a group of other international universities.
Two stables from the north and south were excavated from Megiddo. The south complex is a house to a five-structured building around a lime floored courtyard. It is divided in three sections, the main corridor, the stone pillars, and the mangers. The aisles paved in two long stones were built next to the main corridor covered with lime. The main corridor from outside aisles was separated by a series of stone pillars, bored with holes so horses can be tied to them. The mangers were built in between the pillars to feed the horses. With the 21m x 11m building structure, a number of 15 horses can occupy in each side.
The northern complex construction is similar to the southern side, less the central courtyard. It can hold 300 horses and 450-480 horses with the northern and southern complexes combined. The stables were found during the excavations between 1927 and 1934. The interpretation of the building was challenged by scholars James Pritchard, Ze’ev Herzog, and Yohanan Aharoni, and suggested that the buildings or stables should be interpreted as either storehouses, marketplace or barracks. But Yadin and J. S. Holladay powerfully argued against their findings.
Yotam Tepper, an Israeli archeologist at Tel-Aviv University, discovered the remains of a 3rd century church, with a large mosaic of geometrical figures and fish image approximately 54 square meter. It has a Greek inscription that the church is sacred to THE GOD JESUS CHRIST. It is believed to be the oldest church remains in the Holy Land making it of immense importance to biblical archaeology. It is also found inside the Megiddo Prison grounds, a few hundred meters south of the hill.
Megiddo was the site where Pope Paul VI met with Israeli luminaries, including Israeli President Zalman Shazar and Prime Minister Levi Eshkol in 1964.
Models of Megiddo:
Excavation photos:
