Megiddo
A strategic fortress city guarding the Jezreel valley.
What we know — and how we know it
Bible — stated in scripture (with verse) · 1
Archaeology — physical evidence · 2
Life, role & deeds
BibleA stronghold fortified by Solomon, and the plain where kings fell — the 'Armageddon' (Har Megiddo) of Revelation.
1 Kings 9:15; Revelation 16:16
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Solomon
Immanuel Giel — CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)
ArchaeologyTel Megiddo's twenty-odd superimposed cities, its great water system and six-chambered gate make it a type-site of biblical archaeology, now a World Heritage site.
Tel Megiddo excavations: G. Schumacher (1903-05), Univ. of Chicago Oriental Institute (Fisher, Guy, Loud, 1925-39; G. Loud, 'Megiddo II: Seasons of 1935-39', OIP 62, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1948), and Tel Aviv Univ. (Finkelstein & Ussishkin, from 1994); UNESCO World Heritage 'Biblical Tels' (2005)
ArchaeologyMegiddo's monumental six-chambered gate and casemate walls were assigned by Yigael Yadin to Solomon's building programme (1 Kings 9:15); Israel Finkelstein's 'Low Chronology' re-dates them a century later to the Omride kings — the pivot of the whole United-Monarchy archaeology debate.
Y. Yadin, 'Megiddo of the Kings of Israel', Biblical Archaeologist 33 (1970); I. Finkelstein, 'The Archaeology of the United Monarchy', Levant 28 (1996).
