Megiddo - A Hill with a History!

Armageddon - View from Atop Megiddo

Our first stop of the morning was to Megiddo, one of the most important sites of Biblical times.  Megiddo is a actually a tel (hill or mound) made of 26 layers of the ruins of ancient cities. A total of at least 26 cities are buried there, one above the other, over the course of 5000 years of continuous occupation from the time of the first settlement at the end of the 6th millennium BC until its abandonment in the 5th century BC.

Aerial Photo of Tel Megiddo

I was grateful that we began our hike in the morning - because it was already quite hot.  Thankfully there was a constant wind up on the hill which made the heat bearable.

I wasn't feeling too well, and had a package of kleenex handy at all times.  Ever since climbing Mt Sinai two nights ago, I had been suffering from sinus issues (along with VERY sore muscles).  Finally today, everything seemed to worsen as I climbed Tel Megiddo.  I was sneezing like crazy, my nose was running, and my eyes were watering and itchy.  I wondered if my Spring pollen allergies were acting up in this climate - or if this was just a delayed acute reaction to the smut I breathed in Egypt.  There were beautiful flowers in bloom everywhere and their lovely fragrances along with the occasional acrid smell of cigarette smoke lingering in the air really set me off.  Thankfully, I always carry Benadryl, just in case.

The more miserable I became, the more convinced I was that I would need the medication - even if it would make me loopy and droopy for the rest of our first day touring in Israel. I popped a Benadryl and literally within 20-30 minutes - all my symptoms had gone away.  Now I just felt drugged, and tired, and parched, not quite "all there". So the rest of this post is courtesy of several Internet sites including the Jewish Virtual Library, Walking in their Sandals, and a few others.  :)

Before I completely mentally checked out, we were climbing around Solomon's stables and learning about Biblical history when Meghan Murphy was stung by a flying insect just under her eye.  Of course - I have Benadryl for everyone!  Suddenly I realized that these flying insects (sweat bees?) were everywhere and were particularly attracted to light colored shirts.  Mark Wesson's back must have had 15 crawling around on his shirt without him being aware.  Michael Travers got stung on the back of his neck - and he being my most insect allergic child, raised my level of concern.  He asked for  Benadryl just to head off any possibly severe reactions - and aside from the pain and some minor swelling, he did well.  Here is a picture at the top of a hill where there were cattle and horses grazing - and where the wasps or bees were most prevalent near Solomon's stables!  I remember that!

Note:  What follows is a bit of history that explains some of the photos I took.  If you are not particularly interested in history (shame on you) or if you don't like details, just enjoy the lovely pictures and skip the explanations.  I wrote this mostly for our family to remember, to review, and to really learn what we had been taught.

Megiddo is situated in a strategic location at the entrance of a passageway through the Carmel Ridge, which overlooks the Valley of Jezreel. The name "Armageddon" mentioned in the Book of Revelation is derived from the Hebrew "Har Megiddo" meaning Mount of Megiddo.  It is here at Armageddon (in the valley of the mount of Megiddo), John records, that the nations will assemble for the final battle to take place.

Megiddo has been excavated several times in the past century and currently is undergoing excavation.  We were able to see some of the archaeologists at work under a tent, digging and brushing away dirt.  Their findings corroborate written evidence concerning the importance of Megiddo, first as a royal Canaanite city, then as an Egyptian stronghold and administrative center, later as a "chariot city" of the kings of Israel, and finally as the controlling city of Assyrian and Persian provinces.

Looking Across the Tel at some of the layers of civilizations found

Hannah explained to us that the reasons that there are layers of 26 different cities buried here.  

1. This tel is at strategic crossroads of important trade routes. Megiddo lay at the intersection of the International Coastal Highway and the main road connecting Shechem and the hill country of Ephraim to the Plain of Acco and Tyre and Sidon along the northern coast. 
2. Megiddo was situated near the only passage way through the Carmel Mountain range.  From this position, the citizens of Megiddo could control traffic, both trade and military, on the main route between Egypt and Mesopotamia. This advantage brought considerable wealth and prestige to those who controlled the city.
3. Megiddo had plenty of water available located in cisterns filled by nearby springs.  
4. Because of its elevation (700 foot hill), Megiddo afforded the city's inhabitants a commanding view of the plain of Jezreel, an important vantage point to see what enemies were coming across the plains.
5. Because of the well watered, fertile plains of the Jezreel valley, the inhabitants of Megiddo enjoyed an abundant supply of grains and vegetables both for personal consumption and for export.

Because of the above reasons, different civilizations would recognize the benefits of establishing their city on this tel - and they would add onto or build over the former city that lay beneath. 

• Canaanites - At the bottom of the tel, we were able to see the remains of an ancient Canaanite temple including a massive alter behind the temple where they uncovered large amounts of animal bones and ashes. There are visible stairs that lead up to the this altar (probably used in the worship of Baal). It was hard to imagine that I was looking at what was left of a civilization that dated back to the days of Abraham.  

• Egyptians - The Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III took Megiddo from the Canaanites in 1470 B.C., claiming that "the capturing of Megiddo is the capturing of a thousand cities." This acquisition further established Egyptian presence and control of the land before the Conquest under Joshua. 

• Israel's Conquest - After the Conquest and settling of the Promised Land, Megiddo became one of the major cities in the area that the tribe of Manasseh was unable to completely conquer. It was Deborah from the Hill Country of Samaria and Barak from Kedesh in the tribal area of Naphthali, whom God used to overcome the Canaanites of the region. Led by Jabin, king of Hazor in the north, who was joined by men from cities around the Plain of Megiddo, the Canaanites gathered below Megiddo "at Taanach, near the waters of Megiddo" (Judg 5:19). In the battle that followed, Deborah and Israel’s commander, Barak, led the charge down from Mt. Tabor against the Canaanite chariot corps, which were immobilized in the "torrent of the Kishon" (Judg 4:13-15; 5:21-25).

• Solomon - Solomon fortified Megiddo, making it his stronghold (with Hazor in the upper Jordan Valley and Gezer on the Coastal Plain) to ensure his control of the International Coastal Highway (1 Kgs 9:15-16).  Megiddo reached its peak under Solomon's leadership. Solomon built Megiddo as a royal city to administrate the Northern part of his kingdom.  A new city gate was constructed on the remains of the Canaanite gate in the northern part of wall. It included three sets of chambers with a passage between them; for additional security, towers and an outer gate were added outside this gate.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Part of Six Chambered Gateway of Megiddo 

  
  

  The chambers (above) were constructed on opposite sides of the entryway, resembling the teeth of a vise. Defenders would be stationed in the chambers, making it virtually impossible for an invading force to penetrate past them into the city.

  
  
  Solomon built stables for his horses and storage buildings for his chariots. It is estimated that Megiddo's stables could have accommodated 450 horses; the adjacent structures undoubtedly housed dozens of battle chariots.  They have even uncovered watering troughs and stones to which they tied the horses. 

•  Egyptians - After Solomon’s death, however, Shishak of Egypt destroyed Megiddo (926 BC), erecting a stele on the site to mark his victory (1 Kgs 14:25-28). 

• Ahab - Later still, in 874-853 B.C. Ahab rebuilt the city in grand style. 

An amazing feat!  King Ahab wanted to keep the city's water supply safe in times of siege, so under his rule a subterranean water system was hewn in the rock in the western part of the city which made it possible to reach the spring at the foot of the hill outside the walls without being seen by the enemy. 


This project required considerable engineering and an enormous amount of labor. The water system consists of a square, 200 foot-deep vertical shaft and a 359 foot-long horizontal tunnel.  


In order to hide the source of water from the enemy and to protect the users of the water system, a particularly thick wall, camouflaged by a covering of earth, was constructed at the entrance to the cave from which the spring emanates, blocking access from the outside.


We climbed down the original shaft, and across the narrow tunnel (at least those of us without claustrophobia) to see the cave with the spring (photo below) still filled with water!  Amazing!

Water from Spring Still Visible in Cave of Megiddo

• Jeroboam II - Megiddo continued to serve as the seat of the royal governor during the reign of Jeroboam II, king of Israel. This is attested to by a seal, discovered in 1904 during excavations, bearing the inscription "to Shema, servant of Jeroboam." The seal was taken to the  Constantinople Archeology Museum in Istanbul where it was "lost".  Unfortunately this seal is now probably in the hands of some private collector!  (By the way - Israel WANTS it back!) 

• Ahaziah - During the rebellion of Jehu, Ahaziah, king of Judah, fled to Megiddo and died there of his wounds. (II Kings 9: 27)

• Assyrians - Megiddo was conquered and destroyed in 732 BC, during the campaign of Tiglath Pilesser III, king of Assyria, against the Kingdom of Israel. (II Kings 15: 29) The Assyrians made Megiddo the royal city of their province in the north of the conquered kingdom of Israel and rebuilt it in their finest architectural tradition. An orthogonal grid of streets divided the city into quarters. 

• Josiah - At the end of the 7th century, apparently during the reign of Josiah, king of Judah, a rectangular fortress was constructed on top of the eastern side of the tel, but it remained in use only until Josiah's fall in 609 BC, when it was destroyed.  "While Josiah was king, Pharaoh Neco, king of Egypt, went up to the Euphrates River to help the king of Assyria. King Josiah marched out to meet him in battle, but Neco faced him and killed him at Megiddo." (II Kings 23: 29)

• Persians - From then on, Megiddo fell into decline; it was finally abandoned during the Persian rule, in the 5th century BC. 

Megiddo remained untouched until it was excavated during this century.  Amazing amounts of history and information lie buried beneath the soil.  

Our guide, Hannah, said that archaeologists come to Israel intent on disproving or proving that the Bible is true.  She said that so far, they have only found more evidence to support what the Bible says.  Yea!