The site is situated on the gateway on the
road linking North and South of Israel, about 30 Km south-east of Haifa.
The archeologists uncovered 26 layers of ancient cities, starting before the bronze age
(4000 BC) until the Greeks (4th C BC).

1 Kings 9-15: "And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to build
the house of the LORD, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of
Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer."

Location:

The site is located 30Km south east
of Haifa, and is located at a strategic entrance through the eastern
Carmel hills where an ancient trade road (Via Maris) links the North
(and Assyria) and South (Egypt). In this site an important City once
flourished from the bronze ages and biblical periods, and
mentioned in the Old Testament as a strong City that played an
important role in the history of the Biblical Israel. It was
abandoned after the Persian times since the site
was relocated in nearby locations. This left the foundations of the
city virtually intact from the biblical times.

Today, this
Tel (a layered hill with
ruins of ancient cities) is an archeological park. A modern highway
passes at the exact same point, and a modern Kibbutz with the same
name is located
nearby.

History of the place:

40TH C BC

Early settlement

20TH C BC

The city massive
walls were built

18Th C BC

A new gate is constructed in
the north side.

15TH C BC

The gate and walls were
rebuilt.

15TH C BC

Mentioned in the
Amarna letters, a 14th century BC Egyptian archive of clay
tablets: The city rebelled against the Egyptians, and was
conquered after a great battle and a 7 month siege (1468)

10Th/9 C BC

New gate and walls built by
the Israelites (Solomon, Ahab or Jeroboam)

945 BC

Pharaoh Shishak conquers the city, as per 1 Kings 14: 25
(a fragment of tablet with his name was found here)

609 BC

Battle between the
Eqyptians Army and the Kingdom of Judah (King Josiah, who died
in this battle)

3rd C BC

The city was
abandoned; the Tel is in ruins since then

1918AD

Battles between the British and
the Turks in WW1

1949AD

Kibbutz Megiddo
was established on the south side of the Tel.

Photos:

(a) General View:

This drone photo shows an aerial view of Tel Megiddo,
as captured from the
north. The city gates are located in front side. In the right side
of the city are the south stables and the water works.

On the left background is the Jezreel (Yizreeel) valley. On the far right background is Kibbutz Megiddo. Behind it
is the mountain pass which this ancient city once commanded.

Click on the photos to view in higher
resolution...

On this aerial view are points of interest of Tel Megiddo.
You can click on the yellow squares to branch to the description of
the place.

A model of the ancient
city is shown in the visitors center, from the same view point as in
the aerial view . This model shows the Israelite period, while the
earlier periods lie below and could be raised by pressing a button.
The north gate is seen in the front side. In the right-back side are
the south stables and the water works.

(b) Canaanite Gate:

The entry to the city was from the North side. There are 2
gates that can seen here: the lower level from 15C BC (Late Bronze -
Canaanite) and the upper level from 9C BC (Solomon). A third
gate from the 18C BC (Middle Bronze) was located south to both gates.

The earlier gate from 15C BC (late Bronze) is seen
in the photo below. It was
incorporated into earlier fortifications from the Middle Bronze
(2200-1550BC). The gate consists of two rooms on each side, where
the soldiers guarded the entrance. In the inner side of the inner
rooms stood massive doors.

A view from the other side of the Canaanite gate. At that time the
city was under the rule of the Egyptian pharaohs. This city gate and
the palace right behind it are the best remains from that time. The
wooden black line is the level of preservation - under it were the
actual ruins that were revealed during the excavations.

The next photo shows a view of the Canaanite gate and the palace behind the gate. In the
far left background is mount Carmel.

(c) Israelite Gate (Iron II, 10/9C BC):

On the same north side, but at a
higher level, is another gate from the 10C/9C BC. This gate
was built by King Solomon (10C, according to some scholars) or Ahab
(9C BC) or Jeroboam II (9C BC). In the photo below only the
eastern side of this gate is seen, since the western side (on the
right side) was removed during the excavations.

(d) North Stables and Palace:

On the north side, a horses stable (seen below) from the
8/9C BC Israelite period. It belongs to the "Chariot city" of king
Solomon, as per the Bible (see references):
"And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots,
and twelve thousand horsemen".
Note that other scholars consider the stables to actually be storage
rooms. However, there are many signs that support the theory
of the stables, and may be one of the most important evidence of
King Solomon's structures in Megiddo.

In this area is also the location of the north palace.

In the background you can seen Givat Hamoreh (and
Naim) in the center background, and
Mount Tabor on the left background.

(e) Sanctified Area:

In the area, which is located on the
east side of Tel Megiddo, is an area where a total of 17 temples
were built in the course of 2,000 years of the city, starting from
the early Canaanite period (3300-2900BC). The round altar below is
the lowest level - the first temple. Behind it you can notice the
many layers above the area, which are from different periods in the
history.

Another view from the west side. You can see how deep the lower
layer is in relation to the top of the Tel.

Yet another view of this side. You
can see in this photo all the 26 distinct layers of the city -
starting from the Neolithic period (8300-4500 BC) up to the Persian
period (586-332BC). In the right background is the Megiddo junction
where the modern road, following the ancient road, passed southwards
to Egypt (right), or northwards to Syria and beyond (left). On the
left background is the Jezreel
valley.

(f) Silo:

On the south side is a large pit, which used to be a grain silo
from King Jeroboam II (8th C BC). There are stairs that lead to the
bottom of the pit (size of 450 cubic M).

Another view of the silo, looking east.

(g) South Stables:

Another set of stables is located on
the south side. Indeed, Megiddo was a fortified "Chariot city"
(see Bible references). The
Chariots were one of the most important war machines at that time,
and required to allocate much real estate within the city for the
horses.

(h) Water works:

One of the highlights of the city is
its underground waterworks, located on the west side, which was
built in the 10 C BC. A large pit with 183 stairs led down 35 M, and
a 80M tunnel led to the spring under the bedrock. The spring was the
source of water of the city and allowed it to survive long sieges.
This system overcame a problem where the spring was initially
located outside the walls, and the secret passage enabled the
defenders to tap into fresh water without the knowledge of the
enemy.During peaceful times the spring was also
accessed from outside the walls, but during siege this entrance was
blocked and camouflaged. Similar systems were
constructed in Hazor, Jerusalem
(the "gutter" as per 2 Samuel 5:8), Gezer and more
Tels. Note this winter (2006) the
entrance is closed for repair.

(i) Assyrian city

In 732BC there was
the intrusion to the North of Israel by the Assyrian King
Tiglath-Pileser III, who annexed the area (as per 2 Kings 15: 29:
In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglathpileser king of
Assyria, and took ... Galilee...and carried them captive to
Assyria"). Megiddo became the capital of the
region under Assyrian rule. The city on top of the Tel was designed
in a new orthogonal planning, which was new to the city and
in the region. You can notice this order in the photo below,
which is different from other sections of the Tel.

Biblical References:

Megiddo is mentioned 18 times in the Old Testament. The following texts are
selected references.

(a) Joshua 17: 11-12

The Bible tells that the city was not conquered by the Israelites (Tribe of Menasseh) at the time of the conquest of Israel:

11 And Manasseh had in Issachar
and in Asher Bethshean and her towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the
inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and her towns,
and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo
and her towns, even three countries.

12 Yet the children of Manasseh
could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would
dwell in that land."

(b) Kings 1: 9:15

Only later, during King David's times, the city became part of the Jewish state.
His son, King Solomon, constructed the great walls, including the famous gate
which was later unearthed by the archaeological digs.

"And this is the reason of the levy which king Solomon raised; for to build
the house of the LORD, and his own house, and Millo, and the wall of
Jerusalem, and Hazor, and Megiddo, and Gezer."

(c) Kings 1: 4:26

"And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and
twelve thousand horsemen".

(d) 2 Kings 15:29

The Assyrians captured the Galilee (732 BC),
and made Megiddo the capital of the region.

" In the days of Pekah king of Israel came
Tiglathpileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abelbethmaachah, and Janoah,
and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali, and
carried them captive to Assyria".

(e) Kings 2: 23:29

King Josiah tried to block the armies from Egypt to pass through Megiddo,
but was defeated there (year 609BC) which was a terrible tragedy for the
Jewish state.

"In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of
Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew
him at Megiddo, when he had seen him."

References and Links:

* Archaeological:

There were several archaeological
expeditions in Megiddo:

1903-1905 (Gottlieb Schumacher), which
uncovered 20 layers, including Jeroboam seal (seen on the right),
Egyptian ivory and other artifacts.