WHY DIG MEGIDDO?

1. WHY DIG MEGIDDO?

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

3. 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)

4. 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

5. BECAUSE: MEGIDDO IS LINKED TO GREAT FIGURES IN WORLD HISTORY King Solomon Seal of Jeroboam II King of Israel, discovered at Megiddo. The earliest such seal ever found Pharaoh Thutmose III, founder of the Egyptian empire Tiglath-pileser III, founder of the Assyrian empire

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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”

9. 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

10. BECAUSE: MEGIDDO HAS BEEN EXCAVATED FOR OVER A CENTURY, STARTING ON APRIL 1ST, 2003 Gottlieb Schumacher at Megiddo, early 20th century Yadin at Megiddo, 1960s The President of the State of Israel and other dignitaries at the Megiddo Centennial, April 1st, 2003 The Megiddo Expedition, 2002 The University of Chicago’s Expedition

11. 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 Great Debate on the chronology of the Iron Age strata and the nature of the United Monarchy focuses on Megiddo The first urbanization (fourth millennium BCE Egyptianized vessels) Solomonic gates? Stables or storehouses? The end of the Late Bronze Age (Ramses VI at Megiddo)

12. BECAUSE: MEGIDDO EXHIBITS AN UNPARALLELED NUMBER OF MONUMENTS: FORTIFICATIONS TEMPLES, PALACES, WATER SYSTEMS AND OTHER PUBLIC EDIFICES Early Bronze Temples Iron Age water system Iron Age palace (left) and stables (right)

13. BECAUSE: MEGIDDO FEATURES MONUMENTS FROM MANY PERIODS AND RELATES TO DIFFERENT PROBLEMS IN THE HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST Area L: Iron II palace and stables Area J: Early Bronze temples Area K: Late Bronze/Iron I Area F: Middle Bronze and Late Bronze Area M: monumental Late Bronze tomb; Iron I palace (?) Area H: Iron II

14. BECAUSE: MEGIDDO HAS YIELDED AN EXCEPTIONAL NUMBER OF RICH FINDS 2 1. Late Bronze Ivory box 2. Late Bronze statuette 3. Late Bronze cuneiform tablet 4. Iron Age Babylonian bottle 5. Iron Age cult stand 1 3 5 4

15. BECAUSE: MEGIDDO IS UNIQUE IN PROVIDING INTENSIVE INFORMATION ON CITY PLANNING IN ANTIQUITY The Israelite cities The Assyrian city

16. 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

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

18. BECAUSE: IT’S FUN TO BE THERE!