Megiddo

Megiddo , city, ancient Palestine, by the Kishon River on the southern edge of the plain of Esdraelon, N of Samaria, located at present-day Tel Megiddo, SE of Haifa, Israel, near modern Megiddo. It was inhabited from the 7th millennium BC to c.450 BC Situated in a strategic position, controlling the route that connected Egypt with Mesopotamia, it has been the scene of many battles throughout history, from Thutmose III (c.1468 BC) to Gen. Edmund Allenby (later Viscount Allenby of Megiddo) in World War I. Excavations have unearthed 20 strata of settlements. Found in the latest 6 strata, from the Canaanite period to c.500 BC, were the Megiddo Ivories, one of the most important examples of Canaanite art, and Solomon's chariot stables. The plain is sometimes called the valley of Megiddon. See also Armageddon .

Bibliography: See Megiddo (Univ. of Chicago, Parts I-II, 1939-48); G. Loud, The Megiddo Ivories (1939).

Megiddo City in the plain of Esdraelon situated on two important routes for merchants and for armies; one from Jerusalem in the south, and the other from the coast in the west. It is mentioned as a battleground in Egyptian and Assyrian texts, and in the OT Joshua is said to capture it (Josh. 12: 21) and Solomon to fortify it (1 Kgs. 9: 15 ff.) and Josiah died there (2 Kgs. 23: 29 ff.). German and American archaeologists have made important discoveries at Megiddo.

In the NT Armageddon (Rev. 16: 16), ‘hill of Megiddo’, is not surprisingly the symbolic setting for the final conflict of good and evil.