Travelling inland from Haifa, following the foothills of the Cannel Range as they wind north, one may follow the Kishan River upstream through the gorge to the mighty plain of Esdraelon or Jezreel — once the great granary of Egypt and now better known for Allenby’s rout of the Turks. In the north the plain is guarded by precipitous cliffs, with the splendid defence of Mount Gilboa south and south-east, which holds memories of humiliation and defeat for Israel. Enclosed by hills, the plain is roughly triangular in shape, protected by relatively few passes. Westward, the plain narrows to a gorge between the hills of Samaria and Mount Carmel, through which the Wadi Arah forces a passage to the plain of Sharon and thence to the coast. This pass formed part of the route of age-long historic importance between Egypt, Syria and Asia, between Africa and Mesopotamia. Guarding this pass once rose the great fortress town of Megiddo, strategic military, commercial and cultural centre between Mediterranean and north-east lands.
Megiddo, modern Tell el-Mutesellim, is an archaeologist’s delight. Now a great oval mound, it covers at the summit 13 acres with a central depth of 55 feet and strategic layers rising 75 feet above virgin rock. All in all, it spans a period of more than 4,000 years from the Chalcolithic era to the ruins of Babylonian and Persian influence.
Its History
Unlike most towns in Israel, Megiddo has featured in the rise and fall of varied Middle East civilizations, and in each has been a prominent town. The earliest occupation was found in a cave in the rock surface. At a time when other sites comprised merely nomadic shelters, Megiddo took the form of an established settlement with a mixed economy.
The succeeding proto-urban settlements grew into the city-states of the early Bronze Age, as distinct from the Chalcolithic unenclosed villages. Whereas indigenous groups originally settled the site, this later civilization appears to have been the result of a migration of tribal groups from Syria, under whom Megiddo soon became an important centre of trade. At this stage the town was elaborately planned and built behind massive retaining walls rather than following the natural slope of the rocks.
Following this stage, Megiddo becomes representative of the fully developed culture of Canaanite Palestine, a culture of prosperous City-States. Prior to this period, Megiddo was controlled by Egypt; but after the Hyksos Dynasty, Megiddo apparently reverted to Canaanite rulers, for in about 1468 B.C., the city was again conquered by the Egyptians under Thut mosis III, and destroyed. And Megiddo was quickly resumed, and Megiddo became an important outpost for the Egyptian 20th Dynasty. This accounts for the interesting comparison between the highly civilized remains found there, and the poverty and simplicity of the early Israelite Palestine hill sites.
During the 12th century the water supply (never dependent on cisterns) was brought within the town by means of a shaft sunk 35 metres below the surface, where it joined a tunnel 65 metres long, leading to the water source — a remarkable feat of engineering for that or any era. During these centuries Megiddo experienced vigorous trade and great wealth as the gateway to the East.
In the division of the Land, Megiddo was assigned to Issachar, but later fell to Manasseh. Along with Bethshan, Jerusalem and Gezer, Megiddo was one of the last towns to fall to the Israelites. (Joshua 12:2.) No mention of its conquest is made in the Bible, but it was most likely included in his Kingdom by David during one of his many northern expansions.
Megiddo saw its greatest density of population and cultural vigour between the 10th and 8th centuries B.C., during the Golden Age of Israel, beginning with the fortifications of Solomon. Ahab later made modifications, but the city was destroyed c.734 B.C., probably by Hazael.
The site was not to lie dormant long, but was soon revived, only to be destroyed by Tiglath Pileser and rebuilt as an administrative capital of the Assyrian Province of Galilee. However, its history was soon to come to a postponement following the battle of Pharaoh Necho and Josiah. Settlement struggled to survive, but the site was eventually abandoned in the 4th century B.C.
Archaeological Features
The greatest interest shown in Megiddo has been concerning Solomon’s fortifications in the 10th century. Solomon appears to have built Megiddo and her twin cities Hazor and Gezer from taxes levied, and from the same blueprint, shortly after the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. Perhaps the two most notable features of the city arc the double-chambered gateway on the northern edge and a palace-cum-fortress for the Governor. (Baana 1 Kings 4:12.) The city gate was wide enough to take a chariot and team and was built of finely drafted and fitted masonry in the best Phoenician style. (cf. 1 Kings 5:18.)
The Bible makes mention of Solomon’s chariot cities (1 Kings 9:19, 10:26, etc.) and earlier scholars presumed Megiddo to be one of them. However, the stable complexes discovered can be undoubtedly dated to King Ahab, built after the partial ruin of Solomon’s Megiddo by Pharaoh Shishak in the days of Rehoboam, and probably during the drought period referred to in 1 Kings 18:5.
Excavations show that these stables are part of a wider complex surrounded by a wall consisting of ‘offsets’ and ‘insets’. This wall was built above one of the ‘casemate’ type found in Solomonic Hazor and Gezer. Had the stables belonged to Solomonic Megiddo, Solomon would have been responsible for the destruction of one of the finest buildings of Israelite Megiddo, in order to build mere stables, a suggestion which is both archaeologically and practically unlikely.
In order to retain the belief that Megiddo was a chariot city, complexes on the lower level of the Solomonic era were called ‘stables’. Each ‘stable’ unit comprised a central passage floored with lime plaster, on either side of which was an aisle separated from the passage by a row of stone pillars alternating with stone mangers. The pillars served both as roof supports and tethering poles, holes being placed just above the mangers invariably on the side toward the central passage. The pillars and mangers formed a continuous obstruction between the passage and the side aisles. To have led out any particular horse must have necessitated the removal of all others between it and the entrance. It appears also that only the aisles were roofed and floored with rubble.
None of the aforementioned points is typical of or suitable for stables. Obviously these complexes were store houses. The groom would lead the horse into the central passage, unload-and store the goods in the aisles. This is more feasible an explanation, since the Plain of Megiddo is famed as the ‘Granary of the World’.
For the Israelite scholar, discoveries at Megiddo, Bethshan and in the Philistine Plain, illustrate the state of Israel during the period of the Judges when it was in the formative years as a nation.
Megiddo has played an important role as a fortress stronghold and commercial centre. As the guardian to the great East-West trade route, she has played a prominent part in many of the major battles of history. During the period of the Judges, Barak gained a notable victory over the King of Hazor “by the sweet waters of Megiddo” (Judges 5:19). Later, Ahaziah fled to Megiddo mortally wounded after conflict with Jehu (2 Kings 9:27). Here also Josiah died after a vain attempt to stop Pharaoh Necho passing through the glens of Carmel to aid the failing Assyrians. As recently as 1918 ‘the Battles of Megiddo’ is the name given to the operations by which General Allenby broke the Turkish front.
But the strategic significance is not ended, for in the last days the whole world will be gathered for battle “at the place which is called in Hebrew Armageddon” (Rev. 16:12-16.) Armageddon or Har-Mageddon has been variously translated ‘Hill of the Valley of the LORD’, ‘Hill of Megiddo’, or `the smooth (soft-trodden) place’. Here on the plain of Megiddo, or Jezreel, will that great and decisive battle be fought that marks the Return of our Lord and Master. There, where nations have squabbled over the Holy Land, will God finally pass judgment, fulfill His promises, and give the Land to Abraham and his Seed as an everlasting possession; a Land in which has been established peace and security for the beloved of our Father.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One