WHY DIG MEGIDDO?. BECAUSE: MEGIDDO IS AN ARCHAEO- LOGICALLY UNPARALLELED SITE WHERE ONE CAN...
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Transcript of WHY DIG MEGIDDO?. BECAUSE: MEGIDDO IS AN ARCHAEO- LOGICALLY UNPARALLELED SITE WHERE ONE CAN...
WHY DIG MEGIDDO?
BECAUSE: MEGIDDO IS AN ARCHAEO-LOGICALLY UNPARALLELED SITE WHERE ONE CAN LITERALLY SEE AND TOUCH AND BE INSPIRED BY MONUMENTS FROM BIBLICAL TIMES
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)
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
BECAUSE:MEGIDDO IS LINKED TO GREAT FIGURES IN WORLD HISTORY
King Solomon
Pharaoh Thutmose III, founder of the Egyptian empire
Seal of Jeroboam II King of Israel, discovered at
Megiddo. The earliest such seal ever found
Tiglath-pileser III, founder of
the Assyrian empire
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
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
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”
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
BECAUSE:
MEGIDDO HAS BEEN EXCAVATED FOR OVER A CENTURY, STARTING ON APRIL 1ST, 2003
The University of Chicago’s Expedition
Gottlieb Schumacher at Megiddo, early 20th century
Yadin at Megiddo, 1960s
The Megiddo Expedition, 2002
The President of the State of Israel and other dignitaries at the Megiddo Centennial, April 1st, 2003
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 first urbanization (fourth millennium BCE Egyptianized vessels)
The end of the Late Bronze Age (Ramses VI at Megiddo)
Stables or storehouses?
Solomonic gates?
The Great Debate on the chronology of the
Iron Age strata and the nature of the
United Monarchy focuses on Megiddo
BECAUSE:MEGIDDO EXHIBITS AN UNPARALLELED NUMBER OF MONUMENTS: FORTIFICATIONS TEMPLES, PALACES, WATER SYSTEMS AND OTHER PUBLIC EDIFICES
Iron Age water system
Early Bronze Temples
Iron Age palace (left) and stables
(right)
BECAUSE:
MEGIDDO FEATURES MONUMENTS FROM MANY PERIODS AND RELATES TO DIFFERENT PROBLEMS IN THE HISTORY OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST
Area K: Late Bronze/Iron I
Area H: Iron II
Area F: Middle Bronze and Late Bronze
Area L: Iron II palace and stables
Area J: Early Bronze temples
Area M: monumental Late Bronze tomb; Iron I palace (?)
BECAUSE:
MEGIDDO HAS YIELDED AN EXCEPTIONAL NUMBER OF RICH FINDS
1
2
34
5
1. Late Bronze Ivory box
2. Late Bronze statuette
3. Late Bronze cuneiform tablet
4. Iron Age Babylonian bottle
5. Iron Age cult stand
BECAUSE:
MEGIDDO IS UNIQUE IN PROVIDING INTENSIVE INFORMATION ON CITY PLANNING IN ANTIQUITY
The Assyrian city
The Israelite cities
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
BECAUSE:MEGIDDO IS THE ONLY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE IN ISRAEL TO HAVE BECOME A SYMBOL IN POPULAR CULTURE
BECAUSE:
IT’S FUN TO BE THERE!