The Laughlins

After our second night at the Port Inn, Mark and I checked out and drove to Megiddo. We got there at the perfect time (weather-wise), because it rained all the way there and then stopped when we arrived. In fact, the whole time that we were up on the tel, we could see dark gray clouds raining in every direction around us, with one hole in the clouds above us. It started to rain on us as we were walking back to the parking lot.

I am going to use Todd Bolen's information from BiblePlaces.com to give you the basic run-down of Megiddo. The aerial photograph is his as well, because my helicopter wasn't fueled up that day :)

"Megiddo is also known as Armageddon, el-Lejjun, Tel el-Mutesellium, Tell el-Mutesellim, Tel Megiddo, Campus Legionis, Har Megiddo, Har-Megeddon, Harmagedon, Isar-Megiddo, Legio, Lejjun, Megiddon"



"Inhabited from the Chalcolithic period, Megiddo has approximately 26 levels of occupation. American excavators from the Oriental Institute worked from 1925 with the ambitious goal of excavating every level in its entirety. They made it through the first three levels before concentrating the work on certain areas."











From the earliest times (EB) to the earliest historical records of the area (Thutmose III) to the future (Revelation 16), Megiddo assumes a prominent role. This is largely owing to its strategic location astride the Megiddo Pass (Wadi Ara) and inside the busy Jezreel Valley. The modern road follows the ancient one."




"Strongly fortified throughout the ages, Megiddo boasted a stone Syrian-type gate [Middle Bronze gate] in the days of Canaanite inhabitation. This gate is later than the bent-axis gate (straightened to accommodate chariots) and earlier than the famous "Solomonic" gate, part of the construction of King Solomon described in 1 Kings 9:15."




"Early Bronze Altar: Part of a large religious complex from the third millennium B.C., this sacrificial altar is striking in its size (10m diameter) and location (behind the temple). A staircase leads up to the altar, a small temenos fence surrounded it, and large concentrations of animal bones and ashes were found in the vicinity."




"Iron Age Watersystem: Needing secure access to its water supply, Megiddo utilized different watersystems over its history. In the 9th c. B.C., Ahab constructed a massive system with a 30 meter deep shaft and a 70 meter long tunnel. This continued in use until the end of the Iron Age. This Iron Age tunnel connected the bottom of Ahab's shaft to the spring. Before its construction, Megiddo residents had to leave the city walls in order to get water from the spring. This tunnel was hewn from both ends at the same time (like Hezekiah's Tunnel) and its builders were only one foot off when meeting in the middle."