Megiddo

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Aerial view of Tell Megiddo
Model of Tell Megiddo showing settlement layers, in the foreground King Ahab's horse stables (left) and gate (right)
Megiddo in hieroglyphics
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Megiddo

Megiddo ( Hebrew מגידו / מְגִדֹּו məgiddô ), also Tell el-Mutesellim ( Arabic تل المتسلم, DMG Tall al-Mutasallim ; ancient Egyptian Meketi ; Assyrian magidū ), was a city on the Jezreel plain in northern Israel in ancient times . It was located at the intersection of the ancient Via Maris trade route from Egypt to Syria and the Akko - Shechem - Jerusalem route , at the exit of the bottleneck (Arunah Pass, Wadi Ara ) over the Carmel Mountains .

A tell developed through repeated development . To distinguish it from the nearby kibbutz Megiddo , the archaeological site is often referred to as Tel Megiddo . Tell is a national park and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Biblical Settlement Mounds - Megiddo, Hazor and Be'er Scheva .

location

Tell Megiddo is located in the northern district of Israel at the junction of Megiddo Junction of Highway 65 and Expressway 66 near Kibbutz Megiddo 12 km southwest of the city of Afula .

meaning

Megiddo is considered the most important archaeological site of the biblical period in Israel and one of the most important research sites in the Middle East . Since July 2005, Megiddo, together with Hazor and Beersheba UNESCO - World Heritage Site .

The military importance of the place and its role as a military battlefield are reflected in the Apocalypse of John in the New Testament. Armageddon , derived from "Har Megiddo" (the mountain of Megiddo), appears there as the place of the biblical final battle between good and evil ( Rev 16,16  EU ).

swell

Megiddo is used in the Bible (e.g. 1 Chr 7.29  EU : in the tribal area of Manasseh ) and in the Amarna texts from the 14th century BC. Mentioned ( EA 242 , 243 , 244 , 245, 246, 247, 365). Megiddo is mentioned in eight Amarna letters. Six of them were sent to the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) by the Egyptian governor Biridiya , who was responsible for Megiddo . For example, in letter EA 243, Biridiya reports that he successfully defended Megiddo against the Apiru .

In Egyptian sources, Megiddo is first mentioned under Thutmose III . mentioned in connection with his 1st campaign. In a papyrus from the time of Amenhotep II , an ambassador from Megiddo is first mentioned by ambassadors from the north of Canaan and Ascalon . A cuneiform text from the neighboring Taanach names Megiddo as the Egyptian administrative center. In addition, the place can be found in many place name lists of the New Kingdom .

In the Tanakh Megiddo is mentioned 12 times. It is reported that Megiddo was taken by Joshua ( Jos 12.21  EU ). Later Megiddo is mentioned among the cities in which the Canaanites remained in the country even after the Israelites had conquered ( Jos 17.11  EU , Ri 1.27  EU ) and which belong to the inheritance of Ephraim ( 1 Chr 7.29  EU ). The destruction of the Canaanite army under the general Sisera took place in this area. Megiddo is mentioned in the victory song of Debora ( Judgment 5,19  EU ). It is reported that under King Solomon there was an official named Baana in Megiddo ( 1 Kings 4:12  EU ) and the city fortifications of Megiddo were built ( 1 Kings 9:15  EU ). King Ahasiah of Judah dies after fleeing to Megiddo of being wounded by Jehu ( 2 Kings 9:27  EU ). According to Tanach, the Israelite King Joschija (Josiah) fell in Megiddo when he thoughtlessly attacked Pharaoh Necho II ( 2 Kings 23.29ff.  EU , 2 Chr 35.22  EU ). Necho's victory over Joschiah at Megiddo, mentioned here, is not proven in any other historical document. Megiddo is mentioned only once in the prophetic literature ( Zech 12,11  EU ).

history

Canaanite round altar
The late Canaanite gate (15th century BC)
South (Solomonic) Palace
Southern horse stables
The northern stables or warehouses from the time of Ahab (9th century BC)
Israelite house ( four-room house )
Assyrian palace
80 m long water tunnel secured water supply even under siege
View from Megiddo to Mount Tabor

The significant settlement history of Megiddo extends over 4000 years from the Neolithic period through the Bronze Age as a Canaanite city to the Iron Age as an Israelite city. The history of the settlement ended with the following Persian period (587 to 332 BC). Megiddo lost its dominance to the coastal cities in the Hellenistic period (332 to 152 BC) and Tell was given up.

Chalcolithic period (4,500 to 3,300 BC)

The oldest traces of settlement in Megiddo are dated to the 4th millennium. Due to its strategic location on the pass over the Carmel Mountains , the settlement developed into a heavily fortified city as early as 3000.

Early Bronze Age (3,300 to 2,000 BC)

With the beginning of the Early Bronze Age I (3,300-3,000 BC) Megiddo is an important Canaanite settlement. The first massive city wall was built. A palace and sanctuaries were built. The famous Canaanite round altar by Megiddo also dates from this period. This important find in Megiddo from the 3rd millennium is a conical, free-standing round altar ( Hoher Platz ), which has a diameter of approx. 7 m and a height of approx. 125 cm in steps. Based on the bone finds it is assumed that animals were sacrificed here . The altar is located in the so-called holy district and was surrounded by several megaron temples from the late 3rd and early 2nd millennia.

In the early Bronze Age, Megiddo established international contacts. Finds of pottery shards with seals indicate connections with Syria , Mesopotamia and Egypt . A strong ancient Egyptian- cultural influence can be seen in Megiddo . Egyptian hieroglyphs were known and imitated. At the end of the Early Bronze Age I, the inhabitants left Megiddo and other settlements in the region, probably due to climatic changes. It was not until the Early Bronze Age II (3,000–2,700 BC) that Megiddo was rebuilt modestly. The city area was reduced to less than 10% of its former size; the population to about 20%. At the same time, new ancient Egyptian trading colonies arose in the south of what is now Israel , which was associated with numerous new settlements. After the unification of the ancient Egyptian empire under Menes , the trading colonies were abandoned as the subsequent kings of Egypt opened up other trade routes with the Levant .

Middle and Late Bronze Age (2,000 to 1,200 BC)

In the 2nd millennium BC Megiddo experienced the time of its greatest growth. After a massive reinforcement of the city fortifications, the city becomes an important city-state again. A wall made of mud bricks was built on massive foundations and reinforced with a fill of earth to the outside ( glacis ). During this time, Egypt ruled Canaan and also controlled Megiddo. In 1457 BC BC defeated Thutmose III. in the battle of Megiddo the Canaanite princes in order to open up a land route to Syria. Objects made of gold and lapis lazuli as well as ivory carvings found in the Palace of Megiddo bear witness to the city's wealth in the 13th and 12th centuries. In the Late Bronze Age, Megiddo became a cultural and political stronghold. Approx. 1,100 BC The city was destroyed by fire. The name of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses VI. on the metal base of a statue found in the rubble shows that the destruction, at least not before Ramses' VI. Reign (approx. 1,143-1,136 BC) may have taken place.

Iron age

According to biblical sources, the city was conquered by Joshua during the conquest of the land ( Jos 12.21  EU ) and later assigned to the tribe of Manasseh ( Jos 17.11  EU ). Soon afterwards in the 12th century BC In BC Meggido and the whole Jezreel plain were taken by the Philistines who advanced from the Mediterranean coast into the interior. The proponents of the Davidic-Solomonic Empire hypothesis assume that King David conquered the place again and King Solomon expanded it into the capital of the 5th administrative district, which under the governor Baana (see list of biblical persons / B ) reached to Bet Shean ( 1 Kings 4.12  EU ).

Pharaoh Scheschonq I , who is called Šišak in the Bible, had 918 BC Destroy the city. King Ahab had the city rebuilt. Ahab's city was surrounded by strong casemate walls and a large gate system and, in addition to the palace, had several horse stables within the fortress area, in which up to 450 horses could be accommodated, with a corresponding number of individual feeding cribs .

The highly developed water system was expanded, which already gave the Canaanites unimpeded access to the source of drinking water outside the city wall, even during times of siege . To the northwest of the city, spring water flowed from a fault 35 m below the city into a cistern. The water system from the 9th century BC Chr. Consisted of the approx. 35 m deep shaft carved into the rock, to which an approx. 70 m long tunnel was connected.

In the Iron Age II, the city belonged to the northern kingdom of Israel . The Aramaeans conquered and destroyed Megiddo around 900 BC. The city was then completely redesigned: the checkerboard network of streets housed a settlement, four fifths of which consisted of residential buildings.

733 BC The Assyrians took control of the city. The Assyrian king Tiglat-Pileser III ruled from an administrative building built in the north . his newly conquered new province of Samaria . Under his successor, the Assyrian King Sargon II , Megiddo flourished again and reached a population of about 2,000. A grain silo with a volume of 450 m³ was probably built during this time or during the time of the last Israelite kings. About 1,000 tons of wheat could be stored here. The silo has a diameter of 11 m and a depth of 7 m, into which two stairs lead down. The function as a grain silo is evidenced by the grains found between the stones.

609 BC King Joschiah of Judah braced himself against the troops of the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II in Megiddo to prevent a joint action by Egypt and Assyria against Babylon . Joschiah lost the battle and his life. The ancient Israelite business model of trading horses from Asia Minor against chariots from Egypt finally came to an end. Since Persian times (after 538 BC) the city lost its former importance. In Roman times there was a camp of the 6th Legion 2 km south of the tell , from which the name of the Arab village Lajun (today Kibbutz Megiddo) was derived.

20th century AD

In 1918 the so-called Palestine Battle between the British and the Ottomans took place here, in which General Allenby inflicted a heavy defeat on the Turks.

During the Palestine War in 1948, the Golani Brigade of the Israeli army fought the Iraqi army near Megiddo .

Research history

Excavations in the first half of the twentieth century have uncovered twenty different layers of settlements, ranging from the pre-ceramic Neolithic to the Persian period . German archaeologists, under the direction of Gottlieb Schumacher, first dug from 1903 to 1905 on Tell el-Mutesellim, the Megiddos settlement mound. From 1925 to 1939 the Oriental Institute of Chicago ran an extensive excavation campaign. In 1960, 1967 and 1971/72 Israeli archaeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem under the direction of Jigael Jadin continued the excavations. From 1992 the excavation management went to Israel Finkelstein from Tel Aviv University .

literature

Excavation reports

German excavations

Oriental Institute excavations

  • Herbert Gordon May: Material Remains of the Megiddo Cult (= Oriental Institute Publications 26). Chicago 1935.
  • Robert S. Lamon: The Megiddo Water System (= Oriental Institute Publications 32). Chicago 1935.
  • PLO Guy: The Megiddo Tombs (= Oriental Institute Publications 33). Chicago 1938.
  • Robert S. Lamon, Geoffrey M. Shipton: Megiddo 1st Seasons of 1925-34: Strata I-V (= Oriental Institute Publications 42). Chicago 1939.
  • Gordon Loud: The Megiddo Ivories (= Oriental Institute Publications 52). Chicago 1939.
  • Gordon Loud: Megiddo 2nd Seasons of 1935-39 (= Oriental Institute Publications 62). Chicago 1948.
  • Timothy P. Harrison: Megiddo 3rd Final Report on the Stratum VI Excavations ( Oriental Institute Publications 127). Chicago 2004. ISBN 1-885923-31-7

Israeli excavations

  • A. Zarzecki-Peleg: Yadin's Expedition to Megiddo. Final Report of the Archaeological Excavations (1960, 1966, 1967 and 1971/2 Seasons) . In: Qedem (56). The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 2016.
  • Israel Finkelstein , David Ussishkin, Baruch Halpern (eds.): Megiddo III. The 1992-1996 Seasons (= Monograph Series of the Institute of Archeology, Tel Aviv University 18). Tel Aviv 2000.
  • Israel Finkelstein, David Ussishkin, Baruch Halpern (eds.): Megiddo IV. The 1998-2002 Seasons (= Monograph Series of the Institute of Archeology, Tel Aviv University 24). Tel Aviv 2006.
  • Israel Finkelstein, David Ussishkin, Eric H. Cline (eds.): Megiddo V. The 2004-2008 Seasons (= Monograph Series of the Institute of Archeology, Tel Aviv University 31). Tel Aviv 2013.

The rest

  • Miriam Feinberg Vamosh: Megiddo - Armageddon . Ed .: Amikam Shoob, Itamar Grinberg, Izak Malki. Israel's Antiques Department, National Park Society, Jerusalem 1997.
  • Inbal Samet: Megiddo - National Park . Ed .: Tsvika Tsuk. The Israel Nature and Parks Authority.
  • Volkmar Fritz : The city in ancient Israel. Beck, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-406-34578-6 .
  • Volkmar Fritz: Introduction to Biblical Archeology. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1985, 1993, ISBN 3-534-09065-9 .
  • Helga Weippert : Palestine in pre-Hellenistic times. (= Handbook of Archeology. Western Asia II, Volume I. ). Beck, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-406-32198-4 .

Web links

Commons : Tel Megiddo  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Megiddo  - travel guide

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Lexicon of Egyptology . Volume IV: Megiddo - Pyramids. Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1982, ISBN 3-447-02262-0 , p. 1.
  2. ^ William L. Moran: The Amarna Letters. Baltimore / London 1992, p. 297.
  3. ↑ a b Andrea Gorys: Dictionary archeology . Wiesbaden 2004, p. 283 .
  4. ^ Israel Finkelstein , Neil Asher Silberman : No Trumpets Before Jericho. The Archaeological Truth About the Bible. 4th edition, Beck, Munich 2003, ISBN 978-3-406-49321-8 , p. 105.
  5. ^ Glyn Daniel: Encyclopedia of Archeology . Nikol, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-930656-37-X , p. 309 .
  6. ↑ Manfred Claus: History of Israel - From the early days to the destruction of Jerusalem (587 BC) . Beck, Munich 1986, ISBN 3-406-31175-X , p. 161 .
  7. ↑ Andrea Gorys: Dictionary archeology . Marix-Verlag, Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 3-937715-29-0 , p. 282 .
  8. ↑ Erhard Gorys: Small handbook of archeology . Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich 1981, ISBN 3-423-03244-8 , pp. 276 .

Coordinates: 32 ° 35 ′ 0 ″  N , 35 ° 11 ′ 0 ″  E