Megiddo
Landmark · Megiddo → Tel Megiddo, Israel
A fortress guarding the great road. Kings fell in battle here, and its name carries forward to Armageddon.
People
- Joshua
- Deborah
- Barak
- Solomon
- Ahaziah
- Josiah
At a glance
- Realm
- Canaan, then Israel
- Role
- Fortress guarding the pass on the coastal road
- Peoples
- Canaanites, then Israel
- First mention
- Joshua 12 (king of Megiddo)
The story
Megiddo stood above the narrow pass where the great coastal road entered the Jezreel Valley, so that whoever held it controlled the highway between Egypt and the east. Its mound is a stack of some twenty cities, each raised on the ruin of the last.
Deborah and Barak’s victory over Sisera was sung by the waters of Megiddo, and Solomon fortified it among his chariot cities. King Ahaziah died fleeing here, and good King Josiah fell to Pharaoh Necho on this plain, and its name passed into Revelation as Armageddon, the gathering place of the last battle.
Through the eras
- Conquest & Judges · at its height. A great stronghold of Canaan; its king fell to Joshua, but Canaan held this plain for years.
- The United Kingdom · standing. Solomon fortified it to guard the great road; whether its famous gate is his or a later king’s is debated.
- Divided Kingdoms · standing. Ahaziah king of Judah died here fleeing Jehu; after 732 Assyria governed its province from Megiddo.
- The Exile · standing. King Josiah fell here in battle against Pharaoh Neco in 609 BC.
- The Return · absent from the map.