Bronze Age

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  Situated at an important pass though the Carmel Mountains, Megiddo controlled the "Way of the Sea" from Egypt to Syria
• Already fortified in the Chalcolithic
• A sanctuary from the Early Bronze Age has been excavated, with a round altar and dating to about 2500 BCE
• There was a Bronze Age water system (a tunnel to a well)
• 1457 BCE: Canaan conquered by the Egyptian king Thutmose III (r.1479-1425), who left an account on one of the walls of the temple in Karnak (Thebes). Megiddo remained an Egyptian town for more than four centuries. Rehob, Hazor, and Beit Shean are comparable sites.
• Among the Amarna Letters (written in the fourteenth century BCE) are six letters from a king named Biridiya

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  A city gate from the Late Bronze age has been identified. From the same period are the "Megiddo Ivories".
• After about 1200 BCE, the Bronze Age system started to collapse. One of the crisis symptoms was the presence of the "Sea People", such as the Peleset (the Philistines of the Bible), Tjeker, and Denyen, which were settled in Canaan. Egyptian control of Canaan lasted until after 1150, but after that, many towns were abandoned.

Megiddo, Bronze Age sanctuary

Megiddo, Bronze Age sanctuary, model

Megiddo, Tunnel

Megiddo, Late Bronze gate

Iron Age

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  According to the Bible, Megiddo was originally not controlled by the "twelve tribes",^note[Joshua 1.27.] but it does mention building activity by King Solomon. Although only buildings by later kings have been found, it is certain that Megiddo was part of the kingdom of Israel, suggesting that it was taken by either David or Solomon.
• Captured by Sheshonq I (r. 945-924) and rebuilt by ninth-century kings like Omri and Ahab. From this age, stables and a gate have been excavated.
• In the third quarter of the eighth century BCE, the kingdom of Israel found itself under Assyrian attack; its capital Samaria fell in c.724 BCE. Megiddo became Assyrian too; there are some buildings from the late eighth and seventh centuries BCE
• 610/609 BCE: King Josiah of Judah met the Egyptian king Necho II in Megiddo and was slain^note[According to 2 Kings 23.29.] or was mortally wounded during a battle.{According to 2 Chronicles 35.20-27.}}

Megiddo, South stables

Megiddo, Iron Age grain storage

Megiddo, North Palace (or stable?)

Megiddo, Assyrian buildings

Later History

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  Many centuries later, the nearby site of Caparcotna was a Roman legionary base, occupied by soldiers of the Sixth Legion Ferrata.
• According to the Book of Revelation, Armageddon or Megiddo (Har-Megedon, "the hill of Megiddo") will be the place of the last battle in the eschatological age^note[Revelation 16.16.]