Megiddo

Megiddo is the English designation for an important ancient settlement and city site in the Jezreel Valley of northern Israel, known alternatively as Tel Megiddo (Hebrew) and Tell es-Mutesellim (Arabic).

Located strategically at the crossroads of several major routes, Megiddo and its environs have been the location for several major battles throughout history. Foremost amongst these was the Battle of Megiddo fought between the armies of the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition led by the rulers of Megiddo and Kadesh. Much more recently, Megiddo was the site in 1918 of a major battle between Allied troops, led by General Edmund Allenby, and the defending Ottoman army. A final military showdown at or near Megiddo is prophesied in the New Testament book of Revelation: Armageddon, an encounter between the forces of good and evil that has become a byword for the end of the world.

Megiddo has most recently (since 1994) been the subject of biannual excavation campaigns conducted by a consortium of global universities, notably the University of Tel Aviv.