"And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon." Revelation 16:16
At the entrance of the Megiddo and Jezreel valley is a small mountain that has great biblical significance. There lay archeological ruins containing an ancient city with its fortifications built around the 3rd century BCE. Because of its strategic significance along the Via Maris (Way of the Sea) many of the Egyptian Pharaohs made this city their headquarters in Canaan. Megiddo then became part of the Israelite kingdom apparently during the reign of King David. Solomon made Megiddo one of his four administrative cities and it flourished during his reign (1 Kings 9:15). It was also here that King Josiah met his fate when he tried to block passage to the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho. Many Christians also attribute this city to the great end-time war called Armageddon (translated Mount Megiddo) in the New Testament book of Revelation.
This Tel today consists of more than 20 historical settlements and archeological layers. You can walk through it and find stables attributed to the time of King Solomon, various Canaanite temples, a spring-fed water system, a Bronze Age gate, an Iron Age gate, a small museum with the findings in Megiddo, and an audio-visual presentation of the site. This makes Megiddo one of the most interesting archeological experiences in Israel.
