page_title: Tel Megiddo
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Tel Megiddo / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The Assyrian City in Megiddo
context_page_description: Tel Megiddo is the site of the ancient city of Megiddo whose remains form a tell, situated in northern Israel near Kibbutz Megiddo, about 30 km south-east of Haifa. Megiddo is known for its historical, geographical, and theological importance, especially under its Greek name Armageddon. During the Bronze Age, Megiddo was an important Canaanite city-state and during the Iron Age, a royal city in the Kingdom of Israel. Megiddo drew much of its importance from its strategic location at the northern end of the Wadi Ara defile, which acts as a pass through the Carmel Ridge, and from its position overlooking the rich Jezreel Valley from the west. Excavations have unearthed 26 layers of ruins since the Chalcolithic phase, indicating a long period of settlement.
  The site is now protected as Megiddo National Park and is a World Heritage Site.
context_section_description: Megiddo was important in the ancient world. It guarded the western branch of a narrow pass on the most important trade route of the ancient Fertile Crescent, linking Egypt with Mesopotamia and Asia Minor and known today as Via Maris. Because of its strategic location, Megiddo was the site of several battles. It was inhabited approximately from 6500 to 600 BCE, or even since around 7000 BCE, though the first significant remains date to the Chalcolithic period (4500–3500 BCE).
caption: The Assyrian phase, plan and ruins
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