Megiddo -- Better known as Armageddon

Each Sunday the dig leaders organized a road trip for us to see different archaeological sites. This was both fun and frustrating. On Friday night and most of Saturday there were Shabbat travel restrictions -- meaning the buses and trains did not run, making travel nearly impossible. 

Those restrictions were lifted on Sundays leaving me with the choice: take the free road trip or pay money to go someplace else.
The first Sunday I opted to go to Haifa on my own, about an hour bus ride from the Kibbutz. I enjoyed seeing the Baha'i Garden and walking around the industrial city.

The second Sunday I opted to go on the field trip to Megiddo, which some refer to as the Armageddon referred to in Revelations. Nothing like a trip to Israel to bring the Bible to life.

Matt Adams, a friend of our leader, led us on a tour of Megiddo and his site, Legio, which was a stone's throw away.

Sort of sad to say, but after two weeks of living on a Kibbutz the highlight for many was the gift shop. Not the only highlight, but this was the first place many had to purchase a post card, or a sun hat, or a book. I was smart and also bought a stamp. It took me another week to find an opportunity to mail the post card, but at least I could. Others bought hats and souvenirs. 

Some were traveling beyond the four-week experience, but for others this was their only chance to play tourist.

Onto the main attraction...the dig site.

Megiddo is a major archaeological attraction. The University of Chicago (the same organization sponsoring our dig, Tell Keisan) began digging there in the 1920s with money from the Rockefellers ... ah, the good old days. There have been three major excavations over the century. In 1902 G. Shumaker dug through 5 major strata, which today they consider 32 different strata. He conducted a major survey of the Tell. 

In the 1920s and 1930s the University of Chicago and the Rockefeller money funded the project. One thing left from their day is their dig house, now a third of its original size it houses a small museum (due to be updated), a gift shop, bathrooms, a restaurant, and various other offices. They went in with the grand plan of stripping all of the strata and not stopping until they hit the absolute bottom (in my neck of the woods it would be digging to China, but not sure geographically where they would end up starting in Israel). Soon they realized that was an enormous goal and decided to focus energies on a smaller area. They made it to the early 1900s BC, otherwise known as the Early Bronze Age (EBA sometimes tossed about to confuse neophytes like me).

This excavation included finding the 12 gates (or some of them) that used to beentrance points to the city, three temples from the EBA I (look at me getting fancy) or about 4500 BCE, give or take a few years. The dig was mostly interested in Biblical times, or stratum 5 and 4, or 900-730 BC -- coincidentally (or not) the same time period we were digging at Tell Keisan. The Assyrians conquered the area in 730 BC, destroying it, and building an Assyrian city in its place.

The digging continues on an every other year basis, with the in-between year for research and writing. Similar to the plan at Tell Keisan. 

Megiddo is a tell site. Tell means the city was on a mound in the middle of a plain, or that is the best explanation I grasped after being there for four weeks. The third excavation focused on digging 2 1/2 meters into the site (about 8 feet). The site is now part of a national park, and the park commission is paying for the dig before they do another construction project. It was deemed to be a quick three-week project. It was the ONLY excavation project in the history of Megiddo to find NOTHING.

Before Strata 6 was the Iron Age I. The entire city burnt to a crisp ("the red city") and a pile of collapsed brick left two million people dead. We are getting closer to that level at Tell Keisan.

We headed outside to see the dig site. Looks a lot more impressive than Tell Keisan, which it should since people have been digging there for about 100 years.
 

We learned about the history of the Egyptians being there, and the 4-chamber gate from the Late Bronze Age. King Solomon is presumed to have spent some time here, but as with most things there are challenges with coming up with the exact date for the 6-chamber gate they are currently excavating. A lot more is known about archaeology now than was known a hundred years ago, they are trying to go back in time and apply modern technology to old finds.

There is a lot of speculation about what Megiddo really was in its heyday. The most prominent theory is that it was a giant stable. They have iron horse sculptures to help the narrative. You have to pay to visit this site (the dig paid for our admission). Tourism is big. The place must look pretty with safe paths.

The temple found here is the largest temple for its day. Only the one at Mesopotamia is about the same size. 

Matt, our guide, is partial to Megiddo because when he was in high school this was his first dig site. Early on (first or second day, or something like that) he discovered the altar. Now his site is down the hill at our next stop, Legio.

The dig supervisors were drooling a bit when we arrived at Legio. 

They have electronic surveillance. We have the father and son team related to the pottery ladies sitting in a truck.

They have power tools (tractors). We have hand tools.

They have a permanent structure for storing tools and an office. We have a couple of small sheds and folding tables.

They have been digging about the same length of time as Tell Keisan. In 2013 they did a test dig based on a hypothesis. The first day they found proof of roof tiles with the Legios stamp on it. This is now their third dig season. They also found the earliest reference to Jesus dating back to the third century and an early church. There is evidence of gutters and a sewer system. They found a Roman garbage pit filled with things such as coins, glass fragments, and animal bones. 

We've found pottery, animal bones, and some walls that don't seem to connect.

Area B, the prinkipia, is a terraced area built on a slope. They dug through the roof tile to the floor, finding it easy to dig here. One exciting find was a Roman era two-seater latrine inside the building.

The two-seater

That day they found a Roman-style temple, but that part of the site was covered up before we could see it. Quitting time comes early when you start work at 4:30.

I failed to mention, this site works six days a week, Sunday through Friday. Beginning to appreciate having Sundays off.

Is this area really the Armageddon referenced in the Bible? Maybe, maybe not. By 67 to 135 AD there was a strong undercurrent of rebellion against Rome. The legions here created a battle plan. Somehow this ties to Revelations, which takes place in 90 AD. Armageddon is about destroying the 6th Legion, which was here. It was hard to take notes and walk at the same time. I know I missed a lot. As someone later said when I complained about being able to take notes during the tour, he said Matt wasn't giving a lecture where he expected people to take notes (which made it sound like it was my fault for even trying).

Done with people. 

Back at the Kibbutz only 10% of my clothes came back because a water line broke. The rest was promised the next day. Fortunately the rest did arrive the next day.