Megiddo Israel Israel

The first urban centers appear in the Syria-Palestine region by at least 7000 BCE.

The site of the future city-state of Megiddo, the present mound of Tell el-Muteselim on the Plain of Esdraelon in present Israel, was first occupied at the beginning of the eighth millennium BCE.

Megiddo, probably walled by the end of the third millennium BCE, guards the western branch of a narrow pass and an ancient trade route that connects the lands of Egypt and Assyria.

Megiddo and its environs, strategically location at the crossroads of several major routes, are to witness several major battles throughout history.

Ancient Egyptian writings mention Megiddo because Egypt's mighty Thutmose III in 1478 BCE waged war upon the city.

The hieroglyphics found on the walls of his temple in Upper Egypt describe the battle in detail.

Megiddo flourishes under Egyptian rule, and its palace is greatly enlarged.

The Mitanni king of Kadesh leads a Palestinian-Syrian coalition of some three hundred and thirty rebellious Canaanite princes to oppose the Egyptians in Syria-Palestine.

The Egyptian army assembles at the border fortress Tjaru (called Sile in Greek) and arrives ten days later at the Egyptian-loyal city of Gaza.

It leaves after one day's rest for the small city of Yehem, near Megiddo, which is reached after eleven days.

Megiddo, situated northeast of Carmel and about eighteen miles (twenty-nine kilometers) southeast of the modern city of Haifa,  stands along the northwest-southeast route that connects the Phoenician cities with Jerusalem and the Jordan River valley, controlling a commonly used pass on the trading route between Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Here, Thutmose sends out scouts.

To continue north, they must pass the Mount Carmel ridge.

Behind it lies the city and fortress of Megiddo, where the rebel forces have gathered.

Of three possible routes from Yehem to Megiddo, both the northern route, via Zefti, and the southern route, by way of Taanach, give safe access to the Jezreel Valley.

The middle route, via Aruna, is risky, following a narrow ravine that the troops can only travel single-file.

If the enemy waits at the end of the ravine, the Egyptian forces risk being cut down piecemeal.

The army leaders plead therefore to take either of the two easier roads.

Thutmose III, with information from the scouts, decides instead to take the direct path to Megiddo.

Thutmose himself leads his men on a forced march to the lightly guarded city of Aruna; a quick assault scatters the rebels and his army enters the valley unopposed.

The rebels have left large infantry detachments guarding the two more likely paths, and have all but ignored the middle path.

With large parts of the rebel army far away to the north and south, the Egyptian army now has a clear path to Megiddo.

Thutmose, seizing the opportunity, sets up camp, arrays his forces close to the enemy during the night, and attacks at dawn.

The rebels are on high ground adjacent to the fortress; the Egyptian line is arranged in a concave formation that threatens both rebel flanks.

The Pharaoh leads the attack from the center.

The combination of position and numbers, along with an early, bold attack, breaks the enemy's will; their line immediately collapses.

Those near the city flee into it, closing the gates behind them.

As the Egyptian soldiers fall to plundering the enemy camp, the scattered rebel forces, including the kings of Kadesh and Megiddo, are able to rejoin the defenders inside the city.

Those inside lower clothing to the men and chariots and actually pull them up over the walls.

The opportunity of a quick capture of the city following the battle is thus lost.

The Egyptians besiege the city, sending forces throughout the rebel lands, all of which readily recognize Egyptian sovereignty, but the city holds out for as much as seven months until the Egyptians wins the decisive Battle of Qinnah Brook.

The victorious army takes home three hundred and forty prisoners, twenty thousand and forty-one mares, one hundred and ninety-one foals, six stallions, nine hundred and twenty-four chariots, two hundred suits of armor, five hundred and two bows, nineteen hundred and twenty-nine cattle, twenty-two thousand five hundred sheep, and the royal armor, chariot and tent-poles of the King of Megiddo.

Thutmose spares the city and citizens but requires of the defeated kings that they each send a son to the Egyptian court.

The Egyptians after this victory devastate southeastern Mitanni, particularly in the region around Carchemish, but fail to subdue the kingdom.

Egypt later crushes a Syrian rebellion and demands oaths of fealty from local rulers, then allies with the Hittites to drive the Mitannians out of Syria.

Megiddo has flourished following its conquest by Egypt in 1457; the earlier palace has been greatly enlarged.

Labaya is accused of capturing cities that are under Egyptian protection.

Biridiya, the king of Megiddo and the author of five of the Amarna letters correspondence, accuses him of besieging his city and asks the pharaoh for a garrison of one hundred men.

…Megiddo, and …

…part of a monumental stela from Megiddo bearing his name, and a list of cities in the region comprising Syria, Philistia, Phoenicia, the Negev and the Kingdom of Israel, among various topographical lists inscribed on the walls of temples of Amun at al-Hibah and Karnak.

Unfortunately for historians, there is no mention of either an attack nor tribute from Jerusalem, which has led some to suggest that Sheshonk was not the Biblical Shishak.

However, portions of the temple reliefs are damaged and the section mentioning Jerusaleam may have been lost in a lacunae.

The fragment of a stela bearing his cartouche from Megiddo has been interpreted as a monument which Shoshenq erected there to commemorate his victory.

Some of these conquered cities include ancient fortresses such as Megiddo and Shechem which speaks to the speed and power of the Pharaoh's forces as they fought and pillaged their way through the land of the Hebrews and perhaps threatened Jerusalem.

Tiglath-Pileser in 734 BCE conquers Megiddo and …

Egypt's newly crowned pharaoh Necho II, hoping to keep Mesopotamia divided, had set out in the spring of 609 BCE to aid the hard-pressed Assyrians at Harran, their new capital.

Taking the coast route Via Maris into Syria at the head of a large army, consisting mainly of his mercenaries, and supported by his Mediterranean fleet along the shore, Necho had passed the low tracts of Philistia and Sharon, the former territory of the defunct northern kingdom of Israel.

However, the passage over the ridge of hills which shuts in on the south of the great Jezreel Valley had been blocked by the Judaean army led by Josiah, who may have considered that the Assyrians and Egyptians were weakened by the death of the pharaoh Psamtik I only a year earlier (610 BCE), who had been appointed and confirmed by Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal.

Josiah had attempted to block the advance at Megiddo, where the fierce battle had been fought and where Josiah was killed, unsuccessful in his attempts to restore the kingdom of David. (2 Kings 23:29, 2 Chronicles 35:20-24).

Necho, leaving a sizable force behind in Syria, returns to Egypt.

On his return march, he finds that the Judaeans had selected Jehoahaz to succeed his father Josiah, whom Necho deposes and replaces with Jehoiakim.

He brings Jehoahaz back to Egypt as his prisoner, where Jehoahaz will end his days (2 Kings 23:31; 2 Chronicles 36:1-4).