MAGEDDO - Enciclopedia Cattolica, Vol. VII, p. 1080

Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.

MAGEDDO. — Once a powerful city in Palestine (Hebr. Mēghiddō[n]; Septuagint Māyēdō or Māyēdōv; Egyptian M'kṭj; el-'Amrnah Makiddu; Assyrian Magidū), identified with Tell el-Mutesellim, on the spur of the eastern range of Carmel, 30 km south of Caifa, dominating the caravan route that led from Egypt, through the pass of M., into Mesopotamia.

Under its walls Thutmosis III defeated the coalition of the kings of Syria and Palestine, and the city, as appears from the el-'Amrnah letters, remained thereafter loyal to Pharaonic sovereignty. Josue slew its king (Jos. 12, 21), but Mageddo, although assigned to the Manassites (Jos. 17, 11; I Par. 7, 29), remained Canaanite until the battle of Sisara “in the waters [of Kishon] of M.” (Judg. 5, 19). Fortified by Solomon (I Reg. 9, 15), it became the administrative seat of a prefecture (ibid. 4, 12). Two kings of Juda, Ochozias and Josias, met their death there (II Reg. 9, 27; 23, 39).

Incorporated into the Assyrian province, Mageddo steadily declined and had lost all historical importance by Hellenistic times. The Romans established the camp of the legio VI Ferrata at the foot of the hill where in the 4th century a village arose bearing the name of Legeon or Legio, today Legūn. The name Mageddo recurs in the formation of
MAGEDDO - Excavation area: Building 338 seen from the north; on the second floor, the city walls.

Armagedon, battlefield of the kings of the earth against the Almighty (Apoc. 16, 16).

The tell, of irregular oval shape (385 m. by 230), with a surface area of more than 5 hectares, partially explored by a German society in the years 1903-1905, was methodically investigated in numerous campaigns from 1925 to 1930 by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Through the plans of 20 archaeological strata, the historical evolution of the city has been traced, with greater or lesser certainty, from its foundation (end of the 5th millennium) to its extinction (350 B.C.), in the various phases of occupation by Canaanite, Hyksos, Egyptian, Philistine, and Israelite civilizations. In addition to the first troglodytic dwellings and the first archaic village, represented by remains of floors with curious drawings of animals and hunting scenes and by a small temple (stratum XIX), particular interest attaches to the architecture of the massive stone walls built in the 3rd millennium and the city enclosure with gates from the 2nd millennium.

In a zone called sacred, a primitive temple was succeeded by three others of equal size and plan, near a large circular stone altar with steps. In the Governor’s Palace, five distinct periods were also recognized, and beneath the fifth was discovered a rich collection of precious objects, including more than 200 ivory plaques with engravings and designs. One of these depicts a prince, perhaps the king of Mageddo, celebrating his victory on a chariot drawn by horses and escorted by naked prisoners.

The Israelite city, with its massive walls and the bent-axis gate with three recesses, and a perfect hydraulic system to supply water from a spring outside the walls, is of great interest for the discovery of a complex of stables capable of holding about 400 horses. There is a central corridor flanked by stalls with pillars at the entrance, serving the dual purpose of supporting the roof and tethering the horses, stone mangers between the pillars and, in the floor, a drainage channel for waste. In the Governor’s Palace, a graffito was noted featuring the so-called knot or Star of David. A fragment of a stele recalls the passage of Pharaoh Shishak, who in his inscription in the temple of Karnak boasts of the capture of the city of Mageddo. The rich and abundant material, especially collected in the necropolis, allows for a very precise understanding of the metalworking industry in the various epochs of Canaan, a classification of pottery, and the study of scarabs grouped by strata.

Bibl.: Per gli scavi tedeschi: G. Schumacher, Tell el-Mute- sellim, I. Bericht über die Ausgrabungen, Lipsia 1908; C. Wat- zinger, Tell el-Mutessellim, II. Die Funde, 1919. Per gli scavi americani: R. M. Engberg-G. M. Shipton, Notes on the calco- lithic and early bronze age pottery of Megiddo, Chicago 1934; H. C. May, Materials remains of the Megiddo cult, 1935; R. S. Lamon, The Megiddo water system, 1935; R. S. Lamon- G. M. Shipton, The Megiddo I, season of 1925-34, 1939, da com- pletarsi con gli studi di P. O. L. Guy e R. M. Engberg, Megiddo Tomb, 1938; G. Land, The Megiddo II, seasons of 1935-39, 1938. Per il riassunto: G. M. Shipton, Guide to Megiddo, Gerusalemme 1944, edita dal Dipartimento delle antichità di

agEddo - Avorio raffigurante una scena di omaggio a un principe
cananeo in trono.

(da G. Loud, Megiddo Iorics, Chicago 1939, tav. 4, fig. 5a)

MagEddo - Aventino raffigurante una scena di omaggio a un principe
cananeo in trono.

(da Antonio de Herrera, Historia generale de los Ibechos de
los Castellanos en los Islas i tierra firme del Mur Ocrano,
Madrid 1901)