Megiddo [key], city, ancient Palestine, by the Kishon River on the southern edge of the plain of Esdraelon, N of Samaria, located at present-day Tel Megiddo, SE of Haifa, Israel, near modern Megiddo. It was inhabited from the 7th millennium b.c. to c.450 b.c. Situated in a strategic position, controlling the route that connected Egypt with Mesopotamia, it has been the scene of many battles throughout history, from Thutmose III (c.1468 b.c.) to Gen. Edmund Allenby (later Viscount Allenby of Megiddo) in World War I. Excavations have unearthed 20 strata of settlements. Found in the latest 6 strata, from the Canaanite period to c.500 b.c., were the Megiddo Ivories, one of the most important examples of Canaanite art, and Solomon's chariot stables. The plain is sometimes called the valley of Megiddon. See also Armageddon.
See Megiddo (Univ. of Chicago, Parts I–II, 1939–48); G. Loud, The Megiddo Ivories (1939).
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