Megiddo, Tell El Mutesellim, is in the Plain of Esdraelon, often thought to be the Armageddon of Revelation 16:16. Megiddo guarded the caravan route from Gaza in the south to Damascus in the north, strategic for the movement of goods and armies. Near here, Deborah and Barak won a great battle (Judges 5:19, 20), Gideon defeated the Midianites (Judges 6:33), and Saul died in battle (1 Samuel 31). Today Megiddo is only a tell, ruins of many periods of history in different layers. It was excavated by the Oriental Institute of Chicago, starting in 1925. Excavated ruins of a public grain silo from the reign of Jeroboam, 792-752 B. C.

megiddo; tell; el; mutesellim; plain; esdraelon; armageddon; caravan; route; deborah; barak; battle; gideon; midianites; saul; death; dying; ruin; archaeology; antiquity; artifacts; excavation; oriental; institute; jeroboam; 792-752; b. c. ; grain; silo; plains; caravans; routes; battles; deaths; ruins; excavations; orientals; institutes; grains; silos