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Archaeologists working at an ancient site in northern Israel uncovered proof of the Biblical Battle of Megiddo from the Second Book of Kings in the Old Testament.
Artifacts uncovered at the site, namely ancient Egyptian pottery, points toward the famed battle where the King of Judah, Josiah, fought against the army of Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II, and died in 609 B.C., according to Fox News. The site, known today as Tel Megiddo, was once a city, and has held various settlements from the Cooper Age through to World War I.
While it is largely known that the battle took place at the site, “significant quantities” of Egyptian-produced vessels, which date back to the late 7th century B.C., now prove to the world of science that the events described in the Old Testament are true. While some argue the pieces were imported to the area by trade routes, researchers like Dr. Assaf Kleiman think they were brought in with troops from Necho’s army.
Kleiman noted the “crude production technique, functional mixture, and the lack of similar evidence in nearby settlements” as evidence for the relationship to the military. “The exposure of so many Egyptian vessels, including fragments of serving bowls, cooking pots, and storage jars, is an exceptional phenomenon,” Kleiman told the outlet. “We, therefore, understand it as representing Egyptians who settled at Megiddo in the late 7th century, maybe as part of an army force that arrived at the site following the collapse of the Assyrian Empire.”
More Proof …
Greek pottery was also found at the site, suggesting Greek mercenaries were working with the Egyptian army, which was also common at the time. “The possibility of the participation of such mercenaries in the killing of Josiah may be hinted [at] in prophetic works in the Bible,” Kleiman continued.
The broken vessels and other pieces were likely left as litter after the battle. And while there is no other non-Biblical proof of Josiah, his existence “has never been doubted in biblical and historical scholarship.
“We can also note that literacy was more common in that era, and thus his reign was most likely documented by scribes who witnessed the events in real time,” he added. “Evidence for Necho’s presence in the Levant and the battle against the Babylonians in Carchemish, where the Egyptians lost, is documented in the Babylonian chronicles as well as in the Bible, in Jeremiah and Kings.”
Book of Revelation: Megiddo
The site is also known colloquially as “Armageddon,” which is closely related to the Hebrew phrase
“Har Megiddo,” Fox added. In the Old Testament, the site is referenced in relation to the battle, but it also appears in the Book of Revelation.
Megiddo is said to be the site where the Battle of Armageddon is fought between the Kings of Earth and God, Fox argued, but it is only lightly and indirectly referenced in the Book of Revelation (16:16). The chapter described the end times, and the Seven Bowls of God’s Wrath, ending in an almighty earthquake, hundred-pound hailstones falling from the sky, and the city being split into three parts, with “the cities of the nation collapsed” (Revelation 16:19).
