Tel Megiddo is an ancient fortress and city strategically located along the ancient trunk road from Egypt to Syria and Mesopotamia. Do check out my post: Israel Travel Itinerary for more travel tips and inspirations.
When we arrived at this place we were then ushered to a small room to watch a short film about Megiddo. Our tour guide Ido also gave us a brief history of the place and showed us the ancient reconstruction of Solomon's fortress in Megiddo which is shown above. We then went for lunch in the cafeteria located in the area.
After lunch, we then went outside to see the archeological digs of the area. Notice the layers and layers of ancient ruins on the ground. These are from different kingdoms of eons past. Whoever conquers the land have their own fortress built in the area. But we won't focus much on any other kingdoms. We'll be focusing more on Solomon's fortress because we are on a pilgrimage right? ;)
Thank God! It's not that foggy at Tel Megiddo because we are now able to see a good view of the valley of Megiddo (Armageddon) from the mountain where we are in. From this location, we could also get a good view of Mount Carmel, where we were at before heading to this location. Mount Carmel is where Elijah and the prophets of Baal did a showdown of whose god is the real God.
Ain't that lovely?
At the upper right side of the picture, next to a photo where you could see me walking with a thumbs-up sign on my left hand, you could see the ruins of an ancient stable. This is were Solomon kept his chariot horses ready for battle whenever the enemies came to attack.
THE UNDERGROUND WATER SYSTEM
Water is an essential part of any community. It's interesting to note that the water system in Megiddo was hidden underground. This is very strategic in terms of securing the fortress from conquering enemies. Ido, our tour guide, said that during ancient times the enemy would usually target the water source of the city in order to conquer it. This is how David conquered the city of Jerusalem back then.
I'm sure my husband will not like the photo above. He doesn't want to be in any picture in my blog but I put him there anyway. Hehehe!
We braved the underground water system despite the rain. You'll notice how strong the rain is when you look at my husband's jacket. Haha So now, you understand why I put him there. Anyway, it was a deep and slippery descent to the spring of water inside the cave. See the photo on the upper right side to see how deep it was. And lower left side of the photo to see the spring of water inside the cave. The descent from where we entered might be a bit challenging but the climb up to the other side of the underground tunnel was just a breeze.
SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE
The site of numerous battles in Biblical history happened here. It is also one of the cities of Solomon and Ahab. This is where King Josiah of Judah fell in battle. In the Book of Revelation, Megiddo is identified as the place of Armageddon. The site of the world's last great battle.I hope you enjoyed this photo tour at Tel Megiddo.
UP NEXT: Mount Precipice.