Megiddo, Israel

Bronze and Iron Age

Tel Megiddo is considered one of the most ancient settlements in the Middle East. It guarded the western branch of a narrow pass and trade route connecting Ancient Egypt and Assyria. The site was inhabited from approximately 7000 BCE to 586 BCE though the first significant remains date to the Chalcolithic period (4500–3500 BCE). However, the town experienced a decline in the Early Bronze-Age IV period (2300–2000 BCE), but the city was somewhat revived around 2000 BCE. Following massive construction, the town reached its largest size in the Middle Bronze-Age, at 10–12 hectares. Though the city was subjugated by Thutmose III, it still prospered, and a massive and incredibly elaborate palace was constructed in the Late Bronze Age.

The city was destroyed around 1150 BCE, and the area was resettled by what some scholars have identified as early Israelites, before being replaced with an unwalled Philistine town. When the Israelites captured it, though, it became an important city, before being destroyed, possibly by Aramaean raiders, and rebuilt, this time as an administrative center for Tiglath-Pileser III's occupation of Samaria. However, its importance soon dwindled, and it was finally abandoned around 586 BCE. Since that time it has remained uninhabited, preserving ruins pre-dating 586 BCE without settlements ever disturbing them. Instead, the town of Lajjun (not to be confused with the el-Lajjun archaeological site in Jordan) was built up near to the site, but without inhabiting or disturbing its remains.

World War I

The Battle of Megiddo was fought during World War I between Allied troops, led by General Edmund Allenby, and the defending Ottoman army near to the site of the ancient ruin.

Modern kibbutz

The kibbutz was founded on 2 February 1949 by a gar'in of Holocaust survivors from Hungary and Poland who organized at the end of World War II and fought in the 1948 Arab–Israeli war. At first the members settled on the ruins of the Arab village al-Lajjun and several years later, relocated to a nearby hill. In 1952 a gar'in of migrants from Lebanon and Mexico joined the kibbutz. In 1959 another gar'in of migrants from Argentina and in the next years more gar'ins joined and youth organizations volunteered in the kibbutz but the population did not grow as members left the kibbutz.

The kibbutz had problems developing demographically and economically. The number of residents remained low, with a high turnover of residents since until the late 1990s. In November 2000, due to demographic problems and economic instability, members of the kibbutz decided to change the lifestyle and structure of the kibbutz in a way that every member is now responsible for their own livelihood and the kibbutz only provides some welfare services. Also, the members of the kibbutz decided to transfer the ownership of the housing units and businesses from the kibbutz to the residents.

In 2007 two new neighborhoods were built on the west and northern parts of the kibbutz with 108 housing units.

Geography

The kibbutz is located near the site of the several Battles of Megiddo and Tel Megiddo, a rich archeological site. According to the Bible, the town was apportioned to the tribe of Manasseh (1 Chronicles 7:29). In 2005, Israeli archeologists discovered the remains of an ancient church, perhaps the oldest in the Holy Land, under the grounds of the prison. Authorities are speculating about moving the prison so the site can be accessible to tourists.

Twin towns – Sister cities

Megiddo is twinned with: