The temples of Armageddon

Haaretz:

The Early Bronze Age temple was initially discovered at Tel Megiddo a decade ago. When part of it was first unearthed in 1996, the researchers realized this was a very impressive structure. Since then, evidence accumulated supporting the estimated dimensions: In 2000, two large column bases were excavated.

Then last summer, most of the structure was excavated, and the researchers were surprised. The temple, it emerged, was built on a larger area than had been previously assumed, and is an artful construction of excellent materials.

Based on pottery shards and carbon-14 dating of olive pits found on the temple floor, the building was constructed shortly before the year 3000 B.C.E., during the Early Bronze Age. To date, it is the largest and most splendid structure of its sort to be found in the Near East.

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Two of the compound's walls - the facade and the rear walls - are well-preserved. The front wall is four meters thick. The rear walls of the temple compound are about 50 meters long. The stones of one of the side walls were stolen back in ancient times, and another wall has been deemed unlikely to be located.

In the hall between the walls, excavators found three pairs of large, well-worked basalt stones. In the hall's center sits a pair of round basalt stones, and two pairs of squared stones lie to the sides. In addition, smaller pieces of lesser-quality limestone were discovered in the center of the hall. The researchers are uncertain whether the basalt stones formed the bases of wooden columns or served as altars.

The site offers much evidence of animal sacrifices: Thousands of animal bones were found on the floors and in the corridors. The large number of bones and the monumental size of the structure led the researchers to conclude it was a temple. Dr. Paula Wapnish of Pennsylvania State University examined the bones and found that most came from sheep and cattle - domesticated animals. Only a few came from hunted animals.

During the period of the temple, says Finkelstein, the cultures throughout the Near East were taking first steps toward urbanization. Large central settlements arose around the rulers' dwellings, surrounded by smaller, agricultural communities....

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However, in addition to the attractive conditions that drew people to the region, there was another factor that probably led to the temple's downfall: Tel Megiddo, says Finkelstein, sits on a geologic fault. The archaeological findings show the temple was abandoned at some stage, but there is no evidence of a fire or other violent event.

Geologists Dr. Shmuel Marco of Tel Aviv University and Professor Amotz Agnon of the Hebrew University have found evidence of a very strong earthquake that damaged the site, leading the inhabitants to abandon it. Megiddo was resettled, to a lesser extent, only 200 years later. These later inhabitants established new temples at the tel that were in operation until the end of the second millennium B.C.E.

Megiddo is the site that is called Armageddon in the New Testament. It is believed to have originally meant "near Megiddo." It has been the site of a few very famous battles. In ancient times it was where Egyptian forces clashed with the kingdoms of Mesopotamia. More recently it is where the British defeated the Turks in a battle in World War I that led to the Turks leaving the area.