Tel Megiddo
Tell el-Mutesellim
Israel · Northern District
In brief
Megiddo is a city mound that controlled important transport routes. Excavations uncovered multiple layers of urban architecture and the human remains of two siblings buried beneath a house.
What was found?
- 1Underground water system
The Iron Age system served the water needs of the city's large population. It demonstrates the engineering knowledge applied to urban infrastructure.
- 2Early Bronze Age temple complex
Successive temples and traces of rituals document continuing worship activities at the same location. They allow continuity in religious life to be studied.
- 3Palace remains
The monumental palace buildings reveal Megiddo's role as an administrative center. They are material traces of the city's wealth associated with trade routes.
- 4Skull with traces of trepanation
A surgical intervention that created an angular opening was identified in the skull of a person who lived around the 15th century BC. According to researchers, this is the earliest known example of this technique in the Ancient Near East.
- 5Cypriot pottery
The fine-quality Cypriot pottery found in the tomb of two brothers documents connections with distant regions. Researchers consider it among the findings supporting the individuals' high social status.
What does it point to?
Megiddo shows that administration, worship, and infrastructure developed together in a wealthy city controlling trade routes. According to researchers, the findings in the tomb suggest that high social status may have facilitated access to care and treatment.
What did it teach us?
- It showed that Iron Age cities had advanced underground water infrastructure.
- It documented long-term worship activities through successive temple phases.
- It provided evidence that a particular technique of skull surgery was practiced during the Late Bronze Age.
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Latest news / selected archive
A study published in 2023 documented trepanation made with angular cuts in the skull of a person who lived around the 15th century BCE.
Record
- Culture
- Canaanite and ancient Israelite
- Coordinates
- 32.5850°, 35.1842°
Sources
Nearby excavations
- Caesarea Maritima 29 km
- Pella 43 km
- Tel Hazor 60 km
- Jerash / Gerasa 74 km
- Hisham's Palace 82 km
- Ancient Jericho / Tell es-Sultan 83 km
- —
- —
- 12.000
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Arkeofili ↗ · Excavation notebook
All excavation sites (395)
Türkiye
- Acemhöyük
- Aizanoi
- Alabanda
- Alacahöyük
- Amos
- Ani
- Aphrodisias
- Arslantepe Mound
- Aspendos
- Assos
- Ayanis Fortress
- Aşıklı Höyük
- Barcın Höyük
- Blaundus
- Boncuklu Höyük
- Can Hasan I
- Carchemish
- Claros Sanctuary
- Clazomenae
- Domuztepe
- Ephesus
- Euromus
- Gordion
- Göbekli Tepe
- Hadrianopolis in Paphlagonia
- Hattusha
- Hierapolis
- Iasos
- Kaman-Kalehöyük
- Karahantepe
- Karatepe-Aslantaş
- Kaunos
- Kibyra
- Knidos
- Kültepe-Kanesh
- Laodicea on the Lycus
- Letoon Sanctuary
- Limyra
- Magnesia on the Maeander
- Medieval City of Beçin
- Metropolis in Ionia
- Miletus
- Myra
- Nemrut Dağ
- Nysa on the Maeander
- Olympus in Lycia
- Oymaağaç Höyük — Nerik
- Patara
- Pergamon
- Perge
- Phaselis
- Priene
- Sagalassos
- Sanctuary of Apollo at Didyma
- Sanctuary of Labraunda
- Sapinuwa
- Sardis
- Sayburç
- Side
- Stratonikeia
- Tell Atchana – Alalakh
- Teos
- Tripolis on the Meander
- Troy
- Uluburun Shipwreck
- Xanthos
- Yenikapı – Theodosian Harbour Excavations
- Yeşilova Höyük
- Yumuktepe
- Zerzevan Castle
- Zeugma
- Zincirli Höyük — Sam'al
- Çatalhöyük
- Çavuştepe Fortress
- Çayönü
- Çukuriçi Höyük