Armageddon Fortress May Hold Keys to History

MEGIDDO, Israel -- The Book of Revelation says the biblical fortress of Armageddon will be the site of an apocalyptic battle between good and evil at the end of time. Scientists believe it could also be the place where time begins -- at least for archaeology.

In a groundbreaking new project, scholars are using the rich archaeological remains that soar more than 50 feet above the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel to synchronize the clocks of the ancient world and create the first definitive calendar of human history.

The word "Armageddon" comes from the Hebrew Har Megiddo, which means mountain of Megiddo, where Revelation says the final battle will take place. To the untrained observer, the modern-day site of Megiddo looks like one more hill in the Carmel mountain range near Haifa. But the vast mound is entirely man-made, containing the remains of 29 separate cities built one on top of the other by a succession of civilizations from 3,000 to 300 B.C.

More than a century of excavations has revealed a complex network of houses, stables, temples and palaces protected by massive fortifications and watered by two natural springs.

The treasures discovered at the site have posed as many questions as they have answered about the history of the ancient world. A vast, centuries-old temple deep within the mound is the largest yet discovered from that period in the Levant but its purpose and rituals -- including several large, perfectly round black stone altars just a few inches high -- are unknown.

It was around this time that stone inscriptions and records on clay tablets and papyrus began to record human history in the area. The Bible, the most monumental work of all, emerged during this period. Early archaeologists used the Bible as a guide, relating their finds to events described there and allocating them to biblical figures.

The legendary Israeli archaeologist Yigael Yadin identified one impressive Iron Age gateway as the remains of a city built by Solomon in the 10th century B.C., but the current director of the excavation, Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University, rocked the scholarly world when he declared the remains to be at least 100 years later. Finkelstein's theory threw the traditional view of the Davidic and Solomonic kingdoms into disarray and cast doubt on whether the biblical giants had ever truly been "kings" at all.

Now Finkelstein, together with Tel Aviv University physicist Eli Piazetsky, is spearheading an international effort to settle the chronology once and for all. A scientific conference at Megiddo, "Synchronizing Clocks at Armageddon," launched a project to analyze 10 separate Iron Age destruction layers using four state-of-the-art scientific techniques: radiocarbon dating, optical luminescence, archaeo-magnetism and rehydroxilation -- a new method pioneered in Britain within the last two years.

Megiddo is the only place in the world with so many destruction layers -- archaeological strata resulting from a calamity such as a fire, earthquake or conquest -- that resulted from a specific event in history.

Finkelstein told AOL News that the site provides "a very dense, accurate and reliable ladder for the dating of the different monuments and the layers."

"These destruction layers can serve as anchors for the entire system of dating," Finkelstein said. "Megiddo is the only site which has 10 layers with radiocarbon results for the period 1300 to 800 B.C.E."

Scientists hope that by analyzing the archaeological strata they can nail each layer to a specific year or decade, using the physical data from Megiddo to set the clocks of history and create a definitive timeline that can be used as a basis for accurately dating all archaeological sites.

It's an ambitious undertaking and one with profound implications for historical scholarship. A definitive timeline for the Levant could also unlock the secrets of ancient Greece, where specific historical dates before about 600 B.C. are basically guesswork. One conundrum that has perplexed scholars for years is a major discrepancy between the dating of sites in the Levant and those with similar pottery and other artifacts in the Aegean Basin.

"For many years the traditional dating of strata in the Levant were about 100 years earlier than that of the Aegean. There was similar pottery that we date to the 10th century and they date to the ninth. The question was, who's right?" said Aren Maeir of Bar-Ilan University, director of the excavation at Tell es-Safi, believed to be the ancient city of Gath, home of Goliath.

"The problem is that the Aegean does not have an independent chronology for the Iron Age," Finkelstein said. In the absence of a historical record, dating of pottery from ancient Greece has relied on Greek pottery found in Middle East excavations. New doubts cast by Finkelstein about the dating of sites in Israel have thrown the ancient Greece timeline into further disarray.

The new project will take samples from Megiddo and other sites where dates are fairly certain and subject them to a battery of four different scientific tests:

Radiocarbon, or carbon-14 dating, measures the decline of a naturally occurring radioisotope to fix the date it was deposited at the site. It can be used for animal remains, plants and even olive pits. But it cannot determine the age of inorganic material like pottery; some materials, including wood, can give false results; and it requires a complex statistical calibration that on 3,000-year-old items produces inaccuracies of up to 300 years.

Archaeo-magnetism measures changes in the Earth's magnetic intensity and magnetic north over centuries to date pottery and cooking ovens. Optical luminescence is in its infancy. It measures the effect of the sun's rays on quartz particles to determine when certain minerals were last exposed to sunlight.

Rehydroxilation is a method recently developed in Britain that measures the amount of moisture absorbed from the atmosphere by oven-fired clay. Experiments suggest that it can accurately date bricks and pottery from 50 to 2,000 years old. The team has taken some 5,000-year-old pottery samples back to the lab at Manchester University to see if they get similar results.

They believe the method has the potential to become as important for ceramics as radiocarbon dating is for organic materials.

"Making the various tools for dating archaeological finds more accurate is very important," said Maeir, whose own excavation is part of the project. But he warned that rehydroxilation may not provide magic answers. Like carbon-14 dating, it involves a statistical manipulation that is likely to result in similar disputes between scholars.

"If they did reach a clear-cut model which would be agreed upon by the overall majority, it could have a whole slew of historical implications," he said. "It changes your understanding of what was going on from a political, from an economic point of view at these various sites. This could in theory have very broad implications for our ability to interpret the historical scenarios."

....Scientists hope that by analyzing the archaeological strata they can nail each layer to a specific year or decade, using the physical data from Megiddo to set the clocks of history and create a definitive timeline that can be used as a basis for accurately dating all archaeological sites.

an apocalyptic battle between good and evil at the end of time rescheduled from Y2K to Dec 21st, 2012?

Obama to dust off the FBI, SPLC, ADL "Project Megiddo" from Y2K?

Oh no. Don't give Obama Jivethon's Lying Circus any ideas about fighting terrorism the way the Clintons' Administration did it.

"In general, the record is very clear that the Clinton administration increased counterterrorism funding and focus more than any other prior administration based on the emerging threats." Former Clinton White House press secretary Joe Lockhart.

Just one problem..

Domestic terrorists were indeed a big concern to the Clintons' Administration. Terrorists like white supremacists, anti-abortion activists, white militias, white religious folks, conservative talk radio and Internet -- you name it.

Anything on the right was carefully watched. (Islam? What's that?) Though attacks on our embassies and troops abroad did raise concern about foreign terrorism nevertheless the Clinton DOJ worked closely with the ADL and SPLC to write the FBI's year 2000 "Project Megiddo" plan to stop homegrown white Christian terrorists.

I know that it is not germane but people should never forget yet another reason that there was a 9/11 -- the Clintons, et al were too busy worried about an imaginary threat from us the American people.

A vast, centuries-old temple deep within the mound is the largest yet discovered from that period in the Levant but its purpose and rituals -- including several large, perfectly round black stone altars just a few inches high -- are unknown.

Fascinating - although I have a slight feeling of superstitious dread when ancient things come to light. Some archaeologists have some odd stories about Fortean events at such sites.

Armageddon Fortress May Hold Rusted Keys to History

The legendary Israeli archaeologist Yiggy Yale Yaddayada identified one impressive Iron Age gateway as the remains of a city built by Solomon in the 10th century B.C.

But the Iron Age gateway was rusted shut. Yiggy could not open the gate even though the Armageddon Fortress May Hold the rusted Keys to open it.

Yiggy will search for the lost keys using his GPS lost-key finder beeper.

If all fails Yiggy will resort to using Liquid Wrench, which can be found at the local Armageddon Walmart, the very first Walmart, built by Solong Sam in 3,000 B.C. which had the first ram`s horn greeters, and employed Lot`s of illegal immigrants from nearby Gomorrah.

You’ve gotten only tangential or even mocking responses thus far.

I suppose the word Armageddon has entered the vernacular and been abused for so long that this was inevitable. It’s been quite the site for destruction in the past, and will be again in the future.

To the specifics of the article, perfectly circular, low black stone altars are interesting. So stark. Any plausible speculation as to their purpose? Sacrificial, maybe?

yet another reason that there was a 9/11 -- the Clintons, et al were too busy worried about an imaginary threat from us the American people

Yes, the Clintoons also placated Pakistan and did not take out the Taliban when we could and the Clintoons also alienated Russia at a time when we could have made them friends. Of course he also kept India at arms length and gave nukes to the Chicoms. what a wonderful president was Clintoon / sarc

Megiddo has actually been the site for quite a few battles in the ancient world but this is because it is located on the main trade route between Egypt and Mesopotamia. Naturally it was advantageous to control it. Also the plain nearby was good for battle

The best one I know of is the war between the Hittites and the Egyptians around 1200 BC.

however, a founding date of 3000 BC isn't unusual considering that Damascus dates from around that time, while Jericho dates from 7000 BC as do the older Sumerian cities.

1. The altars must have been for sacrifice -- what other reason would the ancients have for altars? In Aryan religions there is no altar, but the place is taken by the central idol or idols (in the case of modern, Brahminical Hinduism) and by the sacred fire (Zoroastrianism and Vedic Hinduism) and this was probably the same for the egyptians where the sacrifices to the gods would go into the sacred fire, but in Semitic religions the sacrifice was in the open on a stone (see pagan Arabian religions)

2. The majority of Americans when they heard "Armageddon" will think of the Bruce Willis movie first, what is sad is that many will ONLY think of this. Just as most people when they hear the ride of the Valkyries will ONLY know of it as "kill the wabbit" :-P

I took my son there on December 23, 2006. We were fortunante enough that there were only occasion buses of tourists.

We walked down into the ruins and from the foundation remaining of the old temple, you can clearly look out through two "not so obvious" hillrises onto the plains of Armageddon. It is a fantastic view.

This town was a military fortress, with stables for military horses, soldiers quarters and everything else associated with a smally city. The most impressive fact about this city is that it commands sits overlooking (but not in a militariarly signification position) the crossroads between the different civilizations of the "then know world". Any army passing from Africa, Europe or Middle East would have to pass on these grounds. For this reason many beleive that Armageddon, or the Plains of Passage where more blood has been spilled than anyplace on Earth, will be the most likely place for a final battle. Another view is that those who turn against the worshipers of the God of Israel will be destroyed on these plains and throughout the world in a final epic battle of Good (Israel) and Evil (the 10 kingdoms).

I was merely speculating on the basis of the practical color and the ease of getting a sacrificial animal onto such an altar. It's striking because such stark simplicity would actually have been more difficult to achieve than a more ornate form in antiquity.

Having a design background myself, I'm very aware that complexity can conceal a multitude of flaws, whereas a very simple, smooth and circular form would have exposed any flaw immediately, demanding as close to perfection as man was then capable. Points again to altar, it sounds almost otherworldly in context, and likely would have been perceived in that manner.

Speaking of practical, thanks for pointing out the practical aspects to the geographical location of Har Megiddo. We're so oriented to air and sea that functional issues of large scale troop movement on the ground are often overlooked.

Regarding entering the popular vernacular, my own very early exposure to classical composers was either via old, local German settler churches, Moravian and Lutheran, with a decided taste for Bach, Haydn and a whole host of others via the Collegium Musicum, or ... Bugs Bunny, lol. Don't knock it, I have no doubt that there are millions who would not have been exposed to Ride Of The Valkyries otherwise.

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	Antiquity Journal & archive Archaeologica Archaeology Archaeology Channel BAR Bronze Age Forum Discover Dogpile Eurekalert Google LiveScience Mirabilis.ca Nat Geographic PhysOrg Science Daily Science News Texas AM Yahoo Excerpt, or Link only?	Thanks Cronos. The legendary Israeli archaeologist Yigael Yadin identified one impressive Iron Age gateway as the remains of a city built by Solomon in the 10th century B.C., but the current director of the excavation, Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University, rocked the scholarly world when he declared the remains to be at least 100 years later. Finkelstein's theory threw the traditional view of the Davidic and Solomonic kingdoms into disarray and cast doubt on whether the biblical giants had ever truly been "kings" at all. Finkelstein is always full of crap. finkelstein solomon site:freerepublic.com Google megiddo in the v archive: Google Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
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