The Battles of Armageddon: Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley from the Bronze Age to the Nuclear Age

by Cline, Eric H.

• ISBN13: 9780472067398
• ISBN10: 0472067397
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-06-01
• Publisher: Univ of Michigan Pr

Summary

WINNER > Best Popular Book on Archaeology --Biblical Archaeology Society Apocalypse. Judgment Day. The End Time. Armageddon. Students of the Bible know it as the place where the cataclysmic battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil will unfold. Many believe that this battle will take place in the very near future. But few know that Armageddon is a real place--one that has seen more fighting and bloodshed than any other spot on earth. The name Armageddon is a corruption of the Hebrew phraseHar Megiddo, and it means "Mount of Megiddo." More than thirty bloody conflicts have been fought at the ancient site of Megiddo and adjacent areas of the Jezreel Valley during the past four thousand years. Egyptians, Israelites, Greeks, Muslims, Crusaders, Mongols, British, Germans, Arabs, and Israelis have all fought and died here. The names of the warring leaders reverberate throughout history: Thutmose III, Deborah, Gideon, Saul and Jonathan, Jezebel, Saladin, Napoleon, and Allenby, to name but the most famous. Throughout history Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley have been ground zero for battles that determined the very course of civilization. No wonder that the author of Revelation believed Armageddon, the penultimate battle between good and evil, would also take place here! The Battles of Armageddonintroduces readers to a rich cast of ancient and modern warriors, while bringing together for the first time the wide range of conflicts that have been fought at Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley from the Bronze Age to the Nuclear Age. Eric H. Cline has participated in more than seventeen seasons of excavation and survey in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Greece, and the United States. He is currently a Senior Staff Archaeologist at the ongoing excavations of Megiddo.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	xi
List of Illustrations	xiii
Abbreviations	xv
Introduction: The Battles of Armageddon	1	(5)
History Repeats Itself	6	(23)
Thutmose III and the Canaanites, 1479 B.C
Allenby and the Ottomans, A.D. 1918
On the Outskirts of Egypt	29	(15)
Pepi I and the ``Nose of the Gazelle's Head,'' 2350 B.C
Amenhotep II and the Jezreel Valley, 1430 B.C
Biridiya and Labayu, 1360-1350 B.C.
The Conquest of Canaan	44	(31)
Deborah, Barak, and Sisera, 1125 B.C
Gideon, the Midianites, and the Amalekites, 1090 B.C
Saul, Jonathan, and the Philistines, 1016 B.C.
Kingdoms under Siege	75	(26)
Shoshenq I (Shishak) in the Jezreel Valley, 925 B.C.
Jehu, Joram, and Ahaziah, 841 B.C
Necho II and Josiah, 609 B.C.
On the Edge of Empires	101	(15)
Antiochus III and Ptolemy IV, 218 B.C.
Gabinius and Alexander, son of Aristobulus II, 55 B.C.
Vespasian and the Jewish Rebels, A.D. 67
Islamic Invaders	116	(9)
Ikhshidids and Abbasids A.D. 940
Ikhshidids and Hamdanids, A.D. 946
Fatimids and Byzantium, A.D. 975
The Coming of the Crusaders	125	(17)
Maudud and the Crusaders, A.D. 1113
Saladin and the Crusaders, A.D. 1182-83, 1187
The Fifth Crusade, A.D. 1217
Ayyubids and Crusaders, A.D. 1247
Dreams of Glory	142	(22)
Mamlukes and Mongols, A.D. 1260
Mamlukes and Crusaders, A.D. 1263-64
Zahir al-`Umar and the Nablus-Saqr Alliance, A.D. 1735-73
Napoleon at Mount Tabor, A.D. 1799
The Struggle for Survival	164	(13)
The War of Independence, A.D. 1948
The Six-Day War, A.D. 1967
The Yom Kippur War, A.D. 1973
The Battle between Good and Evil	177	(12)
Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley at Armageddon
Notes	189	(20)
Bibliography	209	(18)
Index	227