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Bible Encyclopedias
Megiddo
Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature
or Megid´do, in , a town belonging to Manasseh, although within the boundaries of Issachar (). It had been originally one of the royal cities of the Canaanites (), and was one of those of which the Israelites were unable for a long time to gain actual possession. Megiddo was rebuilt and fortified by Solomon (), and thither Ahaziah king of Judah fled when wounded by Jehu, and died there (). It was in the battle near this place that Josiah was slain by Pharaoh-Necho (; ). From the great mourning held for his loss, it became proverbial to compare any grievous mourning as being 'like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon' (). 'The waters of Megiddo' are mentioned in; and are probably those formed by the River Kishon. Eusebius and Jerome do not attempt to mark the situation of the place, and it appears that the name Megiddo was in their time already lost. They often mentioned a town called Legio, which must in their day have been an important and well-known place, as they assume it as a central point from which to mark the position of several other places in this quarter. This has been identified with the village now called Lejjun, which is situated upon the western border of the great Plain of Esdraelon, where it begins to rise gently towards the low range of wooded hills that connect Carmel with the mountains of Samaria. This place was visited by Maundrell, who speaks of it as an old village near a brook, with a khan then in good repair. This khan was for the accommodation of the caravan on the route between Egypt and Damascus, which passes here. Having already identified the present village of Taannuk with the ancient Taanach, the vicinity of this to Lejjun induced Dr. Robinson to conceive that the latter might be the ancient Megiddo, seeing that Taanach and Megiddo are constantly named together in Scripture; and to this a writer in a German review adds the further consideration that the name of Legio was latterly applied to the plain, or low valley along the Kishon, as that of Megiddo had been in more ancient times. If this explanation be accepted, and it is certainly probable, though not certain, it only remains to conclude that the ancient Legio was not founded by the Romans, but that this was a new name imposed upon a still older place, which, like the names Neapolis (now Nabulus) and Sebaste (now Sebûstieh), has maintained itself in the mouths of the native population, while the earlier name has perished.
Public Domain.
Kitto, John, ed. Entry for 'Megiddo'. "Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature". https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/kbe/m/megiddo.html.
