New historical proof from the ancient city of Megiddo– the place of the end of the world “Armageddon” in the Book of Revelation– supports the scriptural story of an Israelite king and Egyptian pharaoh clashing there more than 2,600 years earlier.

According to the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament(which are somewhat various collections of ancient Hebrew works), the Kingdom of Judah‘s King Josiah faced the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II at Megiddo in 609 B.C. Now, an analysis of ancient pottery pieces suggests that Megiddo was undoubtedly inhabited by the Egyptians at that time, Israel Finkelsteinan archaeologist at the University of Haifa and Tel Aviv University, informed Live Science.

Finkelstein is the lead author of a research study explaining the finds, which was released Jan. 28 in The Scandinavian Journal of the Old TestamentHe stated in an e-mail that great deals of Egyptian pottery pieces had actually been found along with Greek pottery pieces in a layer dating to the late seventh century– a time when Egypt typically used Greek mercenaries together with Egyptian soldiers. The scientists identified the origins of the pieces by analyzing the kind of clay and their design.

The pieces support the scriptural accounts that Egyptian forces were at Megiddo throughout Josiah’s reign. The findings aren’t direct proof that Josiah was at the fight. If he existed, as the Bible states, it’s uncertain if Josiah passed away from injuries he ‘d suffered throughout a fight versus the Egyptians at Megiddo, or if he was carried out there as a vassal of the pharaoh. Josiah’s death was later on stated to predict the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. to the Neo-Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar II, whose forces damaged the First Temple, likewise referred to as Solomon’s Temple.

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ArchaeologistAssaf Kleimanof Ben-Gurion University, a research study co-author, informed Live Science in an e-mail that the fight in between the 2 rulers was explained in a different way in 2 various locations in the Bible. “The Josiah-Necho event at Megiddo in 609 BCE is described in the Bible twice: as an execution in a short chronistic verse in Kings and as a decisive battle in Chronicles,” he stated. The Book of Kings was composed near to the time of the reported occasions, however the Book of Chronicles was made up centuries later on, so the account in the Book of Kings was more dependable, he stated.

The finds show that Egyptian soldiers were stationed there with a contingent of Greek mercenaries when the scriptural King Josiah of Judea was eliminated in 609 B.C.

Ancient city

The ruins of Megiddo are now in a national forest about 18 miles(30 kilometers )southeast of Haifa. Megiddo was a tactically crucial city at a crossroads on trade and military paths, and it was inhabited at various times by Canaanites, Israelites, Assyrians, Egyptians and Persians. Lots of excellent fights took place at Megiddo, and its name motivated the word “Armageddon”– the place of an end of the world prophesied in the New Testament’s Book of Revelationwhich now refers usually to the concept of completion of the world.

Excavations at Megiddo have actually uncovered more than 20 historical layers given that the 1920s. The layer with Egyptian and Greek pottery pieces explained in the current research study is amongst a number of layers that date from after 732 B.C., when records show Megiddo was dominated by the Neo-Assyrians under their king Tiglath-Pileser III. According to the Bible, the northern kingdom of Israel was up to the Neo-Assyrians about 10 years later on, followed by the expulsion of the “10 tribes” or “lost tribes” of Israel.

The lots of pieces of Greek pottery discovered at Megiddo recommend a contingent of Greek mercenaries were stationed there together with Egyptian soldiers.

Fight or execution

There is argument amongst academics whether the encounter in between Josiah and Necho at Megiddo in 609 B.C. was really a fight, or if Necho had actually simply performed his vassal Josiah there– to put it simply, whether the southern Israelite kingdom of Judah was secondary to Egypt at that time. The Bible does not tape this, however history and archaeology show Egypt took control of the area after 630 B.C. as Neo-Assyrian power decreased.

Historian Jacob Wrighta teacher of Hebrew Bible at Emory University who was not associated with the research study, informed Live Science that Josiah had actually most likely taken a trip from Jerusalem to Megiddo to admire Necho however was performed there for an unidentified factor.

Wright and Reinhard Kratza historian at the University of Göttingen in Germany who was likewise not associated with the research study, both kept in mind that the pertinent verse in the Book of Kings states just that Josiah took a trip to Megiddo and was “put to death” there– which absolutely nothing was blogged about a fight till more than 100 years later on in the Book of Chronicles.

The authors of the brand-new research study, too, beware about the scenarios of Josiah’s death.

Finkelstein kept in mind that Josiah was thought about a remarkably pious king, which the concept of “Armageddon” had actually just started after his death. This recommends Josiah’s death had actually caused predictions that the end of the world in between the forces of God and the forces of evil would happen where he passed away, Finkelstein stated.

Editor’s note: This short article was upgraded at 9:28 a.m. ET to properly associate a quote discussing that the Josiah-Necho occasion at Megiddo is explained two times in the Bible. That quote was stated by archaeologist Assaf Kleiman of Ben-Gurion University, not by Israel Finkelstein, an archaeologist at the University of Haifa and Tel Aviv University.

Tom Metcalfe is a self-employed reporter and routine Live Science factor who is based in London in the United Kingdom. Tom composes primarily about science, area, archaeology, the Earth and the oceans. He has actually likewise composed for the BBC, NBC News, National Geographic, Scientific American, Air & & Space, and lots of others.