Archeologists have uncovered new evidence that confirms the location of one of the bible’s most dramatic battles: Armageddon.

The Book of Chronicles recounts the killing of King Josiah by Egyptian Pharaoh Necho at Megiddo in northern Israel in 609 BCE.

A clue that confirms the story is the amount and type of Egyptian pottery discovered at the site.

The Hebrew phrase “Armageddon,” often used in the context of the End of Days, has this battle as its source.

The artifacts were found in a building constructed not long before the incident was thought to have taken place.

Archaeologists identified the pottery as being from the Nile Valley and as being functional rather than ornate.

Assaf Kleiman, a co-researcher from Haifa University, remarked, “This isn’t finely decorated tableware, so it’s difficult to argue that someone at Megiddo—whether a deportee or a surviving Israelite—suddenly developed a preference for inferior Egyptian pottery and chose to bring it into their home.”

The conclusion was that the Egyptian army brought the pottery and then left it behind.

Although the archaeological evidence does not detail Josiah’s death, it does seem to confirm the presence of Egyptians in Megiddo when the event occurred, as indicated in the bible.

“Megiddo is the only site in Israel and the neighboring countries mentioned in the bible and in all great records of the Ancient Near East,” said Prof. Israel Finkelstein, head of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa.

King Josiah’s goal was to cause Judah to repair the Temple. He met Necho as the latter was on his way to aid the Assyrians and traveled through Judah, where the two armies fought.

It was only recently, as excavations of Megiddo began between 2016 and 2022, that evidence of Josiah’s death was discovered at the site.

Image - UWI/courtesy