Antiquity Tel Megiddo is considered one of the most ancient settlements in the Middle East. It guarded the western branch of a narrow pass and trade route connecting
Ancient Egypt and Assyria. The site was inhabited from approximately 7000 BCE to 586 BCE. The first significant remains date to the
Chalcolithic period (4500–3500 BCE). The town experienced a decline in the Early Bronze-Age IV period (2300–2000 BCE), The city was somewhat revived around 2000 BCE. Following massive construction, the town reached its largest size in the
Middle Bronze Age, at 10–12 hectares. Though the city was subjugated by
Thutmose III, it still prospered, and a massive and highly elaborate palace was constructed in the
Late Bronze Age.
Iron Age (biblical era) The city was destroyed around 1150 BCE. The area was resettled by what some scholars have identified as early Israelites, before being replaced with an unwalled Philistine town. When the Israelites captured it, it became an important city. It was destroyed, possibly by Aramaean raiders, and rebuilt, this time as an administrative center for
Tiglath-Pileser III's occupation of Samaria. Its importance soon dwindled, and it was abandoned around 586 BCE. Since that time, Megiddo has remained uninhabited. Surviving ruins pre-dating 586 BCE have had no new settlements to
disturb the ruins. Since then, the town of
Lajjun, not to be confused with the el-Lajjun archaeological site in Jordan, was built near the site, but without any new habitation or disturbance of the tell itself.
Ottoman period During the
Ottoman Period, Lajjun was the capital of
Turabay Emirate (1517-1683), which encompassed the
Jezreel Valley,
Mount Carmel,
Beit She'an Valley, northern
Samaria,
Ramot Menashe, the northern part of the
Sharon plain. It was the center of an eponymous
Sanjak (district) and one of
Palestine' provincial
Capitals during the
16th century. Around 1600, the seat of the Turabays moved to
Jenin.
First World War The
Battle of Megiddo was fought during
World War I. Allied troops, led by General
Edmund Allenby fought a defending Ottoman army near the site of the ancient ruin.
State of Israel The kibbutz was founded on 2 February 1949 by a
gar'in of
Holocaust survivors from
Hungary and
Poland In 1952 a gar'in of
migrants from
Lebanon and
Mexico joined the kibbutz. In 1959, another gar'in of migrants from
Argentina arrived. In the next few years more gar'ins joined and youth organizations volunteered in the kibbutz, but the population did not grow as members left the kibbutz. The kibbutz is featured in a popular Israeli children's story about a puppy named Pluto from Kibbutz Megiddo. The kibbutz had problems developing demographically and economically. The number of residents remained low, with a high turnover of residents until the late 1990s. In November 2000, due to demographic problems and economic instability, members of the kibbutz decided to change the communal lifestyle and structure of the kibbutz in a way that every member is now responsible for his or her own livelihood and the kibbutz provides only some welfare services. Also, the members of the kibbutz decided to transfer the ownership of the housing units and businesses from the kibbutz to the residents. In 2007, two new neighbourhoods were built on the western and northern parts of the kibbutz, with 108 housing units. ==Twin towns – sister cities==