added by archaeologs A large tell on a natural hill in northern Palestine, a Biblical city. A town in the Early Bronze Age was built in the early 4th millennium BC and the site was sporadically occupied since the Neolithic and Chalcolithic. It became a great fortified center through its strategic position on the land route from Egypt to Mesopotamia and on the route that connected Phoenician cities with Jerusalem. Megiddo was captured by the Egyptian king Thutmose III about 1468 but survived frequent sackings down to c 350 BC. Notable finds include a hoard of 400 Phoenician ivories, a rock-cut shaft and a 65-meter passage to give the Canaanites access to a spring from inside the walls - all from the 13th century BC. To the 9th century BC belong a series of palace, shrine, and stable buildings created by the Israelites. The town was destroyed at the end of the 8th century BC and, although rebuilt, it declined into insignificance by the Hellenistic period.