1812-1813 Matthew Adams – Digging Megiddo 2022

Megiddo Prison mosaic with the inscription, “The God loving Aketous has offered this altar to the God Jesus Christ as a memorial.”

Megiddo is a legendary site for biblical archaeology. It was a major site for biblical archaeology when the University of Chicago excavated there almost 100 years ago. It was also the site upon which James Michener loosely based his historical novel, The Source.

Matthew Adams directs the Jezreel Valley Regional Project and is co-director (with Israel Finkelstein) of the current excavations at Megiddo. In this 2-part interview he brings us up-to-date on the just-concluded 2022 Megiddo excavation, and also reports on what’s happening archaeologically in the Jezreel Valley.

For instance, between Tel Megiddo and Megiddo Prison (a couple of miles east at Megiddo Junction) lies a huge second and third century Roman Legion base, the largest in the eastern Mediterranean. And this year, a legionnaires’ amphitheater was excavated in that area (reported in the latest issue of ARTIFAX). The prison itself is the site of historically important mosaics excavated a couple of decades ago (photo). He brings us up to date on what’s happening there.