The Battles of Armageddon: Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley from the Bronze Age to the Nuclear Age [Hardcover]

Eric H. Cline (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 7, 2000

WINNER
>   Best Popular Book on Archaeology
        --Biblical Archaeology Society

Apocalypse. Judgment Day. The End Time. Armageddon. Students of the Bible know it as the place where the cataclysmic battle between the forces of good and the forces of evil will unfold. Many believe that this battle will take place in the very near future. But few know that Armageddon is a real place--one that has seen more fighting and bloodshed than any other spot on earth.

The name Armageddon is a corruption of the Hebrew phrase Har Megiddo, and it means "Mount of Megiddo." More than thirty bloody conflicts have been fought at the ancient site of Megiddo and adjacent areas of the Jezreel Valley during the past four thousand years. Egyptians, Israelites, Greeks, Muslims, Crusaders, Mongols, British, Germans, Arabs, and Israelis have all fought and died here. The names of the warring leaders reverberate throughout history: Thutmose III, Deborah, Gideon, Saul and Jonathan, Jezebel, Saladin, Napoleon, and Allenby, to name but the most famous. Throughout history Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley have been ground zero for battles that determined the very course of civilization. No wonder that the author of Revelation believed Armageddon, the penultimate battle between good and evil, would also take place here!

The Battles of Armageddon introduces readers to a rich cast of ancient and modern warriors, while bringing together for the first time the wide range of conflicts that have been fought at Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley from the Bronze Age to the Nuclear Age.

Eric H. Cline has participated in more than seventeen seasons of excavation and survey in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Greece, and the United States. He is currently a Senior Staff Archaeologist at the ongoing excavations of Megiddo.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A creative look at the eventful history of warfare in ancient Israel seen from the strategic vantage point of Megiddo." -- Biblical Archaeology Review

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press (November 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0472097393
• ISBN-13: 978-0472097395
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #426,008 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #19 in Books > History > Middle East > Jordan

More About the Author

A three-time winner of the Biblical Archaeology Society's "Best Popular Book on Archaeology" Award (2001, 2009, and 2011) and a popular lecturer, DR. ERIC H. CLINE is Chair of the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and Director of the Capitol Archaeological Institute at The George Washington University, where he has also won both national and local awards for his teaching and his research. A former Fulbright scholar with degrees from Dartmouth, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania, he is an active field archaeologist with 28 seasons of excavation and survey experience in Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Cyprus, Greece, Crete, and the United States, including eight seasons at the site of Megiddo (biblical Armageddon) in Israel, where he is the Associate Director (USA), and several seasons at Tel Kabri, where he is Co-Director. He is the author or editor of 11 books, almost 100 articles, and three recorded 14-lecture courses; his books written specifically for the general public include "The Battles of Armageddon: Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley from the Bronze Age to the Nuclear Age" (2000), "Jerusalem Besieged: From Ancient Canaan to Modern Israel" (2004), "From Eden to Exile: Unraveling Mysteries of the Bible" (2007), and "Biblical Archaeology: A Very Short Introduction" (2009). He has also now co-authored a children's book on Troy, entitled "Digging for Troy" (2011). For a video of his "Last Lecture" talk, go to http://vimeo.com/7091059 (cut and paste the link).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars History in miniature, March 14, 2001

By 

Atheen M. Wilson "Atheen" (Mpls, MN United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Battles of Armageddon: Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley from the Bronze Age to the Nuclear Age (Hardcover)

History is a slight of hands artist of sorts. It tends to focus ones attention on the flashy action center stage while more important events are often happening in the wings. Its spotlight brings out in high relief the massive endeavor of the pyramids, the power and grandeur of the Roman empire, the longevity of Chinese culture, or the blood rituals of the Aztecs. In doing so it tends to neglect the margins, places where cultural synthesis and mere survival of local polities brings the real issues of life during the time into sharper focus. Eric Cline is a master at redirecting ones attention to precisely these issues of history. In The Battles of Armageddon he chronicles the "life" history of a region that was for most of that history on the margins of the action in the Middle East and in the world.

The Jezreel Valley and ancient Megiddo, the Armageddon of Revelation, are brought to center stage in this well researched and thoroughly entertaining book. Here the armies of the world have fought battles deciding the course of human history, and here too it is suggested that the final battle between good and evil will be fought in the future. All tolled, some 34 major battles have been fought in this valley, often if not usually between combatants who are foreign to the area.

In documenting the drama of conflict that has played itself out on this valley floor, Professor Cline has examined a wide variety of data recording human events in the area. He discusses the records of ancient Egypt, the Biblical texts, the cuneiform documents of Anatolia, Assyria, Babylonia, and Persia, the written material of both the Moslem and the Christian participants of the Crusades, French documentation of the Napoleonic wars in the Middle East, the Allenby diaries, letters, etc. for the World War I conflict with the Ottoman Empire, and the more recent evidence for the Arab-Israeli conflicts in the area. In short, he addresses an impressive collection of data and with it constructs an absorbing "biography" of the region, and in doing so brings the history of the world itself into sharper focus.

I found Cline's willingness to entertain alternative proposals for events of the Israelite conquest of the Levant particularly impressive. He does not seem wedded to any particular theme or version of early Biblical history, a fact which gives one confidence in his critical judgment with respect to early documents, both Biblical and extra-Biblical. Where he is uncertain of the order of or veracity of events or their documentation, he is willing to say as much. There is no effort to make the evidence appear more concrete than it is. He also seems to have no preferred "side" in the Arab-Israeli conflict at least as a historian and archaeologist--whether he has one as an individual is his own business. The author also sticks to historical information and its interpretation and only introduces archaeological data where it is pertinent to the discussion. He doesn't burden the amateur enthusiast with more detail than they are willing or able to imbibe. In short he doesn't slow down the "story" of the Jezreel which makes the volume more readable.

Although I certainly found the earlier history of the Valley of interest--my degree is in ancient history--I actually found Professor Cline's treatment of the era of the Crusades more engaging because I learned more. I also enjoyed the discussion of General Allenby's possible foreknowledge of the war between Thutmose III and the Canaanites at Megiddo an excellent demonstration of good historic detective work. (It was definitely a good illustration of the value of a thorough knowledge of history.) The bibliography of The Battles of Armageddon is a veritable who's who of historical and archaeological research since the 19th century, including authors of topical works, of edited collections and encyclopedias, and of journal articles. For anyone with a specific interest this would definitely be a good starting point for the pursuit of information on tangential topics. I will probably use it to help fill in my knowledge of the Crusades. Without doubt this book would appeal to anyone with an interest in history, particularly that of the Levant or of peripheral areas in general, or in political and military history. One might even use it to teach world history, as so many of the main "players" in the events of human activity have passed through this valley and left their mark on it. Definitely a work worth reading.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good short book on Megiddo's History, January 6, 2005

By 

Fabian Boudville (BC, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Battles of Armageddon: Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley from the Bronze Age to the Nuclear Age (Paperback)

Professor Eric Cline's book here is one of the best works on the bloody and conflict ridden history of the City of Megiddo and its accompanying region, the Valley of Jezreel. Cline demonstrates how easily the name Megiddo had already been corrupted into Har Megiddo(or Mount of Megiddo) by the Roman era. This explains how it was later transcribed as 'Armageddon' by John The Apostle, who wrote the Book of Revelations. Cline documents the more than 30 battles which have raged in or around the Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley and chronicles many of the most decisive wars in history that occured here such as Napoleon's defeat of the Ottoman Turks at Aboukhir(July 1799) in the vicinity of..you guessed it! Megiddo, Sheshonq I's(the Biblical Shishak) assault against, and capture of, the Ancient Israelite cities of Beth Shan, Taanach and Megiddo in 925 BC which are all located in the same general area, Pharaoh Tuthmose III's stunning victory over the Prince of Kadesh at Megiddo in 1458 BC, and how more than three thousand and three hundred years later, the First World War British General Edward Allenby proceeded to virtually copy Tuthmose III's battle plan at Megiddo, catching the Ottoman Turks completely off guard in September 1918. The happy result, for Allenby, was the complete destruction of the Turkish Army in Northern Palestine and Syria, just 2 months before the end of World War One.

Professor Cline's excellent prose helps to explain why this book won the Biblical Archaeology Society's Award for the best New Book on Archaeology in 2001. Cline's view of the main reason why John decided to locate the Final Battle between Good and Evil at Armageddon--the same site where the last 'good' king of Judah, Josiah, fell in battle against Pharaoh Necho II in 609 BC--is quite persuasive. Equally intriguing is Cline's observation that the battle at Armageddon between Good and Evil was actually the penultimate(second last) battle in this series since a thousand years after this aforementioned battle, the Forces of Good and Evil will arise once again to do battle for the last time. However, this time the location was Jerusalem itself, as John writes in Revelations.

Cline's book makes an invaluable contribution towards our understanding of the strategic location of Megiddo as the gateway into both Syria and into the heart of Israel/Palestine; hence, its troubled history. As an Aside, Cline also documents the desperate struggles between Modern day Israel and the Arab states for control of this same area during the Wars of 1948 and 1967 where a breakthrough by the latter would have spelled disaster for the Jewish state.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read It!, February 26, 2001

By 

Alice Hunt Hudiburg (Bethesda, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Battles of Armageddon: Megiddo and the Jezreel Valley from the Bronze Age to the Nuclear Age (Hardcover)

For anyone interested in battles, ancient and contemporary, this book is for you. Cline invites those interested in the site of Armageddon as well as military history buffs into the world and circumstances of the Jezreel Valley. Destined to be a classic on ancient battles.