The term Armageddon has been synonymous with the ‘end of times’ for many years as it is where the final battle between good and evil is said to take place
The concept of Armageddon, widely recognised as the ultimate showdown between good and evil in the ‘end times’, has been further etched into public consciousness by the 1998 blockbuster starring Bruce Willis.
The film depicted a catastrophic asteroid on a collision course with Earth.
For centuries there has been talk of an epic battle involving Judaean King Josiah, who some say was a descendant of Jesus and met his end fighting the forces of Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II at a site called Megiddo.
While this historic clash is referenced in the Bible, concrete evidence had eluded historians until now. A new study in the Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament presents findings that suggest Ancient Egyptians were indeed present at Tel Megiddo in Northern Israel.
Dr Assaf Kleiman, an archaeologist and co-author of the study, revealed: “We have found high quantities of crude and straw-tempered pottery vessels imported from Egypt, as well as a few East Greek vessels.”
He, along with Dr Israel Finkelstein of the University of Haifa and Tel Aviv University, suggests that these Greek pots indicate the presence of mercenaries from that region in the Egyptian military.
“This scenario may be linked to the biblical account about the killing of King Josiah of Judah by Pharaoh Necho at Megiddo in 609 BC,” Finkelstein remarked. “The Bible recounts the death of Josiah at Megiddo in two places.”, reports the Mirror US.
“He’s killed by Necho during an encounter at Megiddo in the Book of Kings, and killed in a battle with the Egyptians in the Book of Chronicles. On this background, the new evidence for an Egyptian garrison, possibly with Greek mercenaries, at Megiddo in the late seventh century BC, may provide the background to the event.”
Lad Bible reports that the term Armageddon is mentioned in the Book of Revelation as follows: “And they (demons) gathered the kings and armies of the world together at the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon (Armageddon).”
An early Greek Bible translation reveals ‘Har-Magedon’ as the site where King Josiah is believed to have met his end. His demise is also recorded in the preceding Book of Kings, and over time, Armageddon has become synonymous with cataclysmic battles in common parlance.
The clash and subsequent death of King Josiah were monumental at the time and could explain why Tel Megiddo is shrouded in apocalyptic lore.
Finkelstein asserted to LiveScience that Josiah was viewed as a devout leader and the notion of an Armageddon event only emerged posthumously. The scientist posits that this naturally progressed into a belief in a climactic showdown between good and evil at the site where the king met his end at the hands of the Egyptians.
