Eric Cline | Digging Up Armageddon: Chicago's Search for the Lost City of Solomon

The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures
The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures
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Published 2021-11-17
Presented by Eric Cline, Professor of Classical and Ancient Near Eastern Studies and of Anthropology; Director of the GWU Capitol Archaeological Institute

The numerous publications produced by the Chicago excavators who dug at Megiddo from 1925-39 are still held in high regard – both used and debated -- by archaeologists working in the region today. However, these provide virtually no insight into the daily activities of the team members or the stories behind their discoveries, including what are still commonly called “Solomon’s Stables.” Fortunately, they also left behind more than three decades worth of letters, cablegrams, cards, and notes, as well as their diaries, that are now in the archives of the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures. There are also additional materials in the archives of the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Rockefeller Foundation, as well as other material that is in the hands of the team members’ descendants and other family members. Digging through these materials provides a glimpse behind the scenes, including intrigues, infighting, romance, and dogged perseverance over the years, situated against the backdrop of the Great Depression in the United States as well as the growing troubles and tensions in British Mandate Palestine between the two world wars. Based on the new book entitled Digging Up Armageddon by the speaker, some of the more interesting details will be shared in this lecture, including the fact that the excavations almost ended just one week after they began; that they paid rent for the excavated land to the wrong people for the first three years; that team members included a high school dropout and a possible spy for the Haganah; and that they were the first, or among the first, to use a Munsell color chart and balloon photography on an excavation in the Near East.

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2021, ISAC
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All Comments (21)
  • @karencorsi3181
    Fantastic historian and story teller. A thrill to listen to.
  • @Paul-vk3gh
    A man who needs no introduction... He gives a flattering one himself.
  • @annepoitrineau5650
    Every time I attend one of the OI's Youtube conferences, I am blown away and Eric Cline is wonderful!
  • @redcossack245
    What an amazing journey you describe. Thanks so much for doing archaeology in the OI archives!
  • @parrotraiser6541
    I've been to Megiddo. The site's very interesting, but I had no idea the story of the excavation was equally dramatic. The one thing I couldn't determine was exactly which valley was the one Thutmoses used. I suspect there may have been widening for roads.
  • @SimonSozzi7258
    This should be good. This guy gives great talks on the Sea Peoples. Good stuff.
  • @geraldlevin5141
    Interesting! Thanks. Armageddon event! I received sensitive information in Egypt & went to London Commonwealth Office (LCO) in July 1997. I was thanked & appointed to a Commonwealth project; 'To facilitate Israel joining the Commonwealth, as planned in 1919'. 'To facilitate Israel's entry into Commonwealth'. I asked WHY? LCO replied that during World War 1 (WW1), 19-25 September 1918, this battle of Megiddo (Armageddon) was fought. So, LCO decided to establish Israel after WW1 had to establish Israel. The LCO bible interpretation was 1] Armageddon, 2] Messiah, 3] Israel established & 4] Israel to be 'A light unto the Nations'. In 1918, LCO decided that time for 4] had arrived. LCO established Trans-Jordan as Palestine (89%) in 1921. Israel would be on Cis-Jordan (21%). BUT in 1922 the League of Nations took over and did not establish Israel as planned. So, LCO decided that Armageddon was fought over 100 years ago & that perhaps the Messiah had also ''Been & Gone''. Thus, that Trans-Jordan would be the Palestinian state and Israel (Light to Nations) would be all of Cis-Jordan. Nobody can prove LCO wrong. League of Nations (LON) tried. But LON failed. Time for Archaeology to solve ''The Riddle of the Sands''🖖💯🖖 DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.14119.21926
  • @TSZatoichi
    Thanks for cutting out the first 20 minutes of blank air, this time I'll leave my cell phone on. 🙂 As I said on the original video, thank you for putting these lectures up on YT for all of us to enjoy for free, if I ever become wealthy enough to just give away money, the OI will be remembered.
  • @moodist1er
    The Merneptah Stele is probably talking about Megiddo as Jezreel, not Israel that didn't exist yet.