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Neolithic Megiddo refers to the very early phases of human occupation at the site of Tel Megiddo, (in modern-day northern Israel), 30 kilometres SE of Haifa
Archaeological evidence shows that people first settled Megiddo during the pre-pottery neolithic. Long before it became the famous bronze and iron Age city, known from bible and Egyptian records.

Megiddo has a strategic location, at the crossing of two military, and trade routes
Aruna Pass, Wadi Ara, or Megiddo Pass was an entrance to one of the few trails through the Carmel mountains. Overlooking the Jezreel Valley, it was a key crossroads between Egypt, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and the Levant.

Houses were rectangular and mudbrick
There were storage pits, similar to other neolithic Levantine sites. And, probably some semi-sub terranean huts too.

Farming included emmer wheat, barley, lentils, and peas. And, they herded goats, sheep; and, later cattle; and, pigs.

They had many flint tools, sickle blades, and grinding stones. By the pottery neolithic period, some of the earliest in the region has been identified
It represents one of the earliest agricultural villages in the southern Levant.

Some human burials beneath house floors have been found
A common neolithic practice linking ancestors to households.

Did you know? Tel Megiddo is also a national park

Later, in the biblical period, the site became one of the most important cities in Canaan; and, Israel
Canaanite city-states gathered here to rebel against Egyptian domination.

Notable findings also include stables attributed to King Solomon, temples; and, a sophisticated water system

More than 25 archaeological layers have been identified

The oldest site of Christian worship in the world? A beautifully preserved floor dedicated to the worship of “god Jesus christ” has been found
It is one of the only sites in the Levant mentioned in all great records of the ancient near east. Including old and new testaments; Egyptian; Assyrian; and, Hittite sources.

Neolithic Megiddos strategic location kept it important for multiple millennia
It was essentially an early farming village, built on the same mound that would later become one of the most famous cities of the ancient Near East. Check it out with some more neolithic architecture today!

Bibliography: Golden, Jonathan M., 2004. Ancient Canaan and Israel: New Perspectives (http://www.amas.hk/pdf/shengjingshenxue/Ancient%20Canaan%20and%20Israel%20New%20Perspectives%20
(Jonathan%20M.%20Golden)%20(z-lib.org).pdf), ABC-CLIO, Library of Congress, Santa Barbara-California

The Megiddo Expedition (https://megiddoexpedition.wordpress.com/)

“UNESCO World Heritage Centre – Document – Tel Megiddo National Park” (https://whc.unesco.org/en/documents/9642)

Adams, Matthew J., Israel Finkelstein, and David Ussishkin, (2014). “The Great Temple of Early Bronze I Megiddo” (https://www.ajaonline.org/field-report/1766), in American Journal of Archaeology Vol. 118, No. 2, April, pp. 285–305

Sapir-Hen, Lidar, Deirdre N. Fulton, Matthew J. Adams, and Israel Finkelstein, (2022). “The Temple and the Town at Early Bronze Age I Megiddo: Faunal Evidence for the Emergence of Complexity” (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/718777), in Bulletin of ASOR, Volume 387, May 2022, Abstract: “…faunal assemblages from…Megiddo, a cult site, and Tel Megiddo East, a town site…are dated to the Early Bronze Age IB (EB IB; 3090–2950 b.c.e.), at the dawn of urbanization in the Near East.”