Archaeologists Reveal Unusual Ritual Objects from Ancient Biblical Cult at Armageddon Site

Archaeologists with the Israel Antiquities Authority recently announced the discovery of ritual artifacts and a 5,000-year-old rock-hewn winepress near Tel Megiddo, in Israel’s Jezreel Valley. The finds—unearthed during work adjacent to Highway 66—span from the Early Bronze Age to the Late Bronze Age, illuminating daily life and worship practices associated with the Canaanite city remembered in Scripture as Armageddon (Har Megiddo).

Researchers described intact and intentionally buried objects from about 3,300 years ago, including a miniature shrine model, storage jars, imported juglets, and animal-shaped vessels likely used for libations. The placement and preservation suggest a popular folk cult operating outside the main sacred precinct—perhaps a way for farmers living beyond city walls to bring offerings of wine, oil, or other produce.

Taken together with the ancient winepress—the oldest such facility yet identified in Israel—the assemblage points to an early local wine industry and to long-standing ritual life in the Megiddo hinterland. Officials say the discoveries add another layer to the complex history of a site that has yielded evidence of armies, empires, and worship over millennia.

(FOX/VFI News)

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