MEGIDDO (me-gYd'do), (Heb.171,?, meg-id-do'; in Zech. xii:11, 111:1'?, meg•-id-donc', place of troops).
A town belonging to Manasseh,although within the boundaries of Issachar (Josh. xvii:t t). It had been originally one of the royal cities of the Canaanites (Josh. xii:2i), and was one of those of which the Israelites were unable for a long time to gain actual possession. Megiddo was rebuilt and fortified by Solomon (t Kings ix:15), and thither Ahaziah king of Judah fled when wounded by Jehu, and died there (2 Kings ix:27). It was in the battle near this place that Josiah was slain by Pharaoh-necho (2 Kings xxiii:2g, 30 ; 2 011-011. XXXV :20-25). P1-0111 the great mourning held for his loss, it became pro verbial to compare any grievous mourning to it, as 'like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the val ley of Megiddon' (Zech.
'The waters of Megiddo' are inentioned in Judg. v:ig; and are probably those formed by the river Kishon. Eusebius and Jerome do not attempt to mark the situation of the place, and it appears that the name Megiddo was in their thne already lost. They often mention a town called Legio, which must in their day have been an important and well-known place, as they assume it as a central point from which to mark the position of several other places in this quarter. This has
heen identified with the village now called Lej jun, which is situated upon the western border of the great plain of Esdraelon, where it bygins to rise gently towards the low range of wooded hills that connect Carmel with the mountains of Sa maria. This place was visited by Maundrell, who speaks of it as an old village near a brook, with a khan then in good repair (Journey, March 22). This khan was for the accommodation of the caravan on the route between Egypt and Damascus, which passes here. Having already identified the present village of Taannuk with the ancient Taanach, the vicinity of this to Lejjun induced Dr. Robinson to conceive that the latter might be the ancient Megiddo, seeing that Taanach and Megiddo are constantly named to gether in Scripture. (Conder places it at Khurbet el-Mujedda, ten miles southeast from Jezreel.)