BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Celebrating 100 Years of Megiddo Excavations

Special exhibit at Chicago’s ISAC Museum

Ivory plaque with a female sphinx holding a cup, discovered at Megiddo. Courtesy ISAC Museum.

Through March 15, 2026
Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (ISAC) Museum
Chicago, IL
isac.uchicago.edu

Since the shovel hit earth, excavations at the site of ancient Megiddo in northern Israel have, in many ways, defined biblical archaeology. With 2025 marking the centennial of the first major archaeological expedition to Megiddo, the ISAC Museum at the University of Chicago is marking the occasion with a special exhibit, Megiddo: A City Unearthed, A Past Imagined.

A major Canaanite and later Israelite city, Megiddo frequently played an important role in the stories and events of the Hebrew Bible. However, it is perhaps best remembered for its appearance in the New Testament’s Book of Revelation, as the infamous site of Armageddon. While this biblical history played a significant role in original dig director Clarence Fisher’s decision to excavate the site, those excavations went on to make their own history in establishing archaeological methods and approaches, as well as revealing a site far more fascinating than maybe even its original excavators could have anticipated.

Gold twin heads discovered at Megiddo, likely representations of the Egyptian goddess Hathor, with spoons. Courtesy ISAC Museum.

As Kiersten Neumann, curator of the exhibit, told Bible History Daily:

[This exhibit] marks the centennial of ISAC’s first major expedition, a project that laid the foundations of archaeology in the southern Levant. Over 14 seasons, the Megiddo Expedition uncovered 20 successive cities and created one of the most influential archaeological records of its time. But the story did not end on site. Through artifacts, archival records, and original newspapers and magazine features, this exhibition reveals how discoveries at Megiddo were transformed into headlines that captured global attention and shaped public understanding of the ancient Near East.

In addition to examining the artifacts uncovered in those early excavations, the exhibit explores the imagined world they created by presenting magazine covers and newspaper articles that tell the story of the excavation as it unfolded. Visitors also go behind the scenes to explore how finds were documented and circulated. Directors’ correspondence, archival photographs, and remarkable artifacts trace a century-long journey from excavation to exhibition.

A view of part of the Megiddo exhibit at the ISAC Museum. Courtesy ISAC Museum.

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