Kibbutz Megiddo (al-Lajjun): Remains from the Hellenistic–Mamluk Periods / קיבוץ מגידו (א־לג'ון): שרידים מהתקופות ההלניסטית עד הממלוכית

The excavation at Kibbutz Megiddo revealed eight strata dating to the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Umayyad, Abbasid, Crusader and Mamluk periods, as well as a modern stratum. The remains indicate an almost continuous sequence of settlement at the site from the third century BCE to the present. For the first time, remains dated to the Hellenistic, Early, Middle and Late Islamic periods are documented in the Legio-Megiddo region. The Roman finds likely represent a settlement in the vicinity of the Roman legion base and the Jewish village of Kefar ‘Othnay. Its inhabitants maintained trade connections with nearby settlements and urban centers throughout the periods, both within the region and beyond. These finds complement those from previous excavations at Kibbutz Megiddo and its vicinity, as well as historical sources, which identify the site with Maximianopolis—a city of the late Roman and Byzantine periods; Le Lyon—an estate or village from the Crusader period; and al-Lajjun—a town or village from the early Islamic period that continued through the Mamluk and Ottoman periods.