The ancient situation of Megiddo in northern Israel has been the survey of researcher for over a century , and yet seemingly it can still offer up up something newfangled , this time in the form of a 3,600 - year - old grave that possibly contain the remains of ancient royals .
An archaeologist ’s dream , Megiddo , now known as Tell el - Mutesellim , was once a Bronze Age metropolis - state of the Canaanite hoi polloi , a purple city of the Kingdom of Israel during the Iron Age , and most famously have intercourse under its Hellenic name , Armageddon . Yes , that Armageddon . The scriptural city where the battle to end all fight would be waged .
In the last 100 years , researchers have uncovered temples , palaces , and metropolis walls that date back from 3300 to 586 BCE . Now , they have establish a tomb untouched for 3,600 class that they think belonged to an elect or even Royal folk as it holds human remains and some seriously fancy artifacts , reports National Geographic .
The inhumation chamber was found next to the majestic palace ( first discovered in the 1930s ) via an underground handing over that researchers had n’t initially understand was there . It was only when they noticed dirt accrue through some wisecrack on the open of the dig land site that they investigated what lie in below .
In the grave they found the remains of what they conceive is a fellowship ; a man age between 40 and 60 , a woman in her 30s , and a youngster , thought to be around 8 or 10 eld older when they break down . All were adorned with gold and ash grey jewellery – rings , watchstrap , brooches , and pins . The man was swallow endure an impressive gold torsion and diadem . Other artifacts find in the tomb include carve ivories , ceramic crapper from Cyprus , and stone jar thought to come from Egypt . These were evidently citizenry of wealth .
“ We are speaking of an elect class inhumation because of the monumentality of the complex body part , the rich finds and because the burial is situate in propinquity to the royal castle , ” Israel Finkelstein , one of the archeologist who has been working on the site since the early 1990s , toldPhilippe Bohströmfor National Geographic .
Other bodies were found in the grave , revealing what the archaeologist call a two - form of ritual activity . The sr. six mortal were apparently push back to make path for the newer , richer three .
Now the researchers are planning to read the desoxyribonucleic acid of the “ royals ” and compare it with other clay determine at Megiddo to see if the origins of the city ’s ruling class were the same as its residents ' .
“ These field have the voltage to revolutionise what we know about the population of Canaan before the rise of the world of the Bible , ” Finkelstein order .
[ H / T : National Geographic ]
