Cult activity at Megiddo in the iron age: New evidence and a long-term perspective

In this article we present new data from our excavations at Megiddo, which shed light on the history of cult activity at the site in the Iron Age in particular, and on cult in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in general. The Megiddo data point to two major transformations. The first took place at the end of the late Iron Age I, in the 10^th cent. B.C.E., with the destruction of the central temple of the 2^nd mill. B.C.E. city. The second occurred in the beginning of the late Iron Age IIA, in the early 9^th cent. B.C.E., with a shift from a long-term tradition of buildings fully devoted to cult (temples) to cult practiced in restricted areas within prominent administrative buildings in the city.