Overview
Two groups of long tripartite pillared buildings found on Tel Megiddo by the University of Chicago expedition: a southern compound of five units facing a 55 m courtyard with a central water tank, and a northern group. In each unit a central lime-plastered passage is flanked by rubble-floored aisles, separated by rows of stone pillars alternating with stone troughs.
Lamon and Shipton (Megiddo I, 1939) read them as stables for about 450 horses: the pillars had holes cut at the corners just above the troughs, which they took as tethering holes. They assigned them to Stratum IV (ca. 1000-800 BCE) and to Solomon, using the chariot figures in Kings and Chronicles to argue for three-horse chariot teams.
The identification as stables and the Solomonic date have both been questioned. Finkelstein's 2025 treatment frames Megiddo of the 8th century BCE as a 'horse industry city'.
What the evidence shows
- Southern compound: five units facing a courtyard 55 m on a side, overall 64 x 85 m, with a water tank near the courtyard's centre (Lamon & Shipton 1939, p. 32).
- Rows of stone pillars alternating with stone troughs c. 1.2 x 0.6 x 0.7 m; holes cut through pillar corners just above the troughs, 'almost invariably on the side toward the central passage' (Lamon & Shipton, pp. 32-44).
- Central passages lime-plastered; side aisles floored with rubble (pp. 32-44).
- Excavators' capacity estimate: about 450 horses for both groups; the counts per unit are the excavators' reconstruction (pp. 43-44).
- No inscription or text found with the buildings.
Open questions
- Function: Lamon & Shipton (1939) identify stables from troughs, tie-holes and rubble stall floors; Cantrell (The Horsemen of Israel, 2011, ch. 5 'Stables of Israel: The Case of Megiddo') and Finkelstein (NEA 88.3, 2025, 'Horse Industry City') keep the horse interpretation in their titles; Franklin ('Entering the Arena: The Megiddo Stables Reconsidered', 2017) and Davies ('Solomonic Stables at Megiddo After All?', PEQ 1988) re-examined the question. The texts of these later studies, and the storehouse alternative the old entry mentions, have not been reviewed for this entry, so their specific evidence is not reported here.
- Date: Lamon & Shipton assign Stratum IV to ca. 1000-800 BCE and to Solomon on the strength of 1 Kings; Finkelstein (2025) places the horse complex in the 8th c. BCE. The stratigraphic arguments of the later studies have not been reviewed for this entry; only titles, venues and dates were verified.
Since 2024
- 2025-06Liverani published a comparative study of Iron II stables from Melid, Bastam and Megiddo. [6]
- 2025-09Finkelstein, 'Horse Industry City: Eighth-Century BCE Megiddo' (NEA 88.3) treats the Megiddo horse complex as 8th-century BCE. [5]
Sources
- Robert S. Lamon and Geoffrey M. Shipton, Megiddo I: Seasons of 1925-34, Strata I-V (Oriental Institute Publications 42; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1939), pp. 32-47. link excavation report
- Deborah O'Daniel Cantrell, The Horsemen of Israel: Horses and Chariotry in Monarchic Israel (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns / Penn State University Press, 2011), ch. 5 'Stables of Israel: The Case of Megiddo', pp. 87-113. doi:10.1515/9781575066479-007 link study
- Norma Franklin, "Entering the Arena: The Megiddo Stables Reconsidered," in O. Lipschits, Y. Gadot and M. J. Adams (eds.), Rethinking Israel: Studies in the History and Archaeology of Ancient Israel in Honor of Israel Finkelstein (Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2017), 87-102. doi:10.1515/9781646023646-009 link study
- Graham I. Davies, "Solomonic Stables at Megiddo After All?" Palestine Exploration Quarterly 120.2 (1988): 130-141. doi:10.1179/peq.1988.120.2.130 link study
- Israel Finkelstein, "Horse Industry City: Eighth-Century BCE Megiddo," Near Eastern Archaeology 88.3 (2025): 212-220. doi:10.1086/736849 link study
- Mario Liverani, "From Melid through Bastam to Megiddo: Stables and Horses in Iron Age II," in Leggo! (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2025), 443-458. doi:10.2307/jj.30625915.34 link study
Corrected from the earlier edition of this page
- Old entry: 'uncovered ... by the German archaeologist Carl Anderson'. No such excavator appears in the report; the buildings were excavated by the University of Chicago Oriental Institute expedition and published by Lamon & Shipton (OIP 42, 1939).
- Old entry: 'approximately 150 meters by 50 meters'. The southern compound measures 64 x 85 m including its courtyard (Lamon & Shipton, p. 32).
- Old entry: 1 Kgs 9:15 describes Solomon building 'chariot cities'. 9:15 lists Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer; the chariot cities are in 9:19 and 10:26.
- Old entry: 'more recent research suggests ... multiple administrative and storage functions' stated generically. The horse interpretation remains in print through 2025 (Finkelstein, NEA 88.3); name the study when citing the alternative.
- Old date 'c. 900-1000 BCE' replaced by the excavators' stratum label (ca. 1000-800 BCE) and the 8th c. date now argued by Finkelstein (2025).
Checked against new publications through 2026-09.