Megiddo Ivories

One of the richest collections of ancient ivory art from the Levant, demonstrating Megiddo's role as an elite center of international trade and cultural exchange during the Late Bronze Age.

In 1937, during the Oriental Institute of Chicago's large-scale excavation of Megiddo, archaeologist Gordon Loud uncovered a subterranean room near the palace area that contained one of the most spectacular finds in the history of Levantine archaeology: a hoard of more than 300 carved ivory objects. The collection included plaques with carved scenes, decorative furniture inlays, cosmetic containers, game boards, combs, and small sculptured figures. The quality and diversity of the carvings made the Megiddo ivories one of the most important collections of ancient art from the entire Near East.

The ivories date primarily to the Late Bronze Age, approximately the thirteenth to twelfth centuries BCE, though some pieces may extend into the early Iron Age. They were found in a context associated with the palace complex of Stratum VIIA, the last prosperous Canaanite city before a major destruction event that many scholars connect to the upheavals of the late thirteenth century.

The artistic styles represented in the collection demonstrate Megiddo's position at the crossroads of civilizations. Egyptian motifs appear on many pieces, including lotus flowers, cartouche-like frames, and figures in Egyptian poses. Canaanite or Levantine styles are also present, with distinctive features like their own figural traditions and mythological scenes. Some pieces show Aegean (Mycenaean) artistic influences, particularly in the treatment of animal forms and certain compositional elements. This mix of styles in a single collection illustrates the cosmopolitan character of Late Bronze Age urban culture.

Among the most famous individual pieces is a carved plaque showing a king seated on a throne flanked by winged sphinxes (cherubim), receiving a procession of tribute bearers and prisoners. This scene has been compared to the throne of Solomon described in 1 Kings 10:18-20, which featured two lions beside the armrests and twelve lions on the six steps. While the Megiddo plaque is several centuries earlier than Solomon, it shows the kind of royal imagery that persisted in the region's throne iconography.

Another celebrated piece is a game board for the Egyptian game senet, beautifully carved with scenes of animals and geometric patterns. Cosmetic boxes in the shape of ducks or other animals show the luxury goods that elite households in Megiddo imported or commissioned. Furniture inlays depicting panels of stylized trees, palmettes, and spiraling vine motifs illustrate the decoration of the high-status furniture that ancient texts describe.

The subterranean room where the ivories were found appears to have been a treasury or storage room associated with the palace. Some scholars have suggested it was a deliberately cached collection, hidden perhaps during a time of crisis. Others argue it was simply a storeroom that collapsed and was sealed by the destruction of the city above it.

The biblical prophets condemned ivory as a symbol of excess. Amos 3:15 thunders: "I will strike the winter house along with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish." Amos 6:4 condemns those who "lie on beds of ivory." First Kings 22:39 mentions "the ivory house" that King Ahab built in Samaria. While these references date to the Iron Age II, the tradition of ivory luxury in the Levant began in the Late Bronze Age, and the Megiddo ivories are among the earliest and finest examples.

Ivory in the ancient Near East was sourced from both African and Asian elephants. Syrian elephants, a now-extinct population of Asian elephants that lived in the northern Levant and Mesopotamia, may have been one source, though they were hunted to extinction by approximately 800 BCE. The ivory trade connected the Levant to Africa, Egypt, and points further east.

The collection is now divided among several institutions. The Oriental Institute Museum in Chicago holds a significant portion, as the excavation was funded and conducted by the University of Chicago. The Rockefeller Museum and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem hold other pieces.

• Over 300 carved ivory objects found in a subterranean treasury room near the Megiddo palace
• Mixed Egyptian, Canaanite, and Aegean artistic styles demonstrating Megiddo's cosmopolitan trade connections
• Royal throne scene on carved plaque showing a king flanked by winged sphinxes (cherubim)
• Game boards, cosmetic boxes, furniture inlays, and decorative plaques showing elite luxury culture
• Dating primarily to the Late Bronze Age (13th-12th centuries BCE), contemporary with the last Canaanite city at Megiddo
• One of the richest ivory collections from the ancient Near East, comparable to finds from Nimrud and Samaria

The Megiddo ivories connect to several biblical references to ivory as luxury goods. First Kings 22:39 records that Ahab "built an ivory house," and excavations at Samaria (the capital of the northern kingdom) indeed found a large collection of Iron Age ivories that may be from Ahab's palace. The Megiddo ivories predate Ahab by centuries but show the same tradition of ivory decoration in Levantine palaces. First Kings 10:18 describes Solomon's throne: "The king also made a great ivory throne and overlaid it with the finest gold." The Megiddo plaque showing a king on a sphinx-flanked throne illustrates the royal iconographic tradition behind this description. Amos 3:15 and 6:4 condemn ivory luxury as symbolic of social injustice: "Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory" and "the houses of ivory shall perish." These prophetic denunciations reflect a long-standing culture of ivory luxury that the Megiddo collection documents from its earliest phases. Psalm 45:8 describes a king whose "robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia; from ivory palaces stringed instruments make you glad." This poetic image draws on the same tradition of ivory-decorated royal spaces.