The Gate Chamber at Megiddo
Only part of this chamber was left standing after the city was destroyed following the Assyrian conquest of the Northern Kingdom in the eighth century BC. The street (foreground) was removed by archaeologists after they discovered an earlier gate complex from the time of Joshua underneath. Solomon fortified the three key cities of Gezer, Hazor, and Megiddo (1 Kings 9:15) with huge six-chambered gates, of which this is a part. Since these cities were at critical places on the major trade route, Solomon was able to exert significant influence on the nations surrounding Israel.
