The city of Megiddo was located on one of the most important trade routes of the ancient Near East. In fact, it was so important that when Egypt’s Pharaoh Thutmose III conquered the city in 1482 b.c. he said that capturing it was like capturing a thousand cities. It was so strategic that Israel’s King Ahab (869-850 b.c.) dug a 120-foot (37-m) deep shaft and a 215-foot-long tunnel to provide water for the city in case it came under siege.