A Bible story about Jesus’ ancestor Josiah, “the last good king of Judah”, could be true, according to a study.

In the Book of Revelation, the apocalyptic final clash between good and evil takes place at Armageddon before a new world is born.

Today known as Tel Megiddo, located in current-day northern Israel, the site is believed to be where the ancestor of Jesus, King Josiah, was killed by the Egyptian pharaoh Necho II, according to the Bible.

Now, excavations reveal that there was an Egyptian presence at the site during Josiah’s time, the first archaeological evidence to support the Biblical tale.

Assaf Kleiman of Ben Gurion University in Beersheba, Israel, who co-authored a study about the discoveries, said the findings were a “big surprise” for archaeologists.

He said: “Our recent excavations near the administrative quarter of Megiddo revealed the remains of a large structure dated to the late seventh century BC.

“Within this building, we have found high quantities of crude and straw-tempered pottery vessels imported from Egypt, as well as a few East Greek vessels.

“The exposure of these findings was a big surprise for our team, as these were not unearthed thus far at Megiddo.”

The Greek vessels are considered to “represent Greek mercenaries” who may have worked in the Egyptian army, according to the study’s co-author, Prof Israel Finkelstein of the University of Haifa and Tel Aviv University

He said: “The Greek pottery is usually considered as representing Greek mercenaries. From sources such as Herodotus and the Assyrian King, Ashurbanipal, we know that Greeks from Anatolia served as mercenaries in the Egyptian army.

“This scenario may be linked to the biblical account about the killing of King Josiah of Judah by Pharaoh Necho at Megiddo in 609 BC.”