Beit She'an ( '), also known as Beisan ( '), or Beth-shean, is a town in the Northern District of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is believed to be one of the oldest cities in the region. It has played an important role in history due to its geographical location at the junction of the Jordan River Valley and the

Jezreel Valley The Jezreel Valley (from the ), or Marj Ibn Amir (), also known as the Valley of Megiddo, is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. It is bordered to the north by the highlands o ...

. Beth She'an's ancient tell contains remains beginning in the Chalcolithic period. When

Canaan CanaanThe current scholarly edition of the Septuagint, Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interprets. 2. ed. / recogn. et emendavit Robert Hanhart. Stuttgart : D ...

came under Imperial Egyptian rule in the

Late Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

, Beth She'an served as a major Egyptian administrative center. The city came under

Israelite Israelites were a Hebrew language, Hebrew-speaking ethnoreligious group, consisting of tribes that lived in Canaan during the Iron Age. Modern scholarship describes the Israelites as emerging from indigenous Canaanites, Canaanite populations ...

rule in the monarchic period. It probably fell under

Philistine Philistines (; Septuagint, LXX: ; ) were ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia. There is compelling evidence to suggest that the Philist ...

control during the time of

Saul Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late eleventh c ...

, when, according to the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, his body was displayed there along with his sons. During the

Hellenistic period In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

, the settlement was known as Scythopolis (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

: ''Σκυθόπολις''). After the region came under

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

rule, Scythopolis gained imperial free status and was the leading city of the

Decapolis The Decapolis (Greek: ) was a group of ten Greek Hellenistic cities on the eastern frontier of the Greek and late Roman Empire in the Southern Levant in the first centuries BC and AD. Most of the cities were located to the east of the Jordan ...

. A multi-cultural metropolis under

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

rule, it served as the capital of the province of

Palaestina Secunda Palaestina Secunda or Palaestina II was a province of the Byzantine Empire from 390, until its conquest by the Muslim armies in 634–636. Palaestina Secunda, a part of the Diocese of the East, roughly comprised inland Galilee, the Jezreel Valley ...

, and had a mixed population of

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

, pagans,

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and

Samaritans Samaritans (; ; ; ), are an ethnoreligious group originating from the Hebrews and Israelites of the ancient Near East. They are indigenous to Samaria, a historical region of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah that ...

. After the

Arab conquest of the Levant The Muslim conquest of the Levant (; ), or Arab conquest of Syria, was a 634–638 CE invasion of Byzantine Syria by the Rashidun Caliphate. A part of the wider Arab–Byzantine wars, the Levant was brought under Arab Muslim rule and developed i ...

, and following a series of devastating earthquakes (most notably in 749), the city lost its prominence, and became a medium-sized country town. The population of the town was completely changed from 1948 to 1950. It had been entirely

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and Christian, designated to be part of the Jewish state in the 1947

United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was a proposal by the United Nations to partition Mandatory Palestine at the end of the British Mandate. Drafted by the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) on 3 September 1947, the Pl ...

, and was captured by the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

in May 1948. The battle over the town during Operation Gideon caused most of its inhabitants to flee, and the remainder were expelled. The town was then resettled by Jewish immigrants.Arnon Golan (2002) Jewish Settlement of Former Arab Towns and Their Incorporation into the Israeli Urban System (1948-50), Israel Affairs, 9:1-2, 149–164, "The former Arab town of Beisan... Jewish troops took over the town and its environs in fighting in April and May 1948. Most of the Arab population fled at that time, while the handful of remaining residents were expelled following the town's surrender on 13 May, after which it was placed under military government. As early as June 1948 the Israeli authorities initiated a new settlement venture in the Beit Shean valley, which established three new kibbutzim by March 1949. To block any possible return of former Arab residents, the local military government began the demolition of the town's built-up area; this was halted only by the intervention of the Israeli agriculture minister, Aaron Ziesling, who opposed the demolition policy on ideological grounds... The government decided to build 1,000 new apartments in Beisan and to restore 600 former Arab dwelling units for immigrants. In April 1950 the Jewish population of Beisan, renamed in Hebrew "Beit Shean", numbered 2,000, all of them newly arrived immigrants." Today, Beit She'an serves as a regional centre for the towns in the Beit She'an Valley. The ancient city ruins are now protected within the Beit She'an National Park. The town is located near the Jordan River Crossing, one of three crossing points between Israel and

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

Geography

Beit She'an's location has always been strategically significant, due to its position at the junction of the Jordan River Valley and the

, essentially controlling access from

and the inland to the coast, as well as from

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and

Jericho Jericho ( ; , ) is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, and the capital of the Jericho Governorate. Jericho is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It had a population of 20,907 in 2017. F ...

to the

Galilee Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ). ''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...

. Beit She'an is situated on Highway 90, the north–south road which runs the length of the eastern edge of Israel and the West Bank. The city stretches over an area of 7 square kilometers with a substantial national park in the north of the city. Beit She'an has a population of 20,000. Today the town is under the administration of the Emek HaMa'ayanot Regional Council.

Climate

Beit She'an has a hot

semi-arid climate A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of se ...

, with mild, rainy winters and very hot, dry summers. Beit She'an is one of the hottest cities in Israel, due to its location in Beit She'an valley, which is part of the Jordan Valley. The annual precipitation is 305 mm, which make it the driest city in Northern Israel. The cause of the relative aridity is the location in the rain shadow of the Samaria mountains and

Mount Gilboa Mount Gilboa (; ''Jabal Jalbūʿ'' or ''Jabal Fuqqāʿa''), sometimes referred to as the Mountains of Gilboa, is the name for a mountain range in the West Bank. It overlooks the Harod Valley (the eastern part of the larger Jezreel Valley) to ...

, which blocks some of the rain from reaching the area.

History of archaeological exploration

The

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

carried out excavations of ancient Beit She'an in 1921–1933. Relics from the Egyptian period were discovered, most of them now exhibited in the

Rockefeller Museum The Rockefeller Archeological Museum, formerly the Palestine Archaeological Museum ("PAM"; 1938–1967), is an archaeology museum located in East Jerusalem, next to Herod's Gate, that houses a large collection of artifacts unearthed in the exca ...

. Some are in the

University of Pennsylvania Museum A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Excavations at the site were resumed by the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public university, public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. ...

in 1983 and then again from 1989 to 1996 under the direction of

Amihai Mazar Amihai "Ami" Mazar (; born November 19, 1942) is an Israeli archaeologist. Born in Haifa, Israel (then the British Mandate of Palestine), he has been since 1994 a professor at the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, h ...

. The excavations have revealed no less than 18 successive ancient towns.

History

Prehistory (Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods)

In 1933, archaeologist G.M. FitzGerald, under the auspices of the

, carried out a "deep cut" on Tell el-Hisn ("castle hill"), the large tell, or mound, of Beth She'an, in order to determine the earliest occupation of the site. His results suggest that settlement began in the

Late Neolithic In the Near Eastern archaeology, archaeology of Southwest Asia, the Late Neolithic, also known as the Ceramic Neolithic or Pottery Neolithic, is the final part of the Neolithic period, following on from the Pre-Pottery Neolithic and preceding th ...

or Early Chalcolithic periods (sixth to fifth millennia BC.) Occupation continued intermittently throughout the Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods, with a likely gap during the Late Chalcolithic period (ca. 4000–3300 BC).Braun, pp. 61–64

Early Bronze Age

Settlement seems to have resumed at the beginning of the

Early Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

IB (c. 3300–3050/3000 BC) and continues throughout this period, is then missing during the Early Bronze Age II (c. 3050/3000-2720 BC), and then resumes in the Early Bronze Age IIIA (c. 2720-2500 BC).

Middle Bronze Age

A large cemetery on the northern mound was in use from the Bronze Age to

times.

ite graves dating from 2000 to 1600 BC were discovered there in 1926.

Late Bronze Age

Egyptian period

After the conquest of Beit She'an by Pharaoh Thutmose III in the 15th century BCE, as recorded in an inscription at

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (), comprises a vast mix of temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I (reigned 1971–1926 BC) in the ...

, the small town on the summit of the mound became the center of the Egyptian administration of the region. The Egyptian newcomers changed the organization of the town and left a great deal of material culture behind. A large Canaanite temple ( in length) excavated by the

(Penn Museum) may date from about the same period as

Thutmose III Thutmose III (variously also spelt Tuthmosis or Thothmes), sometimes called Thutmose the Great, (1479–1425 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. He is regarded as one of the greatest warriors, military commanders, and milita ...

's conquest, though the Hebrew University excavations suggest that it dates to a later period. Artifacts of potential cultic significance were found around the temple. Based on an Egyptian stele found at the place, the temple was dedicated to the god Mekal. The

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...

excavations determined that this temple was built on the site of an earlier one. One of the most important finds near the temple is the Lion and Lioness (or a dog) stela, currently in the

Israel Museum The Israel Museum (, ''Muze'on Yisrael'', ) is an Art museum, art and archaeology museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world's leading Encyclopedic museum, encyclopa ...

in Jerusalem, which depicts the two playing. During the three hundred years of rule by the

New Kingdom of Egypt The New Kingdom, also called the Egyptian Empire, refers to ancient Egypt between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC. This period of History of ancient Egypt, ancient Egyptian history covers the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eighteenth, ...

, the population of Beit She'an appears to have been primarily Egyptian administrative officials and military personnel. The town was completely rebuilt, following a new layout, during the 19th dynasty. The Penn Museum excavations uncovered two important stelae from the period of

Seti I Menmaatre Seti I (or Sethos I in Greek language, Greek) was the second pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt during the New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom period, ruling or 1290 BC to 1279 BC. He was the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and th ...

and a monument of

Ramesses II Ramesses II (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses) (; , , ; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was an Pharaoh, Egyptian pharaoh. He was the third ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth Dynasty. Along with Thutmose III of th ...

. One of those steles is particularly interesting because, according to

William F. Albright William Foxwell Albright (May 24, 1891 – September 19, 1971) was an American archaeologist, biblical scholar, philologist, and expert on ceramics. He is considered "one of the twentieth century's most influential American biblical scholars ...

, it testifies to the presence of a Hebrew population: the Habiru, which Seti I protected from an Asiatic tribe. Pottery was produced locally, but some was made to mimic Egyptian forms. Other Canaanite goods existed alongside Egyptian imports, or locally made Egyptian-style objects. During the 20th Dynasty, invasions of the "

Sea Peoples The Sea Peoples were a group of tribes hypothesized to have attacked Ancient Egypt, Egypt and other Eastern Mediterranean regions around 1200 BC during the Late Bronze Age. The hypothesis was proposed by the 19th-century Egyptology, Egyptologis ...

" upset Egypt's control over the

Eastern Mediterranean The Eastern Mediterranean is a loosely delimited region comprising the easternmost portion of the Mediterranean Sea, and well as the adjoining land—often defined as the countries around the Levantine Sea. It includes the southern half of Turkey ...

. Though the exact circumstances are unclear, the entire site of Beit She'an was destroyed by fire around 1150 BC. The Egyptians did not attempt to rebuild their administrative center and finally lost control of the region. The 20th Dynasty saw the construction of large administrative buildings in Beit She'an, including "Building 1500", a small palace for the Egyptian governor. Over 50 clay anthropoid coffins were found at the site mainly from the 13th and 12th centuries BC. Most are in the typical Egyptian style but some are of a "grotesque" type linked to the Aegean which caused earlier archaeologists to suggest they were of the "sea peoples" which pharaoh Ramses III claimed to have resettled in the region.

Iron Age

Terracotta sarcophagus Beth Shean northern cemetery tomb 202A Iron IA 1200-1150 BCE Penn Museum 02

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

I (1150–1000 BC) Canaanite city was constructed on the site of the Egyptian center shortly after its destruction. According to the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' larger Israelite kingdom. 1 Kings () refers to Beit She'an as part of the kingdom of

Solomon Solomon (), also called Jedidiah, was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible. The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ...

, though the historical accuracy of this list is debated. Nevertheless, recent archaeomagnetic dates suggest that the first Israelite urban settlement was established either during the Solomonic period or in the pre-Omride phase of the early kingdom of Israel at the latest, and that it was probably destroyed around 935–900 BC. The Assyrian conquest of the

northern kingdom of Israel The Kingdom of Israel ( ), also called the Northern Kingdom or the Kingdom of Samaria, was an Israelite kingdom that existed in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. Its beginnings date back to the first half of the 10th century BCE. It c ...

under Tiglath-Pileser III (732 BC) brought about the destruction of Beit She'an by fire. Minimal reoccupation occurred until the

Biblical narrative

The

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
. '' King Saul Saul (; , ; , ; ) was a monarch of ancient Israel and Judah and, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament, the first king of the United Monarchy, a polity of uncertain historicity. His reign, traditionally placed in the late elevent ...

and three of his sons were hung by the

Philistines Philistines (; LXX: ; ) were ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan during the Iron Age in a confederation of city-states generally referred to as Philistia. There is compelling evidence to suggest that the Philistines origi ...

after the Battle of Gilboa. According to the biblical narrative, the battle was fought at

, around the year 1010 BC. The Philistines prevailed and Saul died in battle together with three of his sons, Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchishua, (

1 Samuel The Book of Samuel () is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings) that constitute a theological ...

and

1 Chronicles The Book of Chronicles ( , "words of the days") is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third section of the Jewish Tan ...

, ). states that "the victorious Philistines hung the body of King Saul on the walls of Beit She'an". Later, the people of

Jabesh-Gilead Jabesh-Gilead ( ''Yāḇēš Gilʿāḏ''), sometimes shortened to Jabesh, was an ancient Israelite town in Gilead, in northwest Jordan. Jabesh is mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible primarily in connection with King Saul's battles against ...

took the remnants, carried them into their city, and burned them. No archeological evidence was found of a Philistine occupation of Beit She'an, but it is possible the force only passed there.

Hellenistic period

The

saw the reoccupation of the site of Beit She'an under the new name "Scythopolis" (

: Σκυθόπολις), meaning "City of the Scythians", possibly named after the

Scythian The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people who had migrated during the 9th to 8th centuries BC fr ...

mercenaries who settled there as veterans. Little is known about the Hellenistic city, but during the 3rd century BCE a large temple was constructed on the tell. It is unknown which deity was worshipped there, but the temple continued to be used during Roman times. Graves dating from the Hellenistic period are simple, singular

rock-cut tomb A rock-cut tomb is a burial chamber that is cut into an existing, naturally occurring rock formation, so a type of rock-cut architecture. They are usually cut into a cliff or sloping rock face, but may go downward in fairly flat ground. It was a ...

s.Rowe 49 From 301 to 198 BCE the area was under the control of the Ptolemies, and Beit She'an is mentioned in 3rd–2nd century BCE written sources describing the

Syrian Wars The Syrian Wars were a series of six wars between the Seleucid Empire and the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, successor states to Alexander the Great's empire, during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC over the region then called Coele-Syria, one of ...

between the Ptolemaic and

Seleucid The Seleucid Empire ( ) was a Greek state in West Asia during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great, a ...

dynasties. In 198 BCE the Seleucids finally conquered the region.

Roman period

In 63 BCE,

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...

made

Judea Judea or Judaea (; ; , ; ) is a mountainous region of the Levant. Traditionally dominated by the city of Jerusalem, it is now part of Palestine and Israel. The name's usage is historic, having been used in antiquity and still into the pres ...

a part of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...

. Beit She'an was refounded and rebuilt by Gabinius.Rowe 46 The town center shifted from the summit of the mound, or tell, to its slopes. Scythopolis prospered and became the leading city of the

, the only one west of the Jordan River. The city flourished under the "

Pax Romana The (Latin for ) is a roughly 200-year-long period of Roman history that is identified as a golden age of increased and sustained Roman imperialism, relative peace and order, prosperous stability, hegemonic power, and regional expansion, a ...

", as evidenced by high-level

urban planning Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...

and extensive construction, including the best preserved Roman theatre of ancient

Samaria Samaria (), the Hellenized form of the Hebrew name Shomron (), is used as a historical and Hebrew Bible, biblical name for the central region of the Land of Israel. It is bordered by Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. The region is ...

, as well as a

hippodrome Hippodrome is a term sometimes used for public entertainment venues of various types. A modern example is the Hippodrome which opened in London in 1900 "combining circus, hippodrome, and stage performances". The term hippodroming refers to fr ...

, a

cardo A ''cardo'' (: ''cardines'') was a north–south street in Ancient Rome, ancient Roman cities and military castra, camps as an integral component of Urban planning, city planning. The ''cardo maximus'', or most often the ''cardo'', was the main ...

and other trademarks of the Roman influence.

, away, provided dark

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

blocks, as well as water (via an aqueduct) to the town. Beit She'an is said to have sided with the Romans during the early phase of the

First Jewish–Roman War The First Jewish–Roman War (66–74 CE), also known as the Great Jewish Revolt, the First Jewish Revolt, the War of Destruction, or the Jewish War, was the first of three major Jewish rebellions against the Roman Empire. Fought in the prov ...

in 66 CE. Excavations have focused less on the Roman period ruins, so not much is known about this period. The Penn. University Museum excavation of the northern cemetery, however, did uncover significant finds. The Roman period tombs are of the '' loculus'' type: a rectangular rock-cut spacious chamber with smaller chambers (''loculi'') cut into its side. Bodies were placed directly in the ''loculi'', or inside sarcophagi which were placed in the ''loculi''. A

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...

with an inscription identifying its occupant in Greek as "Antiochus, the son of Phallion", may have held the cousin of

Herod the Great Herod I or Herod the Great () was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman Jewish client king of the Herodian kingdom of Judea. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea. Among these works are the rebuilding of the ...

. One of the most interesting Roman grave finds was
bronze incense shovel
with the handle in the form of an animal leg, or hoof, now in the

. File:ROMAN THEATER BEIT SHE'AN.JPG, The Roman theatre Image:Roman street in Bet She'an National Park, Israel.jpg, Roman cardo File:Bet She'an hypocaust.jpg, Roman baths

Byzantine period

Copious archaeological remains were found dating to the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

(330–636) and were excavated by the

Penn Museum The Penn Museum is an archaeology and anthropology museum at the University of Pennsylvania. It is located on Penn's campus in the University City, Philadelphia, University City neighborhood of Philadelphia, at the intersection of 33rd and Sout ...

from 1921 to 1923. A rotunda church was constructed on top of the tell, and a wall enclosed the entire city.Rowe 50 Textual sources mention several other churches in the town. Scythopolis was primarily Christian, as attested to by many churches, but evidence of Jewish habitation and a Samaritan synagogue indicate established communities of these minorities. The pagan temples in the city center went out of use, but the

nymphaeum A ''nymphaeum'' (Latin : ''nymphaea'') or ''nymphaion'' (), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs. These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...

and the

thermae In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...

were restored, and a Sigma-shaped complex was added. Many of the buildings of Scythopolis were damaged in the

363 Galilee earthquake The Galilee earthquake of 363 was a pair of severe earthquakes that shook the Galilee and nearby regions on May 18 and 19. The maximum perceived intensity for the events was estimated to be X (''Very destructive'') on the European macroseismic sca ...

. In 409,

Syria Palaestina Syria Palaestina ( ) was the renamed Roman province formerly known as Judaea, following the Roman suppression of the Bar Kokhba revolt, in what then became known as the Palestine region between the early 2nd and late 4th centuries AD. The pr ...

was divided and Scythopolis became the capital of the northern region of

.Rowe 45 and the See of Scythopolis was the

Metropolitan archdiocese A metropolis, metropolitanate or metropolitan diocese is an episcopal see whose bishop is the metropolitan bishop or archbishop of an ecclesiastical province. Metropolises, historically, have been important cities in their provinces. Eastern Ortho ...

. Dedicatory inscriptions indicate a preference for donations to religious buildings. Many colourful

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

s were preserved, such as that featuring the

zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...

in the Lady Mary's Monastery, or the one with a

temple menorah The Temple menorah (; , Tiberian Hebrew ) is a seven-branched candelabrum that is described in the Hebrew Bible and later ancient sources as having been used in the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem. Since ancient times, it has served as a ...

and the phrase ''shalom'' in the House of Leontius

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

. The Samaritan synagogue's mosaic was unique in its aniconic abstention from human or animal images, instead using floral and geometrical motifs. Elaborate decorations were also found in the settlement's many luxurious villas, and in the 6th century especially, the city reached its maximum size of 40,000 and spread beyond its period city walls. The Byzantine-era portion of the northern cemetery was excavated in 1926. The tombs from this period consisted of small rock-cut halls with vaulted graves on three sides.Rowe 52 A great variety of objects were found in the tombs, including

terracotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...

figurines possibly depicting the

Virgin and Child In Christian art, a Madonna () is a religious depiction of the Blessed Virgin Mary in a singular form or sometimes accompanied by the Child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word ...

, many terracotta lamps, glass mirrors, bells, tools, knives, finger rings, iron keys, glass beads, bone hairpins, and many other items. Influential Christian personalities who lived or passed through Scythopolis are Procopius of Scythopolis (died July 7, 303), Cyril of Scythopolis (ca. 525–559),

Epiphanius of Salamis Epiphanius of Salamis (; – 403) was the bishop of Salamis, Cyprus, at the end of the Christianity in the 4th century, 4th century. He is considered a saint and a Church Father by the Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox, Catholic Churche ...

(c. 310/320–403) and Joseph of Tiberias (c. 285 – c. 356) who met there around the year 355.

Early Muslim period

In 634, Byzantine forces were defeated by the

Rashidun army The Rashidun army () was the core of the Rashidun Caliphate's armed forces during the early Muslim conquests in the 7th century. The army is reported to have maintained a high level of discipline, strategic prowess and organization, grantin ...

under the Rashid caliph

Umar Umar ibn al-Khattab (; ), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () and is regarded as a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Mu ...

, and the city reverted to its Semitic name, being named Baysan in Arabic. The day of victory came to be known in Arabic as ''Yawm Baysan'' "day of Baysan." The city was not damaged; newly arrived Muslims lived alongside the Christian population until the 8th century. The town formed one of the districts of

Jund al-Urdunn Jund al-Urdunn (, translation: "The military district of Jordan") was one of the five districts of Bilad al-Sham (Islamic Syria) during the early Islamic period. It was established under the Rashidun and its capital was Tiberias throughout its r ...

, itself a part of the

Bilad al-Sham Bilad al-Sham (), often referred to as Islamic Syria or simply Syria in English-language sources, was a province of the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid caliphates. It roughly corresponded with the Byzantine Diocese of the East, con ...

, until the Crusades. The city declined; structures were built in the streets, narrowing them to mere

alley An alley or alleyway is a narrow lane, footpath, path, or passageway, often reserved for pedestrians, which usually runs between, behind, or within buildings in towns and cities. It is also a rear access or service road (back lane), or a path, w ...

s, and makeshift shops were opened among the colonnades. The city reached a low point in the 8th century, witnessed by the removal of

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

for producing lime, the blocking off of the main street, and the conversion of a main plaza into a cemetery. However, some recently discovered counter-evidence may be offered to this picture of decline. In common with state-directed building work carried out in other towns and cities in the region during the 720s, Baysan's commercial infrastructure was refurbished: its main colonnaded market street, once thought to date to the sixth century, is now known—based on a mosaic inscription—to be a redesign dating from the time of the Umayyad caliph

Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; 6 February 743) was the tenth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 724 until his death in 743. Early life Hisham was born in Damascus, the administrative capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, in AH 72 (691–692 CE). Hi ...

(r. 724–43).

Al-Bakri Abū ʿUbayd ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muḥammad ibn Ayyūb ibn ʿAmr al-Bakrī (), or simply al-Bakrī (c. 1040–1094) was an Arab Andalusian historian and a geographer of the Muslim West. Life Al-Bakri was born in Huelva, the ...

al-Andalus Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

noted that the wine produced there was delicious. On January 18, 749, Umayyad Baysan was devastated by a catastrophic earthquake. A few residential neighborhoods grew among the ruins, probably established by the survivors, but the city never recovered its magnificence. The city center moved to the southern hill, where the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

later built a castle. Jerusalemite historian al-Muqaddasi visited Baysan in 985, during the

Abbasid Caliphate The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 CE), from whom the dynasty takes ...

and wrote that it was "on the river, with plentiful palm trees, and water, though somewhat heavy (brackish.)" He further noted that Baysan was notable for its

indigo InterGlobe Aviation Limited (d/b/a IndiGo), is an India, Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest List of airlines of India, airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 64.1% domestic market ...

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, dates, and grape syrup known as ''dibs''. Its principal

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

was situated in the center of its marketplace.

Crusader period

In the Crusader period, the Lordship of Bessan was occupied by

Tancred, Prince of Galilee Tancred ( 1075 – December 5 or December 12, 1112) was an Italo-Normans, Italo-Norman leader of the First Crusade who later became Prince of Galilee and regent of the Principality of Antioch. Tancred came from the Hauteville family, house of Hau ...

in 1099; it was never part of the

Principality of Galilee The principality of Galilee was one of the four major seigneuries of the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, according to 13th-century commentator John of Ibelin (jurist), John of Ibelin, grandson of Balian of Ibelin, Balian. The direct holdings of t ...

, despite its location, but became a royal domain of the

Kingdom of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem, also known as the Crusader Kingdom, was one of the Crusader states established in the Levant immediately after the First Crusade. It lasted for almost two hundred years, from the accession of Godfrey of Bouillon in 1 ...

in 1101, probably until around 1120. According to the

Lignages d'Outremer The ''Lignages d'Outremer'' ("Lineages of Outremer") describe the pedigrees of the most important Crusades, Crusader families. A first version was written in 1270 and is available in two manuscripts of the 14th century. A later version was produce ...

, the first Crusader lord of Bessan once it became part of the Kingdom of Jerusalem was Adam, a younger son of Robert III de Béthune, peer of Flanders and head of the House of Béthune. His descendants were known by the family name ''de Bessan''. It occasionally passed back under royal control until new lords were created. The town became part of the Belvoir

fiefdom A fief (; ) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form of feudal alle ...

. A small Crusader fortress surrounded by a moat was built in the area southeast of the Roman theatre, where the diminished town had relocated after the 749 earthquake. The fortress was destroyed by

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

in 1183. During the 1260

Battle of Ain Jalut The Battle of Ain Jalut (), also spelled Ayn Jalut, was fought between the Bahri Mamluks of Egypt and the Ilkhanate on 3 September 1260 (25 Ramadan 658 AH) near the spring of Ain Jalut in southeastern Galilee in the Jezreel Valley. It marks ...

, retreating Mongol forces passed near the town, but did not enter it.

Mamluk period

Plan of Beisan-Scythopolis from the 1871-77 Palestine Exploration Fund Survey of Palestine

Under

Mamluk Mamluk or Mamaluk (; (singular), , ''mamālīk'' (plural); translated as "one who is owned", meaning "slave") were non-Arab, ethnically diverse (mostly Turkic, Caucasian, Eastern and Southeastern European) enslaved mercenaries, slave-so ...

rule, Beit She'an was the principal town in the district of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

and a relay station for the

postal service The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sy ...

between

and

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

. It was also the capital of

sugar cane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

processing for the region. Jisr al-Maqtu'a, "the truncated/cut-off bridge", a bridge consisting of a single arch spanning and hung above a stream, was built during that period.Shahin, 2005, p
164
/ref>

Ottoman period

During this period, the inhabitants of Baysan were mainly Muslim, but there were some

. The 14th century

topographer Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary scienc ...

Ishtori Haparchi settled there and completed his work "

Bulb In botany, a bulb is a short underground stem with fleshy leaves or leaf basesBell, A.D. 1997. ''Plant form: an illustrated guide to flowering plant morphology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford, U.K. that function as food storage organs duri ...

and Flower" () in 1322, the first Hebrew book on the geography of the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

. During the 400 years of Ottoman rule, Baysan lost its regional importance. During the reign of Sultan

Abdul Hamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

when the Jezreel Valley railway, which was part of the

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

extension of the Hejaz railway was constructed, a limited revival took place. The local peasant population was largely impoverished by the Ottoman feudal land system, which leased tracts of land to tenants and collected taxes from them for their use. The Swiss–German traveler

Johann Ludwig Burckhardt Johann Ludwig (also known as John Lewis, Jean Louis) Burckhardt (24 November 1784 – 15 October 1817) was a Swiss traveller, geographer and Orientalist. Burckhardt assumed the alias ''Sheikh Ibrahim Ibn Abdallah'' during his travels in Arabia ...

described Beisan in 1812: "The present village of Bysan contains seventy or eighty houses; its inhabitants are in a miserable condition, from being exposed to the depredations of the

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...

s of the Ghor, to whom they also pay a heavy tribute." In 1870/1871, an Ottoman census listed the village in the

nahiya A nāḥiyah ( , plural ''nawāḥī'' ), also nahiyeh, nahiya or nahia, is a regional or local type of administrative division that usually consists of a number of villages or sometimes smaller towns. In Tajikistan, it is a second-level divisi ...

(sub-district) of Shafa al-Shamali. In the early 20th century, though still a tiny and obscure village, Beisan was known for its plentiful water supply, fertile soil, and producing olives, grapes, figs, almonds, apricots, and apples.

British Mandate period

Under the Mandate, the city was the center of the District of Baysan. According to a

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

conducted in 1922 by the British Mandate authorities, Beit She'an (Baisan) had a population of 1,941, consisting of 1,687 Muslims, 41 Jews and 213 Christians.Barron, 1923, p
6
/ref> In 1934, Lawrence of Arabia noted that "Bisan is now a purely Arab village," where "very fine views of the river can be had from the housetops." He further noted that "many nomad and

encampments, distinguished by their black tents, were scattered about the riverine plain, their flocks and herds grazing round them." Beisan was home to a mainly Mizrahi Jewish community of 95 until 1936, when the 1936–1939 Arab revolt saw Beisan serve as a center of Arab attacks on Jews in Palestine. In 1938, after learning of the murder of his close friend and Jewish leader Haim Sturmann,

Orde Wingate Major-general (United Kingdom), Major General Orde Charles Wingate, (26 February 1903 – 24 March 1944) was a senior British Army officer known for his creation of the Chindits, Chindit deep-penetration missions in Japanese-held territory duri ...

led his men on an offensive in the Arab section of Baysan, the rebels’ suspected base. According to population surveys conducted in British Mandate Palestine, Beisan consisted of 5,080 Muslim Arabs out of a population of 5,540 (92% of the population), with the remainder being listed as Christians. In 1945, the surrounding District of Baysan consisted of 16,660 Muslims (67%), 7,590 Jews (30%), and 680 Christians (3%); and Arabs owned 44% of land, Jews owned 34%, and 22% constituted public lands. The

1947 UN Partition Plan The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was a proposal by the United Nations to partition Mandatory Palestine at the end of the British Mandate. Drafted by the U.N. Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) on 3 September 1947, the Pl ...

allocated Beisan and most of its district to the proposed

Jewish state In world politics, Jewish state is a characterization of Israel as the nation-state and sovereign homeland for the Jewish people. Overview Modern Israel came into existence on 14 May 1948 as a polity to serve as the homeland for the Jewi ...

. File:PikiWiki Israel 47183 General view Beit Shean.jpg, Beisan in 1936 File:AN AERIAL PHOTO OF THE SETTLEMENT BEIT SHE'AN. צילום אויר של היישוב בית שאן.D332-054.jpg, Beit She’an 1939 File:PikiWiki Israel 7273 עין הנציquot;ב עולה להתיישבות.jpg, Pioneers of

Kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

Ein Hanatziv settle in Bet She'an, 1946

1948 Palestine war

Jewish forces and local Bedouins first clashed during the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine in February and March 1948, part of Operation Gideon, itself part of Plan Dalet. Joseph Weitz, a leading

Yishuv The Yishuv (), HaYishuv Ha'ivri (), or HaYishuv HaYehudi Be'Eretz Yisra'el () was the community of Jews residing in Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The term came into use in the 1880s, when there were about 2 ...

figure, wrote in his diary on May 4, 1948, that, "The Beit Shean Valley is the gate for our state in the Galilee... s clearing is the need of the hour." Beisan, then an Arab village, fell to the Jewish militias three days before the end of the Mandate. After Israel's Declaration of Independence in May 1948, during intense shelling by Syrian border units, followed by the recapture of the valley by the

, the Arab inhabitants

fled ''Fled'' is a 1996 American Buddy film, buddy action comedy film directed by Kevin Hooks. It stars Laurence Fishburne and Stephen Baldwin as two prisoners chained together who flee during an escape attempt gone bad. Plot An interrogator prepa ...

across the Jordan River. The property and buildings abandoned after the conflict were then held by the State of Israel. Most Arab Christians relocated to

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

. Historian Saleh Abdel Jawad claims that Beisan experienced a massacre via aerial bombardment by Israeli forces that was "entirely without military justification" and which was used as "a tool of expulsion".

State of Israel

A ma'abarah (immigration camp) inhabited mainly by North African Jewish

olim ''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the State of Israel. Traditionally described ...

(immigrants) was erected in Beit She'an, and it later became a

development town Development towns (, ''Ayarat Pitu'ah'') were new settlements built in Israel during the 1950s in order to provide permanent housing for a large influx of Jewish immigrants from Arab countries, Holocaust survivors from Europe and other new immig ...

. From 1969, Beit She'an was a target for Katyusha rockets and mortar attacks from Jordan. In the 1974 Beit She'an attack, militants of the Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, took over an apartment building and murdered a family of four. In 1999, Beit She'an was incorporated as a city. Geographically, it lies in the middle of the Emek HaMaayanot Regional Council, formerly the Beit She'an Valley Regional Council. Beit She'an was the hometown and political power base of David Levy, an Israeli politician. During the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada (; ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada, was a major uprising by Palestinians against Israel and its Israeli-occupied territories, occupation from 2000. Starting as a civilian uprising in Jerusalem and October 2000 prot ...

, in the 2002 Beit She'an attack, six Israelis were killed and over 30 were injured by two

Palestinian militants Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence or terrorism committed by Palestinians with the intent to accomplish political goals in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Common objectives of political violence by Pal ...

, who opened fire and threw grenades at a polling station in the center of Bet She'an where party members were voting in the

Likud Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...

primary.

Seismicity

Beit She'an is located above the

Dead Sea Transform The Dead Sea Transform (DST) fault system, also sometimes referred to as the Dead Sea Rift, is a series of Fault (geology), faults that run for about 1,000 km from the Marash triple junction (a junction with the East Anatolian Fault in south ...

(a fault system that forms the transform boundary between the African Plate to the west and the Arabian Plate to the east) and is one of the cities in Israel most at risk to

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

s (along with

Kiryat Shmona Kiryat Shmona () is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel on the western slopes of the Hula Valley near the Lebanon, Lebanese border. In it had a population of . Located near the Blue Line (withdrawal line), Israel ...

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...

, and

Eilat Eilat ( , ; ; ) is Israel's southernmost city, with a population of , a busy port of Eilat, port and popular resort at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on what is known in Israel as the Gulf of Eilat and in Jordan as the Gulf of Aqaba. The c ...

). Historically, the city was destroyed in the Golan earthquake of 749.

Demographics

According to the

Israel Central Bureau of Statistics The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (, ''HaLishka HaMerkazit LiStatistika''; ), abbreviated CBS, is an Israeli government office established in 1949 to carry out research and publish statistical data on all aspects of Israeli life, including ...

(CBS), the population of the municipality was at the end of . In 2005, the ethnic makeup of the city was 99.5% Jewish and other non-Arab (97.3% Jewish), with no significant Arab population. See Population groups in Israel. The population breakdown by gender was 8,200 males and 8,100 females. The age distribution was as follows:

Economy

PikiWiki Israel 11342 Bet Shean Municipality

Beit She'an is a center of cotton-growing, and many of residents are employed in the cotton fields of the surrounding

kibbutz A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...

im. Other local industries include a textile mill and clothing factory.

Tourism

Ancient Beit She'an, one of the most spectacular Roman and Byzantine sites in Israel, is a major tourist attraction. When the ancient city of Beit She'an was opened to the public in the 1990s and turned into a national park, tourism became a major sector of the economy.

Transportation

Beit She'an had a railway station that opened in 1904 on the Jezreel Valley railway which was an extension of the Hejaz railway. This station closed together with the rest of the Jezreel Valley railway in 1948. In 2011–2016 the valley railway was rebuilt and the new

Beit She'an railway station Beit may refer to: *Beit (surname) *Beit baronets *Bet (letter), a letter of the Semitic abjad *A component of Arabic placenames and Hebrew placenames, literally meaning 'house' *'' Masada: Beit'' album by American jazz band Masada *Bayt (poetry) ...

, located at the same site as the historical station was opened. Passenger service offered at the station connects the city to Afula, Haifa and destinations in between. In addition to passenger service, the station also includes a freight rail terminal.

Sports

The local football club, Hapoel Beit She'an spent several seasons in the top division in the 1990s, but folded in 2006 after several relegations. Maccabi Beit She'an currently plays in

Liga Bet Liga Bet () is the fourth tier of the Israeli football league system. It is divided into four regional divisions. History League football started in Israel in 1949–50, a year after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. However, the financial ...

Notable people

* Naim Ateek * Ishtori Haparchi * David Levy * Jackie Levy * Orly Levy, politician (birthplace)

Twin towns – sister cities

Beit She'an is twinned with: *

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, United States ''(Since 2019)''

Historic images

File:PikiWiki Israel 14982 רכבת העמק התחנה בבית שאן.jpg, Historic railway station, 1930s File:Beit She'an ii.jpg, Beit She'an after conquest, 1948 File:Beit She'an iii.jpg, Ottoman Saray building used by Yiftach Brigade as company barracks, 1948 File:Beit Shean 2.jpg, Beit Shean ruins File:Lions Playing Beit Shean, Israel roundabout.jpg, Lions playing sculpture, roundabout in Beit Shean File:Bet Shean (997009325237605171.jpg, Beit She'an in 1970

References

Bibliography

* * (Conder and Kitchener, 1882, SWP II, p
83
* (p. 782) * (Department of Statistics, 1945, p
6
*
284 298
* (pp
4384
http://www.palestineremembered.com/download/VillageStatistics/Table%20III/Baysan/Page-134.jpg 134]) * (p. 168) * * * * * * (se
pp. 195
* Yoram Tsafrir, Tsafrir, Y. and Foerster, Gideon: "“Nysa-Scythopolis – A New Inscription and the Titles of the City on its Coins", ''The Israel Numismatic Journal''. Vol. 9, 1986–7, pp. 53–58. * Yoram Tsafrir, Tsafrir, Y. and Foerster, Gideon: "Bet Shean Excavation Project – 1988/1989", ''Excavations and Surveys in Israel 1989/1990''. Volume 9. Israel Antiquities Authority. Numbers 94–95. Jerusalem 1989/1990, pp. 120–128. * Yoram Tsafrir, Tsafrir, Y. and Foerster, Gideon: "From Scythopolis to Baisān: Changes in the perception of the city of Bet Shean during the Byzantine and Arab Eras", ''Cathedra''. For the History of Eretz Israel and its Yishuv, 64. Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi. Jerusalem, July 1992 (in Hebrew). * Yoram Tsafrir, Tsafrir, Y. and Foerster, Gideon: "The Dating of the 'Earthquake of the Sabbatical Year of 749 C. E.' in Palestine", ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies of London''. Vol. LV, Part 2. London 1992, pp. 231–235. * Yoram Tsafrir, Tsafrir, Y. and Foerster, Gideon: "Urbanism at Scythopolis-Bet Shean in the Fourth to Seventh Centuries", ''Dumbarton Oaks Papers''. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection. Number Fifty-One, 1997. pp. 85–146.

External links

Beit She'an National Park
– official site

Jewish Virtual Library * Ilan Phahima and Yoram Saad
Scythopolis: Conservation of the Roman BridgeIsrael Antiquities Authority Site
�
Conservation Department
* Survey of Western Palestine, 1880 Map of Beit Shean (Beisân), Map 9
IAA
:commons:File:Survey_of_Western_Palestine_1880.09.jpg, Wikimedia commons
Air photo map of Beisan, 1945.
Eran Laor Cartographic Collection, The National Library of Israel.
Map of Beisan, 1929.
Survey of Palestine. Eran Laor Cartographic Collection, The National Library of Israel. {{Authority control Beit She'an, 1921 archaeological discoveries Archaeological sites in Israel Biblical geography Bronze Age sites in Israel Canaanite cities Castles and fortifications of the Knights Hospitaller Cities in Northern District (Israel) Cities in the Great Rift Valley Decapolis Development towns Hebrew Bible cities Iron Age sites in Israel Israeli mosaics Late Neolithic National parks of Israel Populated places established in the 6th millennium BC Protected areas of Northern District (Israel) Razed cities Roman towns and cities in Israel Tells (archaeology) World Heritage Tentative List Jezreel Valley