Beit She'an ( ), also known as Beisan ( ), or Beth-shean, is a city in the Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. In 2022, 98% of the population was Jewish and 2% was counted as other.
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. Beth She'an's ancient tell contains remains beginning in the Chalcolithic period. When Canaan came under Imperial Egyptian rule in the Late Bronze Age, Beth She'an served as a major Egyptian administrative center. The city came under Israelite rule in the monarchic period. It probably fell under Philistine control during the time of Saul, when, according to the Bible, his body was displayed there along with his sons.
During the Hellenistic period, the settlement was known as Scythopolis (Ancient Greek: Σκυθόπολις). After the region came under Roman rule, Scythopolis gained imperial free status and was the leading city of the Decapolis. A multi-cultural metropolis under Byzantine rule, it served as the capital of the province of Palaestina Secunda, and had a mixed population of Christians, Jews, Samaritans and pagans. After the Arab conquest of the Levant, 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 and Christian, designated to be part of the Jewish state in the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, and was captured by the Haganah 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.
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 Jezreel Valley, essentially controlling access from Jordan and the inland to the coast, as well as from Jerusalem and Jericho to the Galilee.
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.Nefesh B'Nefesh Profiles: Beit She'an
Today the town is under the administration of the Emek HaMa'ayanot Regional Council.
Climate Beit She'an has a hot semi-arid climate, 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, making 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, which blocks some of the rain from reaching the area.
History of archaeological exploration The University of Pennsylvania 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 in Jerusalem. Some are in the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia. Excavations at the site were resumed by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1983 and then again from 1989 to 1996 under the direction of Amihai Mazar. The excavations have revealed no less than 18 successive ancient towns.
History Neolithic and Chalcolithic Ages In 1933, archaeologist G.M. FitzGerald, under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania Museum, 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 or Early Chalcolithic periods (sixth to fifth millennia BC.)Braun, Eliot. Early Beth Shean (Strata XIX–XIII): G.M. FitzGerald's Deep Cut on the Tell, p. 28 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 IB (–3050/3000 BCE) and continues throughout this period, is then missing during the Early Bronze Age II (/3000–2720 BCE), and then resumes in the Early Bronze Age IIIA (–2500 BCE).
During Early Bronze IIIB (–2350 BCE), IVA (–2150 BCE), IVB (–2020 BCE) there is a possible occupation gap due to drier climate conditions and periods of drought in the transitional phases.
Middle Bronze Age A large cemetery on the northern mound was in use from the Bronze Age to Byzantine times.Rowe, Alan. The Topography and History of Beth Shean. Philadelphia: 1930, p. v Canaanite graves dating from 2000 to 1600 BCE were discovered there in 1926.Rowe, p. 2
The Middle Bronze I (–1820 BCE) has a possible occupation gap.
The Middle Bronze Age II (–1550 BCE) in attested in Area R as Strata R-5–R-3.
Late Bronze Age The Late Bronze Age IA (Stratum R-2). The Late Bronze Age IB–IIA (Stratum R-1).
Level X (LB I). Canaanite settlement. Contemporary with early 18th Dynasty of Egypt (Ahmose-Hatshepsut).
Egyptian period During the three hundred years of rule by the New Kingdom of Egypt, the population of Beit She'an appears to have been primarily Egyptian administrative officials and military personnel.
Level IX (LB IIA). After the conquest of Beit She'an by Pharaoh Thutmose III in the 15th century BCE, as recorded in an inscription at Karnak,No. 110: bt š'ir. Mazar, Amihai. "Tel Beth-Shean: History and Archaeology." In One God, One Cult, One Nation. Ed. R.G. Kratz and H. Spieckermann. New York: 2010, p. 239 the small town on the summit of the mound became the center of the Egyptian administration of the region.Mazar 242 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 University of Pennsylvania Museum (Penn Museum) may date from about the same period as Thutmose III's conquest, though the Hebrew University excavations suggest that it dates to a later period.Rowe, 10; http://www.rehov.org/project/tel_beth_shean.htm 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.Rowe 11 The Hebrew University excavations determined that this temple was built on the site of an earlier one.Mazar 247
One of the most important finds near the temple is the Lion and Lioness (or a dog) stela, currently in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, which depicts the two playing.Lion and Lioness playing, Israel Museum
Level VIII. Amarna period
Level VII (LB IIB). The town was completely rebuilt, following a new layout, during the 19th dynasty.Mazar 250 The Penn Museum excavations uncovered two important stelae from the period of Seti I and a monument of Ramesses II.Rowe 23–32 One of those steles is particularly interesting because it testifies to the presence Habiru, which Seti I protected from an Asiatic tribe. While William F. Albright identified the Habiru as "Hebrews"Albright W. "The smaller Beth-Shean stele of Sethos I (1309–1290 B.C.)", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, Feb 1952, pp. 24–32. that identification has been challenged by newer scholarship. 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.Mazar 256
During the 20th Dynasty, invasions of the "Sea Peoples" upset Egypt's control over the Eastern Mediterranean. 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.Mazar 253
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.Emanuel, Jeffrey P. “‘SEA PEOPLES’ IN EGYPTIAN GARRISONS IN LIGHT OF BETH-SHEAN, (RE-)RECONSIDERED.” Mediterranean Archaeology, vol. 28/29, 2015, pp. 1–22
Level VI (LB IIB). Stratum S-4. Egyptian garrison (early 20th Dyn. Ramesses III). Sherds of Mycenaean IIIC pottery.Mazar https://www.austriaca.at/0xc1aa5572_0x0016ae7b.pdf
Iron Age
Iron IA Iron IA (c. 1150-1080 BCE). Stratum S-3. Egyptian garrison (late 20th Dyn. Ramesses IV-VI). Four sherds of Mycenaean IIIC pottery.Mazar https://www.austriaca.at/0xc1aa5572_0x0016ae7b.pdf Destruction of the Egyptian garrison
Iron IB An Iron Age IB (c. 1080–950, cf. 21st Dynasty of Egypt) Canaanite city was constructed on the site of the Egyptian center shortly after its destruction.
The Hebrew Bible identifies Beit She'an as where the bodies of King Saul and three of his sons were hung by the Philistines after the Battle of Gilboa. The Philistines prevailed and Saul died in battle together with three of his sons, Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchishua, (1 Samuel and 1 Chronicles, ). states that "the victorious Philistines hung the body of King Saul on the walls of Beit She'an". Later, the people of Jabesh-Gilead 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.
refers to Beit She'an as part of the kingdom of Solomon, though the historical accuracy of this list is debated.Mazar 263 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.
Iron II Level V (Iron IIA). Stratum S1.
Level IV (Iron IIB). Fortified city in the Northern Kingdom of Samaria/Israel.
Assyrian period