Beit She'an


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 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. 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, pagans, Jews and Samaritans. After the Arab conquest of the Levant, and following a series of devastating earthquakes, 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. 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.
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, 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 Occupation continued intermittently throughout the Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods, with a likely gap during the Late Chalcolithic period.

Early Bronze Age

Settlement seems to have resumed at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age IB and continues throughout this period, is then missing during the Early Bronze Age II, and then resumes in the Early Bronze Age IIIA.

Middle Bronze Age

A large cemetery on the northern mound was in use from the Bronze Age to Byzantine times. Canaanite 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 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 excavated by the University of Pennsylvania 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. 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 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 stela, currently in the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, which depicts the two playing.
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. 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 and a monument of Ramesses II. One of those steles is particularly interesting because, according to William F. Albright, 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" 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.
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.
Beth Shean Level VI
  • LB IIB. Stratum S-4. Egyptian garrison. Sherds of Mycenaean IIIC pottery.

    Iron Age

Iron IA

  • Iron IA. Stratum S-3. Egyptian garrison. Four sherds of Mycenaean IIIC pottery.
  • Destruction of the Egyptian garrison

    Iron IB

An Iron Age IB 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, . 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. 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

Assyrian period
The Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom of Israel under Tiglath-Pileser III brought about the destruction of Beit She'an by fire.
Minimal reoccupation occurred until the Hellenistic period.

Classical Age

Hellenistic period

The Hellenistic period saw the reoccupation of the site of Beit She'an under the new name "Scythopolis", meaning "City of the Scythians", possibly named after the Scythian 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 tombs. 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 between the Ptolemaic and Seleucid dynasties. In 198 BCE the Seleucids finally conquered the region.

Roman period

In 63 BCE, Pompey made Judea a part of the Roman Republic. Beit She'an was refounded and rebuilt by Gabinius. The town center shifted from the summit of the mound, or tell, to its slopes. Scythopolis prospered and became the leading city of the Decapolis, the only one west of the Jordan River.
The city flourished under the "Pax Romana", as evidenced by high-level urban planning and extensive construction, including the best preserved Roman theatre of ancient Samaria, as well as a hippodrome, a cardo and other trademarks of the Roman influence. Mount Gilboa, away, provided dark basalt blocks, as well as water to the town. Beit She'an is said to have sided with the Romans during the early phase of the First Jewish–Roman War 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 cut into its side. Bodies were placed directly in the loculi, or inside sarcophagi which were placed in the loculi. A sarcophagus with an inscription identifying its occupant in Greek as "Antiochus, the son of Phallion", may have held the cousin of Herod the Great. One of the most interesting Roman grave finds was a with the handle in the form of an animal leg, or hoof, now in the University of Pennsylvania Museum.