Beit Shean
- Jeremy Hoover
- Oct 23, 2022
- 4 min read
Updated: Nov 18, 2022
About
A massive set of ruins in the north of Israel, just south of the Sea of Gallilee (Kinneret in Hebrew) and close to the border with Jordan.
You can see 20 different cities built on top of each other over several thousand years.
The oldest artifacts found are from ~6,000 years ago.
It's nicknamed the Pompeii of Israel because the Roman ruins are so well preserved (the city was destroyed by an earthquake).
The history
Starting ~3,500 years ago it was an Egyptian administrative center after they conquered Tel Megiddo from the Canaanites.
King Saul's body was found hanging dead here alongside his 3 sons in the 11th century BCE (~3,000 years ago), after being killed in nearby Tel Meggido.
King David then conquered and destroyed the town by fire in the 10th century BCE (~2,900 years ago).
It then was rebuilt and became a thriving Jewish city for a few years, before the Egyptians attacked again.
The Assyrians finally conquered and destroyed the city in the 8th century BCE (~2,700 years ago).
The Hellenistic Greeks arrived during the second temple period (~2,200 years ago), and changed the name to Scythopolis.
The Jewish Hasmoneans conquered the area for a short time, before Romans took over the city (~2,000 years ago).
They then rebuilt it on the foot of the hill as the capital of the Decapolis (10 great cities in what was then the eastern part of the Roman Empire). They called it Nisa Scythopolis.
In the 4th century CE (~1,700 years ago) there was an earthquake that destroyed a large part of the city.
It was then rebuilt in the 5th century (~1,600 years ago) as a Byzantine city, and had a diverse Jewish and Christian population.
In the 8th century (~1,300 years ago) another earthquake hit and completely destroyed the city.
It was occupied by Muslim Arabs at the time. They called it Beisan, but didn't restore the Roman ruins.
The Christian Crusaders occupied the area for a short time in the the 11th century (~1,000 years ago), and called it Beth Shean.
Saladin attacked shortly after and pushed the Crusaders out.
The Crusaders and Mamluks continued to fight for ~200 years, with the city being destroyed and rebuilt several times.
In the 13th century CE (~800 years ago) the final battles of the Battle of Ayn Jault were fought here (most the fighting between the Mongols and Mamluks happened at the nearby Herod's Spring/Ayn Jault).
In the 14th century CE (~700 years ago) there was a small Jewish community, many famous Christians lived here, and it had become an important city for the Mamluks - who were continuing to expand after defeating the Mongols.
During the Ottoman period (~500-100 years ago) it declined, and it remained a small village until the British Mandate period (~100-75 years ago).
A 1945 British land survey found ~5,000 people living in the town. Most of the residents fled during Israel's war of independence, and the rest moved to nearby Nazareth after the creation of Israel.
In 1949 a new town called Beit Shean was set up for immigrants to Israel from Iran, Iraq, Romania and north Africa (Tunisia, Egypt, Morroco).
The archaeology
The remains of an Egyptian govenor's house (shown above) have been found on the tel (manmade hill), along with several Egyptian artifacts, including some with heiroglyphics.
The most stunning ruins you can find are a Roman amphitheater, a hippodrome, city streets lined with mosaics, a bath house, marble columns and floors, temples, a nymphaeum, and a public toilet.
The amphitheater
The amphitheater was built in the 2nd century (~1,900 years ago) and could fit up to 7,000 people at the time.
It's the best preserved Roman theater in modern Israel.
The bath house
There's a bath house featuring a well-preserved water-heating system used for a sauna.
They pumped in hot air and water under the floors to create steam.
The pillars you see would be under the floor off the sauna.
Here you'll find 4 pools and 8 steam rooms.
The public toilet
The public toilet is very well preserved and gives you a very good sense of how it worked.
Mosaics and art
Each side of the main street is also lined with mosaics.
A Greek mosaic inscription tells us that a side of the street was restored by Palladius in the 5th century BCE (~1,600 years ago).
There are several other mosaics, inscriptions and other pieces of art in the city.
Column capitals
There are many tops of columns (capitals) and other beautiful carved rock that can be found in the area.
There are also several large public buildings, a market, drainage pipes, and residences.
Nearby, archeologists found a well-preserved mosaic from a 5th century (~1,600 years ago) synagogue. It features a similar design to those found in Beit Alfa and Tzippori, including menorahs, shofars and other traditional Jewish symbols (it's in a museum in Jerusalem).
There are the remains of a Mosque built during Arab rule, sometime after the 7th century (~1,400 years ago), which was later restored by the Mamluks.
The Crusaders used the Roman bath house to create baptismals.
There are also well-maintained Turkish government buildings from the 18th century (~300 years ago) in the area.
Herod's Stream (Nahal Herod) runs near the city, which sits between the Jezreel and Jordan valleys.
Along the river you can find a several bridges created by the Romans.
Some of the bridges are still in use, while others have been destroyed.
Here's some more pictures from the ruins.
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