Scrolls from the Holy Land – 9 : Beit She’an
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Next post: Safed and the Kabbalah
Main street of the ancient city of Beit She’an
Beit She’an (बेट श्यान, खरंच एखाद्या बेटासारखं ‘शानदार’ शहर आहे) is a city between Jerusalem and Tiberius, very close to Jordan. Historically, this location has been important due to its proximity to the Jordan river and the Jezreel valley. It acted as a gateway to the interior and the strategic location made it vulnerable to attacks.
History:
Beit Shean was first controlled by Pharaoh Tutmose III around 15th century BCE and it was a prominent Egyptian administrative center. Later, it was captured by the Canaanites who defended the place from attacks by Israelites. It was controlled by the Philistines around 11th century BCE. There was a tragic battle between Israelites and Philistines and the bodies of Israelite king Saul and his son were hung on the streets of Beit Shean. Later this city was held by king Solomon. Around 9th century BCE the city was ruled by Pharoah Shishaq.
Tired? There’s more…
During Hellenistic period (4th century BCE – 1st century BCE) this city was ruled by the Greeks and called Scythopolis. Around 64 BCE the Romans took over and they undertook massive planned urban constructions. This was the most prosperous phase of the city and it became a prominent commercial and cultural centre. The Byzantines administered between near 4th century CE and 7th century CE. The city was predominantly Christian, but excavations of Jewish and Samaritan Synagogues might explain the presence of minorities. The Roman pagan temples were destroyed and replaced by new places of worship. In 634 CE, the city was captured by the Muslims, and renamed as Beisan. The Muslims preserved the city and people of various religions lived here until 8th century CE.
The city was razed during the earthquake of 749 CE.
Crusaders arrived in 11th century, later replaced by Mamluks and Ottomans. However, the significance of the city as a commercial center was totally lost.
Getting there:
Beit She’an is connected by few buses that ply between Jerusalem and Tiberias. However it is easily accessible by the Connex bus network from Tiberias.
Beit She’an National Park:
The National park looks quite overwhelming at first look. At the entrance is a gigantic Roman Theater.
The Roman theatre had a seating capacity of 7000-8000 people and a number of performances were conducted here. There are separate sections for common citizens and the VIP’s. I stood on the sage and looked at the galleries surrounding me. It must have been really beautiful during the time it was being used.
There are two bathhouses which served as recreational centres for the civilians and the elite. The bath houses have an elegant design and floors covered with mosaic tiles.
Next to the bath house, the Byzantines built a semi-circular market plaza. One of the rooms holds a grand mosaic of Tyche, the Roman goddess of good fortune. Her crown is a walled city (Scythopolis) and in her hand she holds the horn of plenty, full to the brim with riches.
The main city street is covered by basalt rock. It has a systematic drainage system and sidewalks on both sides. The street leads us to the bottom of a hill (called Tel तेल which served as the administration base (तळ) of the city.
A temple of Dionysos, the patron God of the city was located at the corner of the street. Stairs from here led to the peak of the hill that had a temple of Zeuss.
The view of the entire ancient city looks fantastic from the summit. 
The whole place is still being dug and restored, I am sure the guys find something exciting every day.
I stood at the top of the hill. You can see Jordan to the east side and this grand city to the west. I closed my eyes and went back thousands of years into history trying to imagine how lovely it must have been here then.
Previous post: Cycling around Sea of Galilee
Next post: Safed and the Kabbalah
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Nice come back. Beit has a painful histories of wars, mainly King Saul and his son Jonathan. Saul chose to kill himself by falling on his sword rather than surrendering to the enemy (Philistines). Theythen cut off his head and hung his and his son’s bodies on the city walls.
King David wrote a famous poem for the loss of King Saul and Jonathan. Jonathan was his best friend and David described that his love was ‘more wonderful than the love of women’
(hmm… interesting)
The main street in Beit Shean is named after king Saul today.
Sorry to bore you with more historys, this is fascinats me very much.
↵liked the main street photo on the top!
↵Yair:
I am always interested in history, so feel free to add information to my posts here
Gauri:
↵Me too, its lovely!
Hey there,
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
↵TDD:
↵Welcome to my blog, and, ditto
Hey Puku !!
How’re you doing ? I had read all your posts on this series thru reader, tried commenting twice but don’t know why sometimes your blog doesn’t open. So, commenting now & here only.
Really great series going on & I am enjoying your diary very much. Very well narrated, you made us feel as if we were there with you. The pictures are awesome including yours, churches, the wall and main street of Beit She’an. And your Marathi quotes sprinkled here & there added charm to it.
Before your departure there, I knew you had done your homework nicely but still so many things came up as a surprise to you. I wonder what’ll happen to a traveler who is totally unaware of the place/customs.
That shabbat dance looked like a tantrik dance to me. Weren’t you scared even a bit ? I would have
You know what, I always thought that you’d look like your profile picture and it was very different, Puku !
↵Keep writing.
One more query-
↵I am wondering how they allowed you in their prayer area. In India, we Hindus would have cried seeing a different religion person entering the temple. Even Hindus are not allowed in some of the temples like in Sabari Malai (Kerala).
Cuckoo:
Wow, so nice to see your comment (I was waiting for it) and I am very glad to know that you enjoyed the stories
Shabbat dance is really cool, I was a little wary of the place initially (not just the dance, but overall) but my mind said ‘just go’ and so I did!
Re: allowing in prayer area – well not all Hindu temples have these restrictions, I just know Jagannath, Sabrimalai and a few other big ones. The irony is Lord Jagannath is the ‘Lord of the Universe’ and the priests don’t allow ‘outisders’, I think its just the priests who are given too much powers to decide.
↵i shut my eyes too and wonder whats next in line to be discovered …History is amazing ..thanks Priyank ..
↵-lakshmi
backpakker (Lakshmi):
Thanks!
↵I promise to bring you more interesting stuff
wow i’m impressed! i did not know Israel was so beautiful and had such a rich historical background.
↵Great travel blog here!
nice read!!….lovely place ..and u have captured it beautifully……..must have been a grand city in its time!!!
↵morinn:
Welcome to my blog.
Israel is the cradle of Abrahamic history, anything they have is two thousand years old!
shooting star:
Yeah it must have been really beautiful!
↵Thanks so much
Hi Priyank, wow nice travel, and looks like you know your stuff. I enjoy viewing your images, they are very nice. Thanks for sharing. Anna
↵Anna:
↵Nice to see you back here, thanks for your comments!
You closed your eyes and went back into history.
I hope to get a chance someday to, at least, do some rubbernecking westwards from the other side.
Another lovely post and great pictures, the B/W ones had the dramatic effect of emphasizing the history of the place.
↵Celine:
↵rubbernecking westwards… ?? eh, I didn’t understand that one
“You can see Jordan to the east side and this grand city to the west.”
My comment was in context to the above. I hope to stretch my neck to catch sight of what lays on the western side of Jordan.
↵Small, tiny complaint — waiting several days between posts is tough for an impatient person! You are my Israel ‘fix’ — in my travels no place has touched me like Israel — odd to feel almost homesick for a place I’ve visited twice! So — please keep it coming, because you are doing a fine job exploring and revealing the many aspects of Israel.
↵Celine:
Ah yes, I get it! and although I’ve already seen some of it, I wanna go again
AZZenny:
↵Oh,.. Sorry for the delay… I’ll try to post some tomorrow and over the weekend. Too tied up with school work and work work…
[...] बाबा आमटे यांचे निधन Priyank on Judgment unrestrained AZZenny on Scrolls from the Holy Land – 9 : Beit She’an Priyank on You made my day Priyank on Bike Trails trisha on Judgment unrestrained aMmAr on Bike [...]
↵hello priyank,
i happened upon your blog searching for a way to cross border from nazareth to sheihk hussein border. it seems quite interesting. i may go to beit she’an instead of nazareth. do you happen to know if there are transportations available between beit she’an and the jordan river/sheikh hussein crossing?
thank you very much for any information that you can fathom for me.
↵one more question – are there any place to stay in beit she’an?
i couldn’t find any hotel on internet.
thanks.
↵Anita
Welcome to my blog and I am glad that this entry made you rethink about Beit Shean.
Regarding your querry, I would suggest asking the question on Trip Advisor Forum and many people can help you out. I would think that there are taxis from Beit She’an because the border is quite close.
Places to stay in Bet Shane: Yes there is one Israel Youth Hostels Association (IYHA) runs a youth hostel, check this link.
Happy travels!
↵wow….priyank, just finished reading abt your Israel trips…am envious, I must say, i have always wanted to visit Israel. wonderful blog, great pictures and detail. thanks for stopping by my blog. now I’ll start reading abt ur Peru trip
another country on my must see list!
↵oh gosh! I bumped upon your blog and have now gotten hooked. I’m really envious. But, then your blog is one of the kind. Assorted and simply superb, I must say.
↵Guess what, the previous week I completed ‘The Class’ by Erich Segal and the next week I got to read this. Btw, ‘The Class’ has a lot of this Israel, Jerusalem, Jew ism, Dead Sea, Jordad-Egypt-Israel relationship et al and not to mention Tel Aviv too. It was such reviving. Great dude!
Hey Akhila,
↵Welcome to my blog and thanks for stopping by to comment! Greatly appreciated! I’m happy that you liked reading the little tour!
cheers!