Beth Shean |
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Written by Stephen Langfur |
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Large portions of the First Testament become comprehensible when we stand on the tell of Beth Shean, within the modern Israeli city of that name, and look around. In addition, an immense Roman city is being unearthed below, bringing home to us what it signified, physically, when Rome appeared in the land.
What made Beth Shean important? First, its geography. As a result of faulting, the Jezreel Valley - here in the form of the Harod River - branches off to the west from the Jordan. In this area the Jordan has several good fords. (At the time of the First Testament there were no bridges in the land.) One could come down off the King's Highway - say, via Pella - ford the Jordan, and then make a gentle ascent to Beth Shean and thence to Megiddo, there joining the Great Trunk Road to Egypt. Thus the way through Beth Shean was the best road linking the two international routes. We may put the matter as follows: Whoever controlled the Great Trunk Road and the King's Highway held the land in a pincers. But a pincers requires a screw to join the two pieces. That screw was Beth Shean. ![]() In addition, the city had abundant water. Two streams flowed on either side of the mound, although today there is only one, the Harod. The soil was extremely good. In the Byzantine period Scythopolis became famous for its linen, which it manufactured from the flax it grew in the Jezreel Valley.
Several indicators show that the ancients appreciated Beth Shean's strategic importance:
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Holy Land
Galilee: Arbel cliff | Mount of Beatitudes | Capernaum | Dan | Hammat Tiberias | Kursi | Beth Shean | Nazareth | Sepphoris | Banias (Caesarea Philippi) | Bethsaida | Chorazin | Gamla | Hazor | Tabgha | Cana | Megiddo | Mount Tabor
Coast : Caesarea Maritima
Highlands : Bethlehem | Jerusalem | Shechem (Nablus) | Muhraka on Mount Carmel | Hebron | Herodium | Mamre | Solomon's Pools
Jerusalem : Jerusalem: Introduction | Mount of Olives | Gethsemane | St. Peter in Gallicantu | Mount Zion | The Upper Room | Via Dolorosa | Church of the Holy Sepulcher | The Cemeteries of Jerusalem | St. Anne's Church and Pool of Bethesda | Pater Noster Church and Mosque of Ascension | Excavations around the Temple platform | Ein Kerem | City of David | Western Wall | Temple Mount | Al-Aqsa Mosque | Dome of the Rock | Shrine of the Book | Yad va Shem
Shephelah : The Shephelah: An Introduction | Emmaus | The Valley of Elah | Maresha | Lachish
Dead Sea : Dead Sea | Jericho | Qumran | Ein Gedi | Masada
Negev : Beersheba | Arad | Avdat | Timna
JORDAN
Northern Section : Gadara | Pella | Ajloun | Jerash | Umm el-Jimal
Central Section : Iraq al-Amir | Baptismal | Mount Nebo | Madaba | Machaerus | Um ar-Rasas
Grazing Land : Karak
Desert : Desert Retreats | Tafilah | Shobak | Little Pettra | Patra | Aqaba | Wadi Rum