Mt. Gilboa & Bet-Shean

Mt. Gilboa is the Northern part of the Samaritan ridge. It is also the Southern border of the Jezreel Valley. This area is mentioned in the Bible a few times, one of them is the last battle of King Saul and his 3 sons: Malkishua, Jonathan and Aminadav who were all killed in this battle.

There are many Kibbutzim in this valley and it is an agricultural area with lots of farming: fish ponds, dairies, and many other crops.

The Jezreel Valley at the footsteps of Mt. Gilboa, also known as the Armageddon Valley – is the biggest valley in Israel and is very fertile. It has many natural springs; and the municipality for this area takes its name after these springs and is called: the Springs’ Valley Municipality. Only to remind you that we are a desert country, 70% of Israel is desert.

The city of Bet-Shean, is first mentioned in the Bible in Joshua 17 where this area is allocated to the tribe of Menashe. To note, it was never conquered by Joshua or his army. The next time it is mentioned is in Samuel 1 ch:31 v:10-13. Here we are told that the Philistines take the bodies of the 3 sons of Saul and hang them on the city walls.

At a later date, King David conquered all the cities of the Philistines including Bet-Shean and King Solomon ruled over this area.

Join us and visit this magnificent area and ancient city. Click here for more details on the “ReLive the Bible” Tours: http://bit.ly/ReLIVEtheBibleTours.

For more information on King Saul, go to: http://bit.ly/KingSaul.

I’d like to thank the Ministry of Tourism and JD Farag for these videos.