The City of Bet-Shean - 8,000 Years of History

The city of Bet Shean - one of the magnificent sites in Israel with a history of 8,000 years, through which many empires traversed: Greek, Egyptian, Persian, Assyrian & more.

Beit Shean is mentioned in the Bible several times and is best known as the site where King Saul and his sons were hung from the city walls. (Samuel 1 ch:31 v:10-13).

The Bet She’an National Park houses the spectacular ruins of the glory that was the Roman and Byzantine city of Bet She’an. Rising above them is the high Tel (mound) on which Biblical Bet She’an stood.

In the 1st century BCE the Romans re-built the city around the Tel and it was a significant metropolis that became to be a flourishing multi-cultural Roman city. Then the Byzantines took over, and in the 7th century the Muslims conquered and ruled until 749 AD.

In 749 AD the city suffered a massive earthquake. It was abandoned and never truly regained its former status. Pretty much everything was left as it was – a true gem for 20th century archaeologists. In an earthquake it is common that all pillars and other fall in the same direction, which made it easier to re-erect and restore the pillars and walls as they were before the earthquake. The excavation and reconstruction offer a clear picture of what the city would have looked like, as you can well see from the pictures in the video.

After the city was abandoned, the Muslims built nearby a small village that was called “Bisan”.

This video focuses on the center of the city, and not on the city neighborhoods. We know exactly where the city walls were, the location of the neighborhoods, however in the city center are the most important finds which tell us the story of this magnificent Roman city.

Bet-Shean remains one of the cities in Israel most at risk to earthquakes, given it is located on the Syrian-African Rift.

Nowadays, Bet-Shean National Park is probably one of the most impressive and busiest parks in Israel.