Beit She'an National Park

Back in January we were thrilled to hear that the lovely couple who run the bed and breakfast agrotourism in Cyprus, where we stayed for part of our trip in 2016, were coming to Israel. They were going to be based for some of the time at Neve Eitan, a kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley in northern Israel. A quick google told me that they were very near to the Beit She'an National Park so, when they asked if we could meet, I suggested a visit there. Summer in Beit She'an is notoriously hot and dry and so it is an area we have generally avoided when travelling north during school holidays. January was the perfect time to visit and, even though it had been raining non-stop for days, we were lucky and spent a beautiful winter's day with our friends.

Beit She'an National Park houses the spectacular ruins of the Roman and Byzantine city of Beit She'an. Rising above the ruins is the high mound, or tel, on which Biblical Beit She'an stood. The name shean possibly relates to the modern word sheannanut, meaning tranquillity. Thus Beit She'an could mean "House of Tranquillity." Another thought is that Shean was probably the name of an ancient god, so the name means "House of Shean," and probably refers to an ancient temple to the god Shean which stood on the site. Whatever the meaning, Beit She'an has a long and fascinating past and we had a wonderful time exploring the Roman public baths, a 7,000-seat theatre, a marketplace and other well-preserved structures.

People made their homes on Beit She'an tel as long ago as the 5th millennium BCE. In the late Canaanite period (16th - 12th centuries BCE) the Egyptians ruled the area and the entire land of Israel. The Philistines also ruled the city for a time and later, in 732 BCE, the Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III destroyed Beit She'an in a campaign of war against the Kingdom of Israel.

During the Hellenistic period (4th century BCE), new settlers established a polis, or city-state, in Beit She'an. They adorned the streets with columns, temples, theatres, markets, bathhouses and fountains. The city was called Nysa-Scythopolis in Greek. In 63 BCE, after a brief period of Hasmonean rule, the city was conquered by the Romans. It became home to 30,000 to 40,000 citizens and magnificent public buildings were constructed in the prosperous city.

During the Byzantine period too, when the state religion was Christianity, Beit She'an continued to flourish. The city covered an area of 1,300 dunams and was home to more than 40,000 residents. It was known as an excellent agricultural area and noted for the production of good quality linen fabrics.

After the Arab conquest in the first half of the 7th century Beit She'an lost its regional importance and in 749 the city was completely destroyed by a powerful earthquake. Beit She'an became a rural settlement and during the Crusader period a fortress was built there, to the east of the ruined amphitheatre, making use of many of its building stones.
After the founding of the State of Israel, Beit She'an was reestablished and began to grow. The ruins, which are the pride of the city, have undergone major restoration and reconstruction, allowing special events and performances to take place in the ancient streets and theatre.

One of the most impressive structures at Beit She'an is the Roman theatre, above, the first place to visit once you have entered the park. It was built at the end of the 2nd century CE though only the lowermost block of seats, with 23 rows, has survived intact. Today we can see about 2,000 seats but the original construction was three times higher!

The Western bathhouse, below, was used during the Byzantine period. Inside the bathhouse were eight halls and four open bathing pools surrounded by columns. Fountains stood between the pools. The bathhouse had its own underfloor heating system, a hypocaust. Water was heated using fire and injected inside, making the rooms above very hot.

The reconstructed Palladius Street is a 150 metre long colonnaded street. Along the length of the street are the remains of columns and impressive buildings. The street was named after the governor who built the portico alongside it. The name appears in an inscription found in the street. This was a commercial street and there were shops in the portico. The street is straight, allowing for better wind circulation throughout the city, and there are slopes on each side of it for drainage.

Nearby are the ruins of a large Roman temple. The four huge columns of its facade, 9.5 metres high and weighing 25 tons each, collapsed in the 749 earthquake and since then have remained lying on the ground where they fell. The temple is in a central place, at the main intersection of streets in Beit She'an, yet it is not known who was worshipped there.

We climbed a steep flight of stairs to the top of Tel Beit She'an. Some twenty settlement strata have been uncovered, the most ancient dates from the 5th millennium BCE and the most recent from medieval times. From the top of the tel there is a spectacular view of Beit She'an and the surrounding area.

Back at the bottom we walked along Sylvanus Street, originally a Roman road flanked on either side by a monumental colonnade, below. On either side of the street are the ruins of shops and a large pool. During the Byzantine period the Roman road was overlaid by a new street.

Another large bathhouse, built during the Roman period, has been partially uncovered between Sylvanus Street and the theatre and next to the bathhouse are the public lavatories, below, built for the benefit of theatre visitors and bathhouse users. As you can see in the picture, there is a small courtyard with columns. That was the waiting area. If there were no empty places, people waited and sometimes used this area to close deals. Long marble plinths were set against the walls of the courtyard, creating 57 toilet seats. Under the seats were sewage channels through which water flowed, carrying the waste to the municipal drainage system. The first channel is straight beneath the sitting places. The second much narrower one is in front of the sitting places and was used for washing hands. There was running water at all times.

Then it was back to the theatre, ending our circular tour of the park. Beit She'an National Park is without doubt the best preserved ancient Roman city in Israel and definitely worth a visit, although what you see today is only a small part of the city. Archaeological studies show that there is still more underground than discovered. Back in December 2018 two Roman statues made of local limestone were discovered by a Beit She'an resident who took a stroll north of the ancient tel and noticed the top of a head of one of the statues (it was probably peeking through after the rains washed the ground around it). Restoration and digging continues to this day, so a visit to the park every few years will always bring something new.

* This post has been shared on The Good. The Random, The Fun., Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday), Sharon's Souvenirs, Our World Tuesday, Pictorial Tuesday, Travel Tuesday, My Corner of the World and All Seasons.