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| Beth Shean |
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Source:
Survey
of Western Palestine: The Maps. |
Beth Shean
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From the Fountain of Harod to Beisan, the modern representative of
Beth-shan, is a pleasant ride of about nine miles. The road leads down the
valley of Jezreel, through fields and meadows of extraordinary fertility. The
soil is rich and water abundant; the people, too, who now possess it seem to be
industrious. . . . There are several large fountains in the valley which send
copious streams to the Jordan. Owing to the abundant waters and the damming up
of some of the streams, a large section of the valley round Beth-shan is a
morass. The whole valley is among the most productive in Galilee. But it has
some serious drawbacks. The heat is oppressive in summer, owing to the fact that
it lies considerably below the level of the sea and is shut in between the
ridges of Moreh and Gilboa. Malarious fever is prevalent, and the resident
natives seem feeble and sickly. The plain is also to some extent exposed to the
raids of the Arabs from the east of the Jordan, though of late, owing to
increased vigour and watchfulness on the part of the Turkish Government, they
are kept in check, and cultivation is progressing. (Source: Galilee and the Jordan, p.
193.) |
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Beth Shean from South, Site of Recent
Excavations |
Source: Matson Collection. |
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The ruins of Beth-shan are very extensive,
covering an irregular area nearly three miles
in circuit. They are intersected by deep
ravines, through which perennial streams flow.
When rain falls heavily the streams become
foaming torrents. The site of the old city is
singular. It is a natural terrace at the
eastern end of the valley, where it drops down
abruptly three hundred feet or more into the
great valley of the Jordan. On the north,
spurs of the range of Moreh stretch out to the
ruins; on the south, but at the distance of a
mile or more, rises the steeper and higher
ridge of Gilboa. The stream from the Fountain
of Harod flows through the ruins in a very
deep ravine, and it is joined by another
smaller stream and ravine from the south.
Between the two, at the point of junction, is
the most striking natural feature of Beth-shan—a
conical hill two hundred feet high, with steep
and, in places, precipitous sides. This was
the ancient acropolis, and a position of great
natural strength. It was defended by walls and
towers, portions of which still remain.
(Source: Galilee and the Jordan, pp. 194-95.) |
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Source: Galilee and the Jordan, p. 194. |
Beisan (Beth-Shan)—East Bridge, Citadel,
and Theatre |
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. . . a street or road lined with
colonnades led round the base of the hill and
over the southern ravine to a theatre some
distance up the bank. Many of the columns and
portions of the entablature lie on the ground
amid heaps of rubbish and jungles of thorns,
thistles, and rank grass. This seems to have
been the Via Recta of the Roman city,
like those of Palmyra, Gerasa, and Damascus.
Every important Roman city in the country
appears to have had such a street. The
principal part of the ancient city lay to the
south of the citadel-hill, in the valleys, and
on the table-land beyond. The Theatre is one
of the most perfect, and at the same time one
of the very finest, specimens of pure Roman
architecture in Western Palestine. On the bank
above it is a large Hippodrome, and around it
are the remains of several temples and other
public buildings; but all so completely ruined
and so overgrown with thorns and rank
vegetation that it would be impossible without
much labour and excavation to ascertain their
original design. (Source: Galilee and the Jordan, p.
195.) |
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Beth Shean Excavations, Remains of
Byzantine Portal |
Source: Matson Collection. |
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The Philistines occupied the city at an
early period, and it long continued to be
their principal fortress in the north of
Palestine. Standing on the top of the citadel,
and closely examining the topography of the
extensive panorama around me, I was able more
fully to understand how the “valiant men of
Jabesh” accomplished their daring feat of
taking down the bodies of Saul and his sons
from the wall. They were doubtless fastened to
the most conspicuous part of the wall,
probably near or over the principal gate. From
the base of the citadel a deep ravine runs
down to the Jordan valley. Up this it was
comparatively easy for a little band of active
mountaineers to ascend in the night, to scale
the wall, to remove the bodies, and to carry
them away beyond the Jordan, most probably
without being seen. (Source: Galilee and
the Jordan,
p. 196.) |
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Source: Matson Collection. |
Beth Shean, Village |
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The modern village of Beisan is poor and
very dirty. The houses are mostly of mud, and
the general aspect is that of a village on the
banks of the Nile. There is one large and
rather imposing stone house, occupied by the
Turkish governor, and probably built for him.
It is distinguished by the high-sounding name
Serai, “palace.” On the occasion of my
last visit to Beisan I was invited to remain
in it during my short stay. So much was I
impressed by the name “palace,” and by an
invitation from “the governor,” that I entered
and sat down on the floor; for there
was neither chair nor carpet, nor mat, nor
furniture of any description. Of course, after
a very formal salute to “His Excellency,” who
squatted in a corner, and who very kindly
ordered a sumptuous repast to be served up, I
withdrew to my tent, though the thermometer
stood at about 98° Fahr. The heat was more
tolerable than the fleas and other creatures
with which the palace swarmed. Not far from
the Serai is a ruined mosque, apparently once
a church. (Source: Galilee and the Jordan, p. 196.) |
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See
Caesarea,
Acco,
Nazareth,
Huleh Valley,
or
Sea of Galilee |
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