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{{Infobox Israel muni
|name=Beit She'an
|image=BetShe'an - panorama of mountains in Jordan with Tell El-Husn.jpg
|imgsize=250px
|caption=View from Beit She'an towards Jordan
|hebname={{Hebrew|בֵּית שְׁאָן}}
|arname=بيت شان
|meaning="house of the God Shan" or "house of tranquillity"{{Fact|date=May 2007}} <!--please provide the original source used in Shahin's travel book-->
|founded=
|type=city
|typefrom=
|stdHeb=Bet Šəʼan
|altOffSp=Bet She'an
|altUnoSp=Beth Shean
|district=north
|population=18,000
|popyear=2007
|area=7,100
|areakm=7.1
|mayor=
}}
{{Audio|He-Bet_Shean.ogg|'''Beit She'an'''}} ({{lang-he-n|בֵּית שְׁאָן}}, {{unicode|Bet Šəʼan}}; unofficially also spelled '''Beth Shean'''; official Israeli {{lang-ar|بيت شان}} Bayt Šān; {{lang-ar|بيسان}} '''{{Audio|ArBisan.ogg|Beesān}}''', also spelled '''Beisan''' or '''Bisan''')<ref name=Shahin>{{cite book |last=Shahin |first=Mariam |title=Palestine:A Guide |year=2005 |publisher=Interlink Books |isbn=156656557X |pages=pp. 159-165 }}</ref> is a city in the [[North District (Israel)|North District]] of [[Israel]].
The modern Israeli city of Beit She'an was founded in 1949, a short time after the establishment of the State of [[Israel]]. Beit She'an lies 120 meters below [[sea level]] in the [[Jordan River|Jordan River Valley]], 60 km south of [[Tiberias]] on [[Highway 90 (Israel)|Highway 90]].
Beit She'an dates back over three thousand years and has long served as a regional center for nearby localities. Currently, it is the center for numerous villages in the [[Beit She'an Valley Regional Council]].
==History and geography==
Beit She'an's ___location has often been strategically significant, as it sits at the junction of the Jordan River Valley and the [[Jezreel Valley]], essentially controlling access from the interior to the coast, as well as from [[Jerusalem]] to the [[Galilee]]. Its name is believed to derive from the early [[Canaanite language|Canaanite]] "house of the God Shan" or "house of tranquility".{{Fact|date=May 2007}} <!--please provide the original source used in Shahin's travel book-->
[[Image:Thedecapolis.png|right|thumb|200px|Map of the [[Decapolis]] showing the ___location of Beit She'an, (here called by its Greek name, Scythopolis)]]
Beit She'an is first listed among [[Thutmose III]]'s conquests in the fourteenth century BCE, and the remains of an [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] administrative center from the [[Late Period of Ancient Egypt|XVIII and XIX dynasties]] have been excavated. The [[Bible]] mentions it as a [[Canaan]]ite city in the [[Book of Joshua]], and its conquest by [[David]] and inclusion in the later kingdom is noted, and large [[Solomon]]ic administrative buildings destroyed by [[Tiglath-pileser III]] were uncovered from this period.<ref name=JVL>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Archaeology/Beitshean.html|title=Beit She'an|publisher=[[Jewish Virtual Library]]}}</ref> Its ninth century BCE biblical capture by the [[Pharaoh]] [[Shishaq]] is corroborated by his victory list.
===Scythopolis===
During the [[Hellenistic period]] it had a [[Hellenization|Hellenised population]] and was called '''Scythopolis''', probably named after the [[Scythians|Scythian]] mercenaries who settled there as veterans, and [[Greek mythology]] has the city founded by [[Dionysus]] and his nursemaid [[Nysa (mythology)|Nysa]] buried there; thus it was known as '''Nysa-Scythopolis'''. Beit She'an is mentioned in 3rd-2nd centuries BCE written sources describing the wars of the [[Diadochi]] between the [[Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemid]] and [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid]] dynasties, as well as in the context of the [[Hasmonean]] [[Maccabees|Maccabee Revolt]], who ultimately destroyed the [[polis]] in the 2nd century BCE.<ref name=JVL/>
In 64 BCE it was taken by the Romans, rebuilt, and made the capital of the [[Decapolis]], the "Ten Cities" of [[Samaria]] that were centers of Greco-Roman culture, an event so significant that it based its [[calendar]] on that year. [[Pax Romana]] favoured the city, evidenced by its high-level urban planning and extensive construction including the best preserved [[Roman theatre (structure)|Roman theatre]] of ancient [[Samaria]] as well as a [[hippodrome]], [[cardo]], and other trademarks of the Roman influence. Mount [[Gilboa (ridge)|Gilboa]], 7 km away, provided dark [[basalt]] blocks as well as water via [[aqueduct]]. Many of the buildings of Scythopolis were damaged in the earthquake of 363, and in 409 it became the capital of the northern district, ''Palaestina Secunda''.<ref name=JVL/>
During the 4th-7th century [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] period, Beit She'an was primarily Christian, as attested to by the large number of churches, but Jewish and a [[Samaritan]] synagogue remains indicate established communities of these minorities. The pagan temple in the city centre was destroyed, but the [[nymphaeum]] and [[Thermae|Roman baths]] were restored. Many [[Dedication|dedicatory inscription]]s indicate a preference for donations to religious buildings, and many colourful [[mosiac]]s, such as that featuring the [[zodiac]] in the Monastery of Lady Mary, or the one picturing a [[menorah]] and [[shalom]] in the House of Leontius' Jewish synagogue, were preserved. A Samaritan synagogue's mosaic was unique in abstaining from human or animal images, instead utilising floral and geometrical motifs. Elaborate decorations were also found in the settlement's many luxurious villas, and in the 6th century especially, the city reached its maximum size of 40,000 and spread beyond its period [[Defensive wall|city wall]]s.<ref name="JVL"/>
[[Image:Beit Shean 2.jpg|thumb|right|350px|View of ancient Beit She'an]]
===Beisan===
In 634, Byzantine forces were defeated by the Muslim forces of [[Umar|Caliph Omar Ibn al-Khatab]] was renamed Beisan. The day of victory came to be known in Arabic as ''Youm Beisan'' or "the day of Beisan".<ref name=Shahin/> The city was not damaged and the newly arrived Muslims lived together with its Christian population until the 8th century, but the city declined during this period and its glorious Roman-Byzantine architecture was lost to neglect. Structures were built in the streets themselves, narrowing them to mere alleyways, and makeshift shops were opened among the colonnades. The city had reached a low point by the 8th century, witnessed by the removal of [[marble]] for producing [[Calcium oxide|lime]], the blocking off of the main street, and the conversion of a main plaza into a cemetery.<ref name=JVL/>
The city was mostly destroyed by an [[earthquake]] in 749 and lost much of its population and its regional importance, as documented in Jewish literary sources. A small group returned to settle there, but few remains of this period exist.<ref name=Shahin/>
Muslim and Arab chroniclers wrote of Beit She'an. Two notable examples include that of [[Al-Muqaddasi]] who wrote of it as "being on the river, with plentiful palm trees, and water, though somewhat heavy (brackish)," and Abi Obeid al-Andalusi who noted that the wine produced there was delicious.<ref name=Shahin/>
[[Crusade]]rs established a short-lived [[Crusader states|fiefdom]] and fortress called [[Belvoir Fortress (Israel)|Belvoir]] (Beauvoir) south of the ruined city, though they were ejected in 1263.
During [[Mamluk]] rule, Beit She'an was the principal town in the district of [[Damascus]] and a relay station for the postal service between Damascus and [[Cairo]].<ref name=Shahin/> It was also the capital of sugar cane processing for the region.<ref name=Shahin/> Jisr al-Maqtua', a bridge consisting of a single arch spanning 25 feet and hung 50 feet above a stream, was built during that period.<ref name=Shahin/>
Beit She'an was long home to a Jewish community during its centuries as an Arab town. The 14th century Jewish [[topographer]] [[Ishtori Haparchi]] settled there and completed his work ''Kaftor Vaferech'' in 1322, the first Hebrew book on the geography of Palestine.<ref name=Britannica>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9078948|title=Beit She'an|publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]}}</ref>
During the 400 years of [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] rule, Beisan lost its regional importance. During the reign of Sultan [[Abdul Hamid II]] when the [[Haifa]]-Damascus extension of the [[Hejaz railway]] was constructed, a limited revival took place. The local peasant population was largely impoverished by the Ottoman feudal land system which leased tracts of land to tenants and collected taxes from them for their use.<ref name=Shahin/>
The [[Swiss]]-[[Germans|German]] traveler Johann Ludwig Burkhart described Beisan in 1812 as "a village with 70 to 80 houses, whose residents are in a miserable state." In the early 1900s, though still a small and obscure village, Beisan was known for its plentiful water supply, fertile soil, and its production of olives, grapes, figs, almonds, apricots, and apples.<ref name=Shahin/>
The [[University of Pennsylvania]] carried out excavations of ancient Beit She'an in 1921–1933. They discovered many interesting relics from the [[Canaanites#Egyptian Canaan|Egyptian period]], most of which are preserved in the [[Rockefeller Museum]] in Jerusalem and some in the [[University of Pennsylvania Museum]] in [[Philadelphia]], [[United States]]. Excavations at the site are ongoing and reveal no less than 18 successive ancient towns. Ancient Beit She'an is one of the most impressive Roman and Byzantine sites in Israel, but attracts relatively few tourists due to its ___location slightly off the main tourist routes.
===20th century===
In 1934, [[Lawrence of Arabia]] noted that "Bisan is now a purely Arab village," where "very fine views of the river can be had from the housetops." He further noted that, "Many nomad and [[Bedouin]] encampments, distinguished by their black tents, were scattered about the riverine plain, their flocks and herds grazing round them."<ref name=Shahin/>
Beisan was home to a mainly [[Mizrahi Jews|Mizrahi Jew]]ish community of 95 until 1936, when the [[1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine|1936–1939 Arab revolt]] saw Beisan serve as a center of Arab attacks on Jews in Palestine.<ref name=Britannica/><ref name=Haaretz>{{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/831404.html|title=The other Beit She'an|author=Eli Ashkenazi|publisher=[[Haaretz]]|date=[[May 11]], [[2007]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Betshean.html|title=Virtual Israel Experience:Bet She'an|publisher=[[Jewish Virtual Library]]}}</ref>
In 1938, after learning of the murder of his close friend and Jewish leader Haim Sturmann, [[Orde Wingate]] led his men on a rampage in the Arab section of Beit She'an, the rebels’ suspected base. Wingate’s forces damaged property and wounded several people, and some may have been killed.<ref name=Azure>{{cite web|title=Orde Wingate: Friend Under Fire|author=Michael B. Oren|publisher=Azure:Ideas for the Jewish Nation|date=Winter 2001|accessdate=05.15.2007|url=http://azure.org.il/magazine/magazine.asp?id=31}}</ref>
According to population surveys conducted in [[British Mandate Palestine]], Beisan consisted of 5,080 Muslim Arabs out of a population of 5,540 (92% of the population), with the remainder being listed as Christians.{{Fact|date=May 2007}} In 1945, the surrounding "Beisan district" consisted of 16,660 Muslims (67%), 7,590 Jews (30%), and 680 Christians (3%), and Arabs owned 44% of land, Jews owned 34%, and 22% constituted public lands. The [[1947 UN Partition Plan]] allocated Beisan and most of its district to the proposed [[Jewish state]].<ref name=Shahin/><ref>{{cite book|title=A Survey of Palestine : Prepared in December, 1945 and January, 1946 for the Information of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry |page= 12-13|volume=1|publisher= Institute for Palestine Studies| year=1991|id = ISBN 0-88728-211-3}}</ref><ref>[http://domino.un.org/maps/m0094.jpg Land Ownership of Palestine] - Map prepared by the Government of Palestine on the instructions of the UN Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestine Question.</ref>
Jewish militias and local Bedouins first clashed during the [[1948 Arab-Israeli War]] in February and March 1948, part of [[Operation Gideon]],<ref name=Shahin/>{{Fact|date=May 2007}} which [[Walid Khalidi]] argues was part of a wider [[Plan Dalet]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Plan Dalet: Master Plan for the Conquest of Palestine|author=[[Walid Khalidi]]|publisher=[[Journal of Palestine Studies]]|volume=18, No. 1|date=Autumn 1988|accessdate=05.15.2007|pages=4 - 33|url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0377-919X(198823)18%3A1%3C4%3APDMPFT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Z}}</ref> [[Joseph Weitz]], a leading [[Zionist]] figure, wrote in his diary on [[May 4]] [[1948]] that, "The Beit Shean Valley is the gate for our state in the Galilee...[I]ts clearing is the need of the hour."<ref name=Shahin/>
Beisan fell to the Jewish militias three days before the end of [[British Mandate Palestine]]. After [[Israel's Declaration of Independence]] in May 1948, <!-- until a good source is found [[Palestinian exodus|6,000 Arabs were expelled from Beisan]],--> the property and communal buildings of the absent Arab population were confiscated and held by the state of Israel.<ref name=Shahin/> <!--Many were loaded onto trucks and taken to the Jordanian and Syrian borders where they were forced to cross.{{Fact|date=May 2007}} --> Most [[Palestinian Christian]]s were relocated to [[Nazareth]], including [[Naim Ateek]] and his family, who he says left after his father was told by the local Israeli military commander that they would be killed unless they left straightaway.<ref>[http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0MKY/is_17_28/ai_n6362682 Catholic New Times]</ref> Demolition of homes in Beisan began in June 1948, but was halted to allow [[aliyah|Jewish immigrants]], largely [[Ashkenazi]], many of them Holocaust survivors, to settle in what remained of the Palestinian homes.<ref name=Shahin/><ref name=Haaretz/>
A family of four was held hostage and then killed in 1974 by terrorists from the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]]'s [[Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine#Formation as the PDFLP|Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine]], who took over their apartment building.<ref name=Haaretz/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tkb.org/Incident.jsp?incID=1378|title=Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) attacked Private Citizens & Property target (Nov. 18, 1974, Israel)|author=[[RAND|RAND Corporation]]|publisher=[[National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism]]|date=[[April 3]], [[2001]]}}</ref>
==Demographics==
In 1999, Beit She'an was incorporated as a municipality and the city lies in the middle of the territory of the [[Beit She'an Valley Regional Council]].
According to the [[Israel Central Bureau of Statistics]] (CBS), the population of the municipality was 15,700 as of 2001. The ethnic makeup of the city was 99.6% [[Jewish]] and other non-Arab, with no significant [[Arab]] population. See [[Population groups in Israel]].
The population breakdown by gender was 7,900 males and 7,800 females. The population of the city was spread out with 40.5% 19 years of age or younger, 16.6% between 20 and 29, 19.4% between 30 and 44, 14.2% from 45 to 59, 2.6% from 60 to 64, and 6.6% 65 years of age or older. The population growth rate in 2001 was -0.2%.
==Income==
According to CBS, as of 2000, in the city there were 4,980 salaried workers and 301 are self-employed. The mean monthly wage in 2000 for a salaried worker in the city is [[New Israeli Shekel|ILS]] 4,200, a real change of 3.3% over the course of 2000. Salaried males have a mean monthly wage of ILS 5,314 (a real change of 5.1%) versus ILS 2,998 for females (a real change of -1.0%). The mean income for the self-employed is 6,106. There are 470 people who receive unemployment benefits and 1,409 people who receive an income guarantee.
Beit She'an is a centre of Israel's chief cotton-growing region in the surrounding district, and many of its residents are employed to that end in the neighbouring [[kibbutz]]im. Other local industries include a textile mill and clothing factory.<ref name=Britannica/>
{{commonscat|Bet She'an}}
==Education==
According to CBS, there are 16 schools and 3,809 students in the city. They are spread out as 10 elementary schools and 2,008 elementary school students, and 10 high schools and 1,801 high school students. 56.2% of 12th grade students were entitled to a matriculation certificate in 2001.
==Infrastructure==
===Transport===
Historically, Beit She'an was a railway station in the [[Hejaz railway]]. Currently, no railway is in use in the city, although a planned expansion by [[Israel Railways]] seeks to change this by Q3 2010.<ref name="Israel Railways">{{cite web|url=http://www.israrail.org.il/general/2000.html|title=Israel Railways expansion program|accessdate=2007-06-18|language=Hebrew}}</ref>
The main means of transport in Beit She'an is the bus, and the city is served by the [[Egged Bus Cooperative|Egged]] (long-distance) and [[Kavim]] (local) bus companies.
==Miscellany==
*Many scenes from the 1973 film [[Jesus Christ Superstar (film)|Jesus Christ Superstar]] were filmed here, most notably the dancing scene from the ''Simon Zealotes'' song.[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa3yG1j_9pc]
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://www.co-ground.com/common/bshean.html Photos of Tel Beyt Shean national park]
*[http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Early%20History%20-%20Archaeology/Beit%20She-an%20-%20Map%20of%20the%20center%20of%20Scythopolis Map of Scythopolis] [[Foreign relations of Israel|Foreign Ministry of Israel]]
*[http://www.pbase.com/rdavid/beitshean Photographies of Tel Beit She'an]
{{North District (Israel)}}
{{coor title dm|32|30|N|35|30|E|region:IL_type:city}}
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Israel]]
[[Category:Cities in Israel]]
[[Category:National parks of Israel]]
[[Category:Roman sites in Israel]]
[[Category:Cities on the Great Rift Valley]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible cities]]
[[Category:Arab localities in Palestine 1948]]
[[ar:بيسان]]
[[de:Bet Sche'an]]
[[es:Bet She'an]]
[[fr:Beït Shéan]]
[[he:בית שאן]]
[[pl:Bet Szean]]
[[pt:Bet Shean]]
[[ru:Бейт-Шеан]]
[[sv:Bet She'an]]
[[uk:Бейт-Шеан]]
[[yi:בית שאן]]
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