Beit She'an

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Beit She'an (Hebrew: בֵּית שְׁאָן ), also Beth-shean, formerly Beisan (Arabic: بيسان ), is a town in the Northern District of Israel. The town lies at the Beit She'an Valley about 120 m (394 feet) below sea level. Beit She'an is believed to be one of the oldest cities in the region. It has played an important role in history due to its geographical location at the junction of the Jordan River Valley and the Jezreel Valley. Beth She'an's ancient tell contains remains beginning in the Chalcolithic period. When Canaan came under Imperial Egyptian rule in the Late Bronze Age, Beth She'an served as a major Egyptian administrative center.During the Hellenistic period, the settlement was known as Scythopolis (Ancient Greek: Σκυθόπολις). After the region came under Roman rule, Scythopolis gained imperial free status and was the leading city of the Decapolis. A multi-cultural metropolis under Byzantine rule, it served as the capital of the province of Palaestina Secunda, and had a mixed population of Christians, pagans, Jews and Samaritans. After the Arab conquest of the Levant, and following a series of devastating earthquakes (most notably in 749), the city lost its prominence, and became a medium-sized country town.The population of the town was completely changed from 1948 to 1950. It had been entirely Muslim and Christian, designated to be part of the Jewish state in the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, and was captured by the Haganah in May 1948. The battle over the town during Operation Gideon caused most of its inhabitants to flee, and the remainder were expelled. The town was then resettled by Jewish immigrants. Today, Beit She'an serves as a regional centre for the towns in the Beit She'an Valley. The ancient city ruins are now protected within the Beit She'an National Park. The town is located near the Jordan River Crossing, one of three crossing points between Israel and Jordan.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Beit She'an (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Beit She'an
Beit Shean

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude	Longitude
N 32.5 °	E 35.5 °

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Address

1080300 Beit Shean
North District, Israel
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Nearby Places

1033 Jordan Rift Valley earthquake

An earthquake struck the Jordan Rift Valley on December 5, 1033 and caused extreme devastation in the Levant region. It was part of a sequence of four strong earthquakes in the region between 1033 AD and 1035 AD. Scholars have estimated the moment magnitude to be greater than 7.0 Mw  and evaluated the Modified Mercalli intensity to X (Extreme). It triggered a tsunami along the Mediterranean coast, causing damage and fatalities. At least 70,000 people were killed in the disaster.

2002 Beit She'an attack

The 2002 Beit She'an attack, which took place during November 28, 2002, was a terrorist attack carried out by members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the city of Beit She'an, Israel. Gunmen opened fire and threw grenades at the Likud party polling station where party members were casting their votes in the Likud primary.Six Israeli civilians were killed during the incident and 34 civilians were injured.

1974 Beit She'an attack

The 1974 Beit She'an attack, which took place during 19 November 1974, was a raid by a squad of three Palestinian militants, belonging to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine militant organization, on the Israeli city of Beit She'an. Four civilians were killed during the event and more than 20 civilians were injured. The three attackers were killed by responding Israeli special forces. The incident became notorious after an enraged mob of Israeli civilians that the army and police failed to control burned the bodies of the militants.

Beit She'an railway station

The Beit She'an railway station (Hebrew: תחנת הרכבת בית שאן) is an Israel Railways terminal situated at the eastern end of the Beit She'an – Atlit line, serving Beit She'an and the surrounding communities. It includes a freight rail yard and a passenger station with two side platforms (with the possibility of converting the far side platform to an island platform in the future), connected by a passenger hall located below the platforms. The station is served by 1–2 trains per hour terminating at the Atlit Railway Station via Afula and Haifa. A railway station first opened at the site in 1904 during the Ottoman era and operated until 1948. With the closure of the Jezreel Valley railway in the late 1940s, the site was abandoned until 2013 when construction began on the new station complex which opened in 2016 as part of the rebuilding effort of the valley line. Some of the original 1904 station buildings can be seen east of the modern station's structure and several have been renovated as part of the new station's construction project. They are accessible using an underground passage located under the eastern end of the station's passenger platforms. At 120 meters below sea level, Beit She'an railway station is the lowest in the world.

Emek HaMaayanot Regional Council

Emek HaMa'ayanot Regional Council (Hebrew: מועצה אזורית עמק המעיינות, Mo'atza Azorit Emek HaMa'ayanot, lit. Valley of the Springs Regional Council) is a regional council in the Northern District of Israel that encompasses most of the settlements in the Beit She'an Valley. Until 2008 it was known as the Beit She'an Valley Regional Council (Mo'atza Azorit Bik'at Beit She'an).

Mesilot

Messilot (Hebrew: מְסִלּוֹת, מסילות, lit. Tracks) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Beit She'an Valley near the city of Beit She'an, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 463.

Hamadia

Hamadia (Hebrew: חֲמַדְיָה) is a kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley, just north of Beit She'an in northern Israel. It belongs to the Valley of Springs Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 421.

Reshafim

Reshafim (Hebrew: רְשָׁפִים, lit. Sparks) is a kibbutz in northeastern Israel. Located two kilometres to the south of the town of Beit She'an in the Beit She'an Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council. In 2021 , it had a population of 1,200.

Ein HaNetziv

Ein HaNetziv (Hebrew: עֵין הַנְּצִי"ב, lit. Spring of the Netziv) is a kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley in northern Israel. Belonging to the Religious Kibbutz Movement, it is located about three kilometers south of the ancient city of Beit She'an, 130 meters below sea level. It falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 621.

Sde Nahum

Sde Nahum (Hebrew: שְׂדֵה נַחוּם, lit. Nahum Field) is a kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley in northern Israel. Located around 4 km northwest of Beit She'an, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 992.

Neve Eitan

Neve Eitan (Hebrew: נְוֵה אֵיתָן, lit. Strong residence) is a kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley in northern Israel. Located about 1 km east of Beit She'an and 1 km west of Maoz Haim, it is under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 307.

Shluhot

Shluhot (Hebrew: שְׁלוּחוֹת, lit. "branches") is an Orthodox kibbutz in the Beit She'an Valley in northern Israel. Located about three kilometres south of the city of Beit She'an, it falls under the jurisdiction of Valley of Springs Regional Council. In 2021 it had a population of 457.