Beit She'an
View from Beit She'an towards Jordan
Hebrew	בֵּית שְׁאָן
(Standard)	Bet Šəʼan
Arabic	بيسان
Name meaning	"house of tranquillity"[1]
Government	City
Also spelled	Bet She'an (officially) Beth Shean (unofficially)
District	North
Population	16,200 (2005)
Jurisdiction	7,100 dunams (7. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language The following list of Israeli cities is based on the current index of the There are six main administrative districts of Israel, known in Hebrew as mehozot (מחוזות singular mahoz) and fifteen The North District (מחוז הצפון mehoz hatzafon, also known as the Northern District) is one of Israel 's six administrative districts A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum is a unit of Area used in the Ottoman Empire and still used in various standardized versions 1 km²)

Map of the Decapolis showing the location of Beit She'an, (here called by its Greek name, Scythopolis)

Beit She'an (help·info) (Hebrew: בֵּית שְׁאָן‎, Bet Šəʼan; unofficially also spelled Beth Shean; official Israeli Arabic: بيسان‎ Bayt Šān; Arabic: بيسان‎ Beesān (help·info), also spelled Beisan or Bisan)^[1] is a city in the North District of Israel which has played an important role historically due to its geographical location at the junction of the Jordan River Valley and Jezreel Valley. The Decapolis ( Greek: deka, ten polis, city was a group of ten cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in Jordan Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language The North District (מחוז הצפון mehoz hatzafon, also known as the Northern District) is one of Israel 's six administrative districts For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. This article is about the Jordan River and its valley in western Asia The Jezreel Valley (עמק יזרעאל Emek Yizrael) is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the south of the Lower Galilee region of Israel It has also played an important role in modern times, acting as the regional center for the numerous villages in the Beit She'an Valley Regional Council. The Beit She'an Valley Regional Council (Bik'at Beit She'an (מועצה אזורית בקעת בית שאן Mo'atza Ezorit Bik'at Beit She'an) is a 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. The Jezreel Valley (עמק יזרעאל Emek Yizrael) is a large fertile plain and inland valley in the south of the Lower Galilee region of Israel Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the "Galil" redirects here For the weapon see IMI Galil. Galilee (הגליל ha-Galil, lit the province, Its name is believed to derive from the early Canaanite "house of tranquility". The Canaanite languages or Hebraic languages are a subfamily of the Semitic languages, which were spoken by the ancient peoples of the Canaan region

Beit She'an is first listed among Thutmose III's conquests in the fifteenth century BCE, and the remains of an Egyptian administrative center from the XVIII and XIX dynasties have been excavated. Thutmose III (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis III and meaning Thoth is Born) was the sixth Pharaoh of the Eighteenth Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now The Late Period of Egypt refers to the last flowering of native Egyptian rulers after the Third Intermediate Period from the 26th Saite Dynasty into Persian The Bible mentions it as a Canaanite city in the Book of Joshua, and its conquest by David and inclusion in the later kingdom is noted, and large Solomonic administrative buildings destroyed by Tiglath-pileser III were uncovered from this period. Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Canaanites redirects here For the 1940s social and political movement in Israel, see Canaanites (movement. The Book of Joshua ( Hebrew: Sefer Y'hoshua ספר יהושע is the sixth book in both the Hebrew Tanakh and the Old Testament of the Christian David, Arabic: داوود or داود dawud, "beloved" was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible King Solomon ( Ge'ez: ስለሞን Arabic: ar سليمان, Sulayman, all from the Triliteral root S-L-M, "peace" Tiglath-Pileser III (from the Hebraic form of Akkadian: Tukultī-apil-Ešarra, "my trust is in the son of Esharra" was a prominent king ^[2] Its ninth century BCE biblical capture by the Pharaoh Shishaq is corroborated by his victory list. Pharaoh is the title given in modern parlance to the ancient Egyptian kings of all periods Shishak ( Hebrew: שישק Tiberian:) or Shishaq is the biblical Hebrew form of the first ancient Egyptian name of a Pharaoh mentioned

Scythopolis

During the Hellenistic period it had a Hellenised population and was called Scythopolis, probably named after the Scythian mercenaries who settled there as veterans, and Greek mythology has the city founded by Dionysus and his nursemaid Nysa buried there; thus it was known as Nysa-Scythopolis. This article focuses on the historical aspects of the Hellenistic age for the cultural aspects see Hellenistic civilisation. Hellenization (or Hellenisation) is a term used to describe the spread of Greek culture. The Scythians or Scyths (Σκύθες Σκύθοι were an Iranian speaking people of horse-riding Nomadic pastoralists who dominated the Pontic Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and Heroes the nature of the world and the origins and significance In Classical mythology, Dionysus or Dionysos (in Greek, Διόνυσος or Διώνυσος; associated with Roman In Greek mythology, the mountainous district of Nysa, variously associated with Ethiopia, Libya, Tribalia or Arabia by Greek Beit She'an is mentioned in 3rd-2nd centuries BCE written sources describing the wars of the Diadochi between the Ptolemid and Seleucid dynasties, as well as in the context of the Hasmonean Maccabee Revolt, who ultimately destroyed the polis in the 2nd century BCE. The Diadochi (plural of Latin Diadochus, from Greek Διάδοχοι, Diadokhoi, "successors" were the rival successors The Ptolemaic dynasty (sometimes also known as the Lagids, from the name of Ptolemy I's father Lagus) was a Hellenistic Macedonian royal family The Seleucid Empire /sə'lusɪd/ ( 312 - 63 BC) was a Hellenistic empire i The Hasmoneans (/hæzməˡniən/ חשמונאים Hashmonaiym, Audio were the ruling dynasty of the Hasmonean Kingdom ( 140 &ndash 37 BCE The Maccabees ( Hebrew: מכבים or מקבים, Makabim or Maqabim; Greek Μακκαβαῖοι, /makav'εï/ were A polis ( πόλις, pronunciation, in English-- plural poleis ( πόλεις, pronunciation, in English --is a City, a ^[2]

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. The Decapolis ( Greek: deka, ten polis, city was a group of ten cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in Jordan Samaria, or the Shomron ( שֹׁמְרוֹן, Standard Šoməron Tiberian Šōmərôn The word Calendar consist of two words 1 Cal ( in Pashto means Year in Hindi and Persian is Sal- also means Year Pax Romana favoured the city, evidenced by its high-level urban planning and extensive construction including the best preserved Roman theatre of ancient Samaria as well as a hippodrome, cardo, and other trademarks of the Roman influence. Pax Romana ( Latin for " Roman Peace " was the long period of relative peace and minimal expansion by military force The Roman theatre is a theatre building built by the Romans for watching theatrical performances. Samaria, or the Shomron ( שֹׁמְרוֹן, Standard Šoməron Tiberian Šōmərôn A Hippodrome (Gr from hippos, horse and dromos, race course was a course provided by the Greeks for Horse racing and Chariot racing In Ancient Roman City planning, a cardo or cardus was a north-south-oriented street in cities military camps and coloniae Sometimes called Mount Gilboa, 7 km away, provided dark basalt blocks as well as water via aqueduct. Mount Gilboa (הר הגלבוע is a Ridge above the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel. Basalt (bəˈsɔːlt ˈbeisɔːlt ˈbæsɔːlt is a common Extrusive Volcanic rock. An aqueduct is an artificial channel that is constructed to convey water from one location to another 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. ^[2]

During the 4th-7th century 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 Roman baths were restored. For a Greek colony in the Crimea see Nymphaion. A nymphaeum, in Ancient Greece and Rome, was a Monument consecrated This page is on buildings used for Roman bathing For the activity in general see Ancient Roman bathing. Many dedicatory inscriptions indicate a preference for donations to religious buildings, and many colourful mosaics, 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. Dedication (Lat dedicatio, from dedicare, to proclaim to announce is to immerse oneself with sincerity into a certain subject or properly the setting apart Art History Mosaics of the 4th century BC are found in the Macedonian palace-city of Aegae, and they enriched the floors of Hellenistic Zodiac denotes an annual cycle of twelve stations along the Ecliptic, the apparent path of the sun across the heavens through the Constellations that divide the ecliptic Pekiin tabletjpg|thumb|right|151px| Second Temple period stone tablet from a Synagogue in Peki'in, Israel. Shalom ( is a Hebrew word meaning peace, completeness, and welfare and can be used idiomatically to mean hello, and goodbye 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 city walls. See also List of cities with defensive walls A defensive wall is a Fortification used to defend a city or settlement from potential aggressors ^[2]

View of ancient Beit She'an

Beisan

In 634, Byzantine forces were defeated by the Muslim forces of Caliph Omar Ibn al-Khatab was renamed Beisan. Umar (a=عمر بن الخطاب|t=`Umar ibn al-Khattāb c 581-83 CE &ndash 7 November, 644) also known as Umar the Great or Omar the Great The day of victory came to be known in Arabic as Youm Beisan or "the day of Beisan". ^[1] 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 lime, the blocking off of the main street, and the conversion of a main plaza into a cemetery. Marble is a nonfoliated Metamorphic rock resulting from the Metamorphism of Limestone, composed mostly of Calcite (a crystalline form of Calcium oxide ( CaO) commonly known as burnt lime, lime or quicklime, is a widely used Chemical compound. ^[2]

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. An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth 's crust that creates Seismic waves Earthquakes are recorded with a Seismometer A small group returned to settle there, but few remains of this period exist. ^[1]

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. Muhammad ibn Ahmad Shams al-Din Al-Muqaddasi (محمد بن أحمد شمس الدين المقدسي also Transliterated as Al-Maqdisi and el-Mukaddasi ^[1]

Crusaders established a fiefdom and fortress called Belvoir (Beauvoir) circa 1140 about 15km North of modern Beit She'an. The Crusades were a series of military campaigns of a religious character waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents The Crusader states were a number of mostly 12th- and 13th-century feudal states created by Western European Crusaders in Asia Minor, Greece and The Crusader fortress of Belvoir, located on a hill of the Naphtali plateau, 20 km They were besieged and then ejected circa 1190. The site is now a national park. ^[3]

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. Damascus ( دمشق,, also commonly known as الشام ash-Shām) is the capital and largest city of Syria. Cairo () which means "the Vanquisher" or "the Triumphant" is the capital and largest city of Egypt. ^[1] It was also the capital of sugar cane processing for the region. ^[1] 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. ^[1]

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. See also Topography Starting in Ancient Greece, places have been described in topography ( and an author of such writing has been called a Ishtori Haparchi (1280-1366 (also Estori Haparchi) (אשתורי הפרחי is the pen name of the 14th century Jewish physician topographer and traveler Isaac ^[4]

During the 400 years of Ottoman rule, Beisan lost its regional importance. The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish During the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II when the Haifa-Damascus extension of the Hejaz railway was constructed, a limited revival took place. Abdülhamid II His Imperial Majesty Sultan of the Ottoman Empire ( Ottoman Turkish: عبد الحميد ثانی `Abdü’l-Ḥamīd-i sânî, İkinci Abdülhamit Haifa (חֵיפָה; حَيْفَا) is the largest City in Northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country with History A railway had been suggested in 1864 to relieve the suffering of the hajis on their forty day journey through the wilderness of Midian the Nafud and the Hejaz Mountains 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. ^[1]

The Swiss-German traveler Johann Ludwig Burkhart described Beisan in 1812 as "a village with 70 to 80 houses, whose residents are in a miserable state. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation The German people (Deutsche are an Ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent and speaking the German language as " 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. ^[1]

The University of Pennsylvania carried out excavations of ancient Beit She'an in 1921–1933. The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn) is a private University located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. They discovered many interesting relics from the 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. Canaanites redirects here For the 1940s social and political movement in Israel, see Canaanites (movement. The Rockefeller Museum, formerly the Palestine Archaeological Museum, is an archaeological Museum located in East Jerusalem that houses a large The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archeology and Anthropology is an Archaeology and Anthropology museum that is part of the University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə The United States of America —commonly referred to as the 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. The Bedouin, (from the Arabic (ar بدوي pl badū) are a desert-dwelling Arab Nomadic pastoralist, or previously "^[1]

Beisan was home to a mainly Mizrahi Jewish community of 95 until 1936, when the 1936–1939 Arab revolt saw Beisan serve as a center of Arab attacks on Jews in Palestine. Mizrahi Jews or Mizrahim, ( also referred to as Edot HaMizrach (Communities of the East are Jews descended The 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine was an uprising during the British mandate by Arabs in Palestine which lasted from 1936 to 1939 ^[4][5][6]

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. Major-General Orde Charles Wingate, DSO and two bars ( February 26, 1903 &ndash March 24, 1944) was a Wingate’s forces damaged property and wounded several people, and some may have been killed. ^[7]

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. The Palestine Mandate, was a set of protocols or articles that formed a multilateral legal and administrative agreement 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. The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine or United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181 was a plan approved by the General Assembly on November 29 The terms " Jewish state " and " homeland of the Jewish people " are used to describe the State of Israel and refer to its status as a Nation-state ^[1][8][9]

Jewish militias and local Bedouins first clashed during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War in February and March 1948, part of Operation Gideon,^[1] which Walid Khalidi argues was part of a wider Plan Dalet. Walid Khalidi (وليد خالدي born in 1925 in Jerusalem) is an Oxford University educated Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Plan Dalet, or Plan D, ( Hebrew: תוכנית ד' Tokhnit dalet; Dalet is the fourth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, ^[10] 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. Yosef Weitz (1890 &ndash 1972 was the director of the Land and Afforestation Department of the Jewish National Fund. History of Zionism|Timeline of Zionism|World Zionist Organization|Zionist political violence Zionism is an international political movement that originally supported the Events 1256 - The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV Year 1948 ( MCMXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the 1948 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. . . [I]ts clearing is the need of the hour. "^[1]

Beisan fell to the Jewish militias three days before the end of British Mandate Palestine. The Palestine Mandate, was a set of protocols or articles that formed a multilateral legal and administrative agreement After Israel's Declaration of Independence in May 1948, the property and communal buildings of the absent Arab population were confiscated and held by the state of Israel. The Israeli Declaration of Independence (הכרזת העצמאות Hakhrazat HaAtzma'ut or מגילת העצמאות Megilat HaAtzma'ut) made on 14 May ^[1] Most Palestinian Christians 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. The Palestinian Christians are Palestinians who follow Christianity. Nazareth (ˈnæzərəθ (נָצְרַת Hebrew Natz'rat or Natzeret, الناصرة an-Nāṣira or an-Naseriyye) is the capital and largest The Rev Dr Naim Stifan Ateek ( نعيم عتيق,) is a Palestinian Christian who is the founder and head of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology ^[11] Demolition of homes in Beisan began in June 1948, but was halted to allow Jewish immigrants, largely Ashkenazi, many of them Holocaust survivors, to settle in what remained of the Palestinian homes. Aliyah ( refers to Jewish Immigration to the Land of Israel (and since its establishment in 1948 the State of Israel) Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim ( Hebrew: אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים, ˌaʃkəˈnazim sing ^[1][5]. A ma'abarah (refugee camp) inhabited mainly by North African immigrants was also erected in Beit She'an, and it later became a development town. The Ma'abarot (מעברות were Refugee camps in Israel in the 1950s Development town (עיירת פיתוח Ayarat Pitu'ah) is a term used to refer to the new settlements that were built in Israel during the 1950s in order to expand

A family of four was held hostage and then killed in 1974 by terrorists from the Palestine Liberation Organization's Popular Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who took over their apartment building. The Palestine Liberation Organization ( PLO) (منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية or Munazzamat al-Tahrir al-Filastiniyyah) is a political and paramilitary The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP ( Arabic: ' الجبهة الديموقراطية لتحرير فلسطين', transliterated Al-Jabha ^[5][12]

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. The Beit She'an Valley Regional Council (Bik'at Beit She'an (מועצה אזורית בקעת בית שאן Mo'atza Ezorit Bik'at Beit She'an) is a regional council

According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the population of the municipality was 15,700 as of 2001. The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (הלשכה המרכזית לסטטיסטיקה HaLishka HaMerkazit LeStatistika) abbreviated CBS, is an Israeli The ethnic makeup of the city was 99. 6% Jewish and other non-Arab, with no significant Arab population. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding See Population groups in Israel. This article discusses the Demographics of Israel. See also Israelis.

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 ILS 4,200, a real change of 3. The Israeli New Sheqel ( ( sign: ₪; code: ILS) (also spelled unofficially shekel; pl 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 kibbutzim. A kibbutz ( Hebrew: קיבוץ קִבּוּץ lit "gathering clustering" plural kibbutzim) is a collective community in Other local industries include a textile mill and clothing factory. ^[4]

Public services

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.

Historically, Beit She'an was a railway station in the Jezreel Valley railway, an extension of the Hejaz railway. The Jezreel Valley railway, or simply the Valley railway (רכבת העמק Rakevet HaEmek) refers to a historical Railroad in Ottoman and British History A railway had been suggested in 1864 to relieve the suffering of the hajis on their forty day journey through the wilderness of Midian the Nafud and the Hejaz Mountains Currently, no railway is in use in the city, although a planned expansion by Israel Railways seeks to change this by Q3 2010. Israel Railways (רכבת ישראל Rakévet Yisra'él) is Israel 's government-owned national railway company and is responsible for all inter-city and suburban ^[13] The main means of transport in Beit She'an is the bus, and the city is served by the Egged (long-distance, bus 961) and Kavim (local) bus companies. Egged Israel Transport Cooperative Society Ltd (אגד is the largest Bus company in Israel, and the second largest in the world (after London Buses Kavim ( is an Israeli bus company It was founded in 2000 and provided lines in the eastern Gush Dan region - the towns/cities Kiryat Ono, Petah

Beit She'an in popular culture

• Many scenes from the 1973 film Jesus Christ Superstar were filmed here, most notably the dancing scene from the Simon Zealotes song. Jesus Christ Superstar is a 1973, Oscar-nominated film adaptation of the Rock opera of the same name, based on the last weeks of the life [1]

References

External links

• Photos of Tel Beyt Shean national park
• Map of Scythopolis Foreign Ministry of Israel
• Photographies of Tel Beit She'an
• Pictures of Tel Bet-She'an