Bet She'an Travel Guide

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This crossing is very impressive as it feels that here is the very heart of the remaining town. All around you will find very large stone columns and bricks of enormous size. You will feel that there was a very destructive force working on the stone walls during the earthquake that destroyed the town in 749 CE.

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The Sigma is a semicircular building structure in the park with nice mosaics. The name derives from an inscription found here. Most remarkable is the mosaic of Tyche, the goddess of the city. According to a sign the mosaic is a copy, the original was unfortunately stolen.

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It was quite steep to get up the hill and the sun was heating me up, but all the effort was very worth to come here. On top there are more ruins and some very few but nice exhibits with egyptian background. But best of all is the view. Unfortunately it might be that the sun stands in a slightly wrong position to take nice photos, but if you have the time come up here!

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Large impressive columns are standing along the former Silvanus Street. Despite the ruins, it is easily imaginable that this was a very impressive and beautiful town. Especially when following this street and Palladius Street. Unfortunately the earth quake destroyed much, but who knows what would have been left if the city was not abandoned at that time.

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The public lavatories (or with a more basic language: the toilets) are still visible. During my visit several people tried out how to sit there and it was much fun to look at them posing for photos :)

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Bet She'an NP has a very nice theater that you can go through. Its architecture is impressive, especially if you know that only a third of the seats have remained, the upper two tiers of seats are gone. Not difficult to imagine how it was when the croud was exited about the play offered to them.

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Great day trip from Jerusalem. Visit Bet / Beit She'an the ancient city, see the amphitheater, bath house, colonaded streets, temple ruins, public pool and toilets. Not to be missed - The biblical mound, rising 50 meters above its surroundings, has a spectacular view of the great city at its foot and of the Bet She'an Valley.

Entrance fee 25NIS. Open April–September: Sunday-Thursday 8 A.M.–5 P.M.
October–March 8 A.M.–4 P.M. Friday 8 A.M. –4 P.M.; Saturday 8 A.M.–5 P.M. Cafe/Snack bar, public toilets.

From Jerusalem central bus station, bus number 966 or 961 to Beit She'an - Binyamin Mall -leaves 8:15am or 10:00am, arrives 9:02am or 12:02 noon. The return bus ticket is 71NIS (1USD = 3.7NIS) From the bus terminal walk into the old square and see The Citadel on your left, continue to the first shopping strip mall and turn into the entrance gate. Check www.egged.co.il for up-to-date schedules and fares.

Tip: Take a bottle of water with you.

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Overlooking the town to the north is Tel Bet She'an.Excavations were started in 1921 and have shown a history of the site from about the 16th century BC. A large Roman amphitheatre, with 5,000 seats in 15 tiers and nine gates, is now completely excavated. At the back of the theatre, across the street, lie the remains of the biggest Byzantine bath in Israel.A Canaanite temple has been also excavated with a basalt tablet showing a lion and a dog representing Nergal, the god of death, and guardian of the temple. Other temples point out, that the city may have been a centre of a serpent cult, and suggest that the name was derived from Shakhan, an early Mesopotamian serpent deity. Other finds include a large Graeco-Roman temple, various gravestones of Canaanite and Egyptian kings, and a circular Byzantine church.The city was destroyed in 749 A.D. by an earthquake. Evidence of this earthquake includes dozens of massive columns that toppled over in the same direction.