Tel Beit Shemesh

The Canaanites of Beit Shemesh named the city after Shapash/Shemesh, the sun-goddess they worshipped. The ruins of the ancient biblical city of the Canaanites and Israelites are located at a site called Tel Beit Shemesh in Modern Hebrew and Tell er-Rumeileh in Arabic, a tell (archaeological mound)[3] situated immediately west of modern Beit Shemesh, and Moshav Yish'i, right on the west side of Highway 38.

The earliest mention of Beit Shemesh is found in Egyptian execration texts, dating several hundred years earlier than its mention in Hebrew canonical books.[6]

The ancient tell of Bet Shemesh

Beit Shemesh is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in the Book of Joshua (Joshua 15:10), as a city in the territory of the tribe of Judah on the border with the tribe of Dan. In Joshua 21:16, this city was set aside as one of the 13 Kohanic cities for the priests of the tribe of Levi, the Kohanim.

Another city by the same name, Beit Shemesh, is later mentioned in Joshua 19:38, being situated in the territory of the tribe of Naphtali.

The city located in the territorial bounds of the tribe of Judah is mentioned in the 6th chapter of 1 Samuel as being the first city encountered by the Ark of the Covenant on its way back from Philistia after having been captured by the Philistines in battle (1 Samuel 6:12–21). The stone on which the Ark was placed is recorded as still being located there at the time of writing the Books of Samuel. In the King James Version this stone is described as "the great stone of Abel" (1 Samuel 6:18).

In 2 Kings 14, Beit Shemesh is again mentioned as being the site of the battle between King Amaziah of Judea and King Jehoash of Israel.

During the 10th century BCE, Beit Shemesh emerged as an Israelite governmental center in the Sorek Valley.[7]

An archaeomagnetic study has dated a destruction layer at the site to the first half of the 8th century BCE, correlating with the time when King Jehoash of Israel is recorded as having defeated King Amaziah of Judah in a battle fought there (2 Kings 14:11–13).[8]

After the destruction of much of Judah by Sennacherib in 701 BCE, the city was abandoned for a while, but there seems to have been an attempt by a group of Judahites at resettling Beth Shemesh, judging by the refurbishing of the water reservoir in the 7th century BCE.[9] However, after the Babylonian conquest of Judah in the early 580s, either the new Babylonian rulers, or the nearby Philistine metropolis of Ekron favoured by them, apparently put an end to the initiative by sealing and covering over the vital water reservoir,[9] which was not uncovered until 2004. During the first Jewish return, at the beginning of the Second Temple period, there was no lasting revival of the city, as opposed to many other places in the vicinity such as Beit Guvrin, Maresha, and others.

A monastery and other remains from the Byzantine period have been found in the area.[10]

Ancient ruins against backdrop of modern Beit Shemesh

'Ain Shems, the site of Beth-Shemesh. South of the Wâdy es Sur'ar (Sorek) and nearly opposite to Sur'ah (Zorah). The ancient and modern names Beth-Shemesh (House of the Sun) and 'Ain Shems (NYPL b10607452-80663) (cropped)

The small Arab towns of Dayr Aban and Dayr Rafat used rocks for building from Tell er-Rumeileh (Tel Beit Shemesh).

In the late 19th century the area was known as 'Ain Shems or Khirbet 'Ain Shems and was used as a temporary harvest-time residence by local Arabs.[11][12] The small mosque of Abu Mizar stood there.[12]

During the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, the Egyptian army invaded the area and set up a fortified post, called "Mishlat" in Hebrew, on a hill overlooking Beit Shemesh, within the Arab village Dayr Aban. The post changed hands several times during fighting. The Harel Brigade occupied part of the post for several months, giving rise to the name "the joint post" or the "Mishlat HaMeshutaf", with 60 meters dividing them and the enemy forces. The Mishlat was finally taken by the Harel force in the Ha-Har offensive, during the night of 19–20 October 1948.

Beit Shemesh is the point from which the so-called Convoy of 35 set out to bring provisions to besieged Gush Etzion. On 15 January 1948, a group of 38 Palmach volunteers left Hartuv near Beit Shemesh. After one member of the group sprained his ankle and returned, accompanied by two others, the group, now numbering 35, continued on its way. Their presence was discovered by two Arab women who encountered two scouts of the group near Surif. (An earlier version, that the soldiers were discovered by an Arab shepherd who they graciously let go, was based on a eulogy written by Ben-Gurion and is apparently apocryphal).[13] The Convoy of 35 was subsequently killed in fighting with Arab villagers and militiamen.

In 1971, excavations at Givat Sharett conducted by Israeli archaeologist Claire Epstein revealed a residential settlement of the Middle Bronze Age, including a temple.[14]

The most ancient iron workshop in the world was discovered in Beit Shemesh in 2003. The only remnants of a fortified city with an advanced water system, from the time of the early Kingdom of Judah was found here. The bones of animals found in the 12th–11th centuries BCE layer indicate a diet typical of the Israelites who inhabited the hill country in this period. These together with the pottery finds indicate the cultural influences on the inhabitants of this border town. However, it is not possible to determine their specific ethnic identity, which could be Canaanite, Philistine, or Israelite.[3]

In August 2012, archaeologists from Tel Aviv University announced the discovery of a circular stone seal, approximately 15 millimetres in diameter. The seal was found on the floor of a house at Beit Shemesh and is dated to the 12th century BCE. According to Haaretz, "excavation directors Prof. Shlomo Bunimovitz and Dr. Zvi Lederman of Tel Aviv University say they do not suggest that the human figure on the seal is the biblical Samson. Rather, the geographical proximity to the area where Samson lived, and the time period of the seal, show that a story was being told at the time of a hero who fought a lion, and that the story eventually found its way into the biblical text and onto the seal."[15]

Animal bones found nearby may also be a clue to boundary disputes between different cultures. Pig bones have been found a few kilometres from Beit Shemesh, but only a few have been found actually at Beit Shemesh and at some point during the 11th century BCE it appears that the local population stopped eating pig. Haaretz reports that "According to Bunimovitz, when the pork-eating Philistines arrived in the country from the Aegean, the local people stopped eating pork to differentiate themselves from the newcomers."[15]

Calcite alabaster was quarried in ancient times in the cave known today as the Twins Cave near Beit Shemesh. Herod used this alabaster for baths in his palaces during the 1st century BCE.[16]

In 2014, archaeologists Irene Zilberbod and Tehila Libman announced the nearby discovery of a large compound from the Byzantine period that was most probably a monastery.[17] It comprised a residential area and an industrial area with wine and olive presses.[17] The remains of buildings with two or three stories and impressive mosaic floors were discovered.[17] The compound ceased to function in the early Muslim period and was subsequently occupied by other residents.[17] The excavations were continuing with additional finds through late 2017.[18]