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BETH-SHEMESH

(Heb. bêṯ šemeš)

1. A city (lit., “house of the sun”) occupying a small rise near the juncture of the Sorek Valley and the fosse along the western base of the hill country formed by the Wadi Ghurab and Wadi en-Najil. The city was apportioned to the tribe of Dan, but never conquered and occupied (Judg. 1:33). During the Solomonic period it was assigned to the second district (1 Kgs. 4:9). Amaziah and Joash battled in the region, and for a time the city fell under Philistine control during the reign of Ahaz (2 Kgs. 14:11; 2 Chr. 28:18).

Excavations of the 8 ha. (7 a.) Tel Beth Shemesh/Tell er-Rumeileh (1477.1286), W of ʿAin Shems, revealed six strata dating from the Early Bronze through Persian and Hellenistic periods. Excavators consider the Late Bronze city the most prosperous. Only scant remains of the earliest level survive. During the Hyksos period (Middle Bronze II), a wall with a Syrian-style gate and two towers enclosed the entire site.

A complete wall surrounded the LB city, with large towers set into it at intervals. This was a unique fortification style for the period as the Egyptian overlords of Canaan seldom allowed cities to construct strong defenses. The city’s strategic position along the edge of the hill country required strong defenses to prevent access to the Shephelah by invaders coming down from the hills. The settlement could have defended itself successfully against invaders as an independent city-state outside Egyptian control. Remains of domestic structures reveal courtyards paved with white plaster and numerous storage bins. A furnace for smelting ore was found not far from the domestic installations. A cuneiform Ugaritic tablet and a Canaanite alphabetic ostracon were discovered nearby. A series of silos and cisterns served for wheat and water storage. Other remains include an open air sanctuary facing the setting sun and two plaques featuring the goddess Astarte.

The Iron Age city was smaller than its predecessor. Residents simply repaired the older LB wall, dwelling in typical courtyard-type houses. During Iron II (10th-8th centuries) a casemate wall surrounded the city, abutted by four-room houses. The destruction of stratum II is attributed to the Babylonian invasion in 586.

2. A village near the border of Issachar and Naphtali, S of the Sea of Galilee (Josh. 19:22). The ancient site is most likely associated with modern Khirbet Sheikh esh-Shamsāwî (199232).

3. A settlement assigned to Naphtali (Josh. 19:38), but unconquered by Israel during the period of conquest and settlement (Judg. 1:33). Located slightly north and to the west of Hazor (possibly Khirbet Tell er-Ruweisī [181271]), the site is mentioned in the later Egyptian Execration Texts (19th century b.c.e.).

4. MT name for Egyptian On (Jer. 43:13 KJV; cf. LXX Hēlíou póleōs).

Bibliography. E. Grant, “Beth Shemesh, 1928,” AASOR 9 (1929); Ain Shems Excavations 1–3 (Haverford, Pa., 1931-34); Grant and G. E. Wright, 4–5 (1938-39); W. H. Shea, “A Potential Biblical Connection for the Beth-shemesh Ostracon,” AUSS 25 (1987): 257-66.

David C. Maltsberger

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BETH-SHEMESH

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)