The city of Beit Shemesh is first mentioned in the Book of Joshua as part of the territory allotted to the tribe of Judah.1 It is later listed as one of the cities in Judah’s territory allocated for the Kohanim.2 Today’s Beit Shemesh is a modern city with a diverse population and all the amenities the 21st century has to offer. Like many ancient cities in the Middle East, however, Beit Shemesh has a tel—a mound with layers and layers of ruins from different eras. Archeologists spent decades digging at Tel Beit Shemesh, uncovering a lot of information about life in the area over the course of centuries.

In this article, we will explore Tel Beit Shemesh in the context of Jewish history.

Archeological Excavations at Tel Beit Shemesh

The story of archeological work at Tel Beit Shemesh mirrors the story of archeology in the land currently known as Israel. Back in 1865, when it was still a part of the Ottoman Empire known as Palestine (a name imposed by Rome after the destruction of Jerusalem), a group of British academics and clergymen founded the Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF), under the royal patronage of Queen Victoria. PEF’s original mission statement was “to promote research into the archaeology and history, manners and customs and culture, topography, geology and natural sciences of biblical Palestine and the Levant”.3 In 1911, Duncan Mackenzie of the PEF began the first known excavation of Tel Beit Shemesh.

A few years later, American Biblical scholars and archeologists joined the research taking place in what was then Mandatory Palestine. In 1928, Elihu Grant of Haverford College, Pennsylvania, began conducting archeological excavations at Tel Beit Shemesh.

Wreck of an ancient pantry from King Solomon's time. Excavated in 1933 at Tel Beit Shemesh. - Matson Collection, Public domain
Wreck of an ancient pantry from King Solomon's time. Excavated in 1933 at Tel Beit Shemesh.
Matson Collection, Public domain

Much later, with archeology in the State of Israel growing and thriving, two Israeli archeologists from Tel Aviv University, Zvi Lederman and the late Shlomo Bunimovitz, spent 30 years excavating Tel Beit Shemesh, from 1990 till 2020. More recently, due to the city’s rapid growth, Boaz Gross of the Israeli Institute of Archaeology and others conducted a salvage excavation before Route 38, which passes right through Tel Beit Shemesh, was expanded. This routine excavation revealed some unexpected findings.

Archeological Discoveries

The earlier layers of the tel go all the way back to when Beit Shemesh was a Canaanite city. The later layers show Jewish presence.

During the period of the Judges (12th-11th centuries BCE), Beit Shemesh was a large town, spread out over the mound. Tel Aviv University report by Zvi Lederman and Shlomo Bunimovitz says:

Remains of a large two-storied structure, probably the house of a well-to-do person, were uncovered on the northern part of the tel. The house has a few spacious rooms, one of them beautifully paved with river pebbles, and a court. Some gold jewelry, fallen from the second floor, was found among the ruins of the house. Next to this building simpler houses—some of whose ceilings were supported by wooden columns on stone bases—were found. Grindstones, clay ovens and hearths attest to the daily activities of their inhabitants. The architecture of the houses, as well as the pottery used by the inhabitants of Beth-Shemesh during this period, is in the Canaanite tradition. But the bones of the animals they consumed attest to a diet typical of the Israelites who occupied the hill country—pigs are entirely absent.4

Return of the Ark of the Covenant

A well-known story, recorded in the Book of Samuel,5 tells of the miraculous return of the Ark of the Covenant.

Beit Shemesh was located near the land of the Philistines, sworn enemies of the Jews who regularly attacked and harassed them.

The Jews went to war with the Philistines, and were defeated. On their return to camp, the surviving Jewish warriors wondered why G‑d caused their defeat.

They should have asked themselves how they had fallen short and how they could improve to deserve G‑d’s help in the next battle. Instead, they opted for the easy way out: Ignoring their own shortcomings, they attempted to manipulate G‑d into helping them by bringing the Ark of Covenant with them into battle. They thought that the Ark, representing G‑d, would save them from their enemies.

Of course, their plan failed. Not only did the Jewish army lose the next battle but they lost the Ark itself. It was captured by the Philistines and placed in their pagan temple.

The Philistines thought that they had defeated the Jewish G‑d, but they were mistaken. G‑d would not tolerate such callous treatment of His Holy Ark. First, the idol in the Philistine temple fell and broke. Then G‑d struck the Philistines with a very uncomfortable and unpleasant disease.

To their credit, the Philistines recognized that their disrespect for the Ark had caused the epidemic and eventually decided to return it.

The Philistine leaders placed the Ark on a cart, together with gifts for the Jewish G‑d, and they sent the cart, driven by cows, to the closest Jewish city—Beit Shemesh.

The farmers of Beit Shemesh were harvesting their wheat. When they spotted the Ark, they rejoiced.

The wagon stopped in the field of a Beit Shemesh resident named Joshua. On his field stood a large stone. The Levites of Beit Shemesh transferred the Ark onto the stone. The others brought sacrifices to G‑d.

However, due to their lack of respect for the Ark, G‑d struck and killed many people. Terrified, the residents of Beit Shemesh sent messengers to a nearby city, Kiryat Yearim, asking its people to come and pick up the holy vessel. The residents of Kiryat Yearim treated the Ark with proper respect, and it remained with them for the next two decades.

Northwest side of Tel Beit Shemesh; the valley in the background is where the Ark of the Covenant must have come from when sent by the Philistines.
Northwest side of Tel Beit Shemesh; the valley in the background is where the Ark of the Covenant must have come from when sent by the Philistines.

In 2019, archeologists Lederman and Bunimovitz discovered a large stone that seemed the right size to fit the Ark. They hypothesized that this may have been the stone mentioned in the Book of Samuel.6

In the Times of the Kings

The Tel Aviv University report states:

In the second half of the 10th century BCE, during the days of the United Monarchy or the beginning of the Kingdom of Judah, the village of Beth-Shemesh was transformed into a regional administrative center of the kingdom on its border with Philistia. The archaeological remains show evidence of considerable planning and investment in the buildings. An elaborate system of fortifications was discovered on the northeastern side of the tel. The main elements are a piece of a massive wall with a large retaining tower in front of it, and a series of casemate rooms adjoining the wall from the east. A hidden passage (postern) in the city wall enabled emergency exit from the town.7

Over the years, Beit Shemesh grew, developing a large olive oil production industry, as well as an iron-smith workshop. The report continues:

Dozens of iron implements and slags were found within the workshop, the earliest of its kind in Israel. At a later stage, the function of the area changed and buildings for storage and distribution of some agricultural commodities replaced the blacksmith's workshop. The buildings contained fragments of numerous pottery storage vessels … Remains of olive crushing basins, oil presses and stone weights, all used in the process of oil extraction, were found in the buildings by all three expeditions excavating at the site … .8

Oldest Known Poor Box, Pottery, Beth Shemesh, 8th Century BC. - Israel Museum
Oldest Known Poor Box, Pottery, Beth Shemesh, 8th Century BC.
Israel Museum

The War Between Two Jewish Kingdoms

Another significant event that took place at Beit Shemesh was the war between the two Jewish kingdoms.9 At the time, the southern kingdom of Judah was ruled by King Amatzia, and the northern kingdom by King Yehoash.

King Amatzia, encouraged by a recent military success against the Edomites, challenged the northern kingdom to war.

King Yehoash replied with scorn, advising King Amatzia to stay away, but King Amatzia did not listen.

The decisive battle took place in Beit Shemesh. The northern kingdom emerged victorious, capturing King Amatzia and marching on to loot Jerusalem.

Ruins from the Kings era in Tel Beit Shemesh.
Ruins from the Kings era in Tel Beit Shemesh.

The Water Reservoir

Another archeological discovery at Tel Beit Shemesh is a large water reservoir from the Kings period. The Tel Aviv University report states:

To guarantee the water supply of the governmental town, a large subterranean reservoir was quarried. The rock-cut reservoir is cruciform in shape with four large halls coated with thick hydraulic plaster. Its capacity is about 800 m3 of rainwater collected from the town's streets by plastered channels. One may descend down into the underground halls via an impressive entrance complex constructed of a stairway partly built and partly cut in the rock. Huge cigar-shaped stones cover the stairway passage.10

Steps leading down to the water reservoir.
Steps leading down to the water reservoir.

Captured by the Philistines

The last mention of Beit Shemesh in Tanach is during the reign of King Achaz of Judah, great-grandson of King Amatzia. Achaz was an evil king who instituted idol worship, including child sacrifice, in the country.11 His evil deeds cost him G‑d’s protection in war. Enemies attacked the Kingdom of Judah, winning battles and taking captives. Among the cities captured by the Philistines was Beit Shemesh.12

Later history

Achaz’s son and successor, Hezekiah, was a righteous king who cleansed Judah of idolatry and restored the covenant with G‑d and proper service in the Temple.13 G‑d was with him, and he defeated the Philistines.14

During King Hezekiah’s reign, both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah faced the threat of the conquering Assyrian army. The Kingdom of Israel was defeated by the Assyrians, and its residents were exiled.

Though Jerusalem was spared by a miracle, the Kingdom of Judah suffered heavy losses. Beit Shemesh was one of the towns that fell to King Sennacherib of Assyria. The Tel Aviv University report continues:

Beth-Shemesh was destroyed by the Assyrian king Sennacherib in his campaign against Judah in 701 BCE and abandoned. But in the 7th century BCE, some Judean families returned, refurbished the water reservoir and lived for a while in its vicinity. Many pottery vessels, broken while drawing water, remained embedded in the thick layer of silt accumulated at the bottom of the reservoir. This attempt by Judean families to settle in Beth-Shemesh once more was resented by their Philistine neighbors and/or the ruling Assyrians. This was due to the fact that the Shephelah was wrenched from Judah by the Assyrians and given to the Philistines so they could use its agricultural yield for the tremendous olive oil industry that emerged at the Philistine mega-city of Ekron. To ensure the abandonment of Beth-Shemesh, the entrance to the reservoir was deliberately blocked with 150 tons of earth and debris.15

Tel Beit Shemesh, with construction on Route 38 in the background on the left.
Tel Beit Shemesh, with construction on Route 38 in the background on the left.

For decades, archeologists thought that this was the end of Beit Shemesh. However, in 2018 Israel’s National Transport Infrastructure Company decided to expand Route 38, the main highway between Beit Shemesh and Highway 1, leading to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

As mandated by Israeli law, before engaging in road expansion, the company conducted a salvage excavation on the eastern side of Tel Beit Shemesh, to make sure that no valuable archeological resources would be lost due to the construction.

The discoveries surprised the archeologists and local residents alike. Archeologist Boaz Gross reports.

[P]reliminary assessment suggests that the site remained strongly affiliated with [the kingdom of] Judah even after Sennacherib’s campaign. No destruction or abandonment was identified at the site—neither from the Assyrian campaign nor from the Neo-Babylonian campaigns of the early sixth century B.C.E. Alterations to the olive oil and wine installations suggest a continuation of an agricultural economy at the site. This, together with the few yhud (Judah) impressions and even a yršlm (Jerusalem) impression, may indicate a continued economic and political affinity to Jerusalem.16

Furthermore, it turned out that Beit Shemesh was populated by Jewish residents through the 2nd century CE:

During the Hasmonean period [2nd century BCE-2nd century CE], the site … evolved into a Jewish village. Late Second Temple period settlements share a distinct material culture, such as the presence of ritual baths (or mikvahs, of which at least seven have been found at Beth Shemesh) and limestone vessels, and an absence of pig bones.17

One of the finds was a large cave:

The cave was accessible through a built entrance of large stones, later deliberately filled and blocked around the second century B.C.E. Later, probably during the Bar-Kokhba Revolt (132–136 C.E.), the cave was reused and connected to a more extensive “hideout system” that included a long underground corridor and cistern.18

Another discovery was a large building that likely served as a synagogue.

In the course of the salvage excavation, the residents of Beit Shemesh realized what a treasure they had right on the outskirts of their city:

A few months into the excavation of the site, the community of modern Beit Shemesh awakened. In a rare example of public outcry, they lobbied, demonstrated, and petitioned to save the site from development, advocating for the digging of an underground roadway beneath the mound, rather than cutting through it. They did so until the road plans were changed, in the form of a compromise: The [Israel Antiquities Authority] renegotiated the width of the planned road development from 230 feet to 82 feet, thus decreasing the scale of destruction by 65 percent.19

This was a rare accomplishment for activists and local residents. Work on Route 38 is currently being conducted according to the changed plans. Once the work is completed, the City of Beit Shemesh plans to construct an archeological park comprising the finds on both sides of Route 38.