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BETHSHEMISH
A. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The history of the Biblical city of Beth Shemesh begins in the Middle Bronze Period (2,150 - 1550 B.C.). Located about midway between the Mediterranean Sea and Jerusalem, the site sits high on the south bank of the Valley of Sorek. This places Beth Shemesh in the foothills known as the Shephelah. The city lies opposite of Zorah, Samson’s birthplace and from the nearby Philistine site of Zimnah (Tel Batash) in the Valley of Sorek itself. Because of its location, Beth Shemesh is a prime site for exploring the interaction of different cultures as reflected by both the historical and archaeological records.
Beth Shemesh, which literally means in Hebrew, House of the Sun, was founded in the Hyksos Period in approximately 2,200 B.C. The town was surrounded by a wall enclosing about 8 acres of land.
In the second half of the 16th century, the town was completely destroyed, probably during the campaign of the Egyptians against the Hyksos. The city was rebuilt in the Late Bronze Period. Apparently, Joshua claimed the city as territory allotted to the Tribe of Dan (Joshua 19:41), but did not completely defeat these Canaanite inhabitants, for later in the Judges (1:33f), there is reference to the tribe of Naphtali not being able to completely drive them out of the area. However, the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh became part of the Judges’ forced labor personnel. During the time of the Judges, Beth Shemesh served as a city literally on the border between Israel and the Philistines. The area surrounding Beth Shemesh was also familiar ground for Samson, who married Delilah just a few miles west down the Sorek Valley.
During the time of Samuel, it was the Israelites inhabitants of Beth Shemesh who witnessed the return of the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines (I Samuel 6).
In about 930 B.C., the city became a royal administrative center under King Solomon. Later during the Divided Kingdom, the site remained a fortified city in order to control the western approaches to Jerusalem and the Ridge Route.
In 701 B.C., Beth Shemesh was one of the 46 cities conquered by King Sennacherib and the Assyrians. The city’s final destruction came over 100 years later in 586 B.C. at the hands of the Babylonians.
B. BIBLICAL REFERENCES
1. Joshua 19:41 The city is allotted to the Tribe of Dan as Israel emerged in Canaan.
2. Judges 1:33 Incomplete victories of the Tribe of Naphtali resulted in the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh not being completely driven out.
3. I Samuel 6:9-19 This is where the Philistines send the Ark of the Covenant up through the Sorek Valley from the Philistine city of Ekron. At this time, the farmers were harvesting wheat in the fields.
4. II Kings 14:11-13 Jehoash, King of Israel and Amaziah, King of Judah, confront each other here at Beth Shemesh due to civil tension between Israel and Judah. Judah is routed, with every Judean fleeing for his home.
C. ARCHAEOLOGCAL FINDS OF INTEREST
1. MIDDLE BRONZE: First excavated in the 1930’s, flints, ceramics, and a series of tombs provide the only evidence of the earliest city.
2. LATE BRONZE: The city is rebuilt as a prosperous city. Fins included a proto-type Canaanite inscription, a cuneiform tablet, and a spectacular jewelry hoard and a copper-smelting furnace.
3. IRON AGE I & II: A variety of artifacts reveal an Israelite presence in this area, yet influenced still by Canaanite culture. Canaanite-style pottery and column bases appear among the ruins of the so-called “Patrician House.”
In this house were found golden hoop earrings and other scraps of jewelry. However in the one of the strangest of finds, within this house archaeologists found over 6,000 animal bones, primarily from sheep and goats. However, about 1% of the bones were pig bones (similar finds of pig bones have been found at Lachish, Timnah, Ekron, and Ashkelon in this same area).
Also during the reign of Solomon, the city is reconstructed with what has been called the “Strong Wall,” built of massive rough boulders of stone. This wall would fall to the Assyrians in 701 B.C. Other finds included a spacious public building, a water reservoir, a chambered gate (built by Amaziah (798-769 B.C.) or Uzziah (769-733 B.C.), and “Lemelek jar seals” (jar handles with an inscription meaning,: “Belonging to the King,” indicating the important role this city played).