
Beit Shean (Bisan), a city south of the Sea of Galilee, must have been familiar to the first believers in Jesus, as it was the capital of the Decapolis cities, through which word of Jesus’ miracles and teachings spread (Matt. 4:25, Mark 5: 20).
It has also been a scene of tragedy: more than a millennium earlier, the Philistines hung the body of Saul from its ramparts (I Sam. 31:10). Tel Beit Shean, with its 5,000 years of history, towers grandly over the ruins of the Roman and later the Christian city that took shape below.
Visitors wander the ancient streets, amazed by columns toppled in the earthquake of 749 AD; an remarkable theater that has returned to use; a bathhouse, which has been reconstructed to show visitors the pastimes of bygone days, and later contained a baptistery; and the churches that graced its suburbs. The fertile surrounding landscape, from Gilead to Jezreel and Gilboa, is still worthy of the ancient appellation “gateway to the Garden of Eden.”
Cities of the Holy Land
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Akko (Acre) Akko is a city that has been shaped by the Romans, Ottomans, Crusaders, Mamelukes, Byzantines, and British, and fittingly is today home to an divers...
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Ashdod
The best place to begin your visit to the vibrant port city of Ashdod is at Givat Yonah, the towering hill that is the tradition...
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Beer Sheva Be'er Sheva, the modern-day capital of the Negev, has a history going back all the way to Abraham, father of the Biblical Israelite people and a spi...
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Eilat
Eilat Over the years, the city of Eilat has become the ultimate resort city with hotels and beaches packed with thousands of local vacatione...
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Haifa Haifa is a multi-faceted city with several unique characteristics making it an attractive place to visit. Its proximity to the sea and its active port...
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Nazareth Nazareth is a city located in the north. With a population of 75,000, it is the largest Arab city with a mixed but quite harmonious Christian and Mu...
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Tel Aviv Tel Aviv, often called “the city that never sleeps,” was the first modern Jewish city built in the Holy Land, and is the country’s economic and cult...
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Tiberias
Tiberias (Tverya/Tabariyah) demonstrates the essence of vacations in the Holy land. In Tiberias, one can enjoy a variety of activities in a ...
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Safed Safed: A visit to the city of Safed (Tsfat) - with its superb mountaintop setting and fresh, clean mountain air, is a delightful experience.
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Bethlehem Bethlehem is a Palestinian city approximately 8 kilometers south of Jerusalem. The city is a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism in the country.<...
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Dead Sea
Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth in any land mass (417 meters below sea level, to be exact). The quantity of water that evaporates from i...
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Massada
Massada is one of the most thrilling and frequently-toured places in the Holy Land, and relates a story of perseverance and power, faith and...
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Beit Shean
Beit Shean (Bisan), a city south of the Sea of Galilee, must have been familiar to the first believers in Jesus, as it was the capital of the ...
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Caesarea
Caesarea is a city of the past and the future, the new sitting across from the ancient. While new Caesarea is adorned with magnificent modern ...
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The Judean Desert The Judean Desert is bordered by the Mountains of the West Bank (Judea) to the west and by the Dead Sea to the east. It is considered a relatively s...
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Sea of Galilee
All winter long, the most important part of the news report for Israelis is not the dollar-shekel exchange rate or the level of the Tel Aviv S...
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Jericho Jericho, the "City of Palms", is a small city within the Palestinian Territories and Israeli-occupied West Bank, close to the northern end of Dead Sea...
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