Beer Sheba (of the Galilee)
The ruins of a site that was fortified in the Jewish revolt, at the boundary between the upper and lower Galilee
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Background:
Beer Sheba (of the Galilee) was one of the sites that were fortified by Josephus Flavius in the Jewish revolt against the Romans.
Location:
The ruins of the city are located on a steep hill (472M) above the ancient west-east road that connected Acre to the Sea of Galilee. It is just on the border of the lower (southern) Galilee and the upper (northern) Galilee. It is also located between two sections of the Tsalmon creek, which flows from the hills of the upper Galilee, down to the the sea of Galilee.
History:
The site has been inhabited from the Persian and Hellenistic period. Due to its prime location (boundary of upper and lower Galilee, and located on the ancient road) and strategic height, it was fortified by Josephus Flavius in preparation for the Roman conquest at the Jewish Revolt in 67AD. Its fate at that campaign is not known. It continued as a Roman village until the Persian/Arab conquest in the 6th C AD.
General View:
The following photo is a view from the main road from Carmiel to the sea of Galilee, looking towards the north (the hills of the upper Galilee). The ancient fortified city is on top of the hill.
Click on the photo to view it in higher resolution...
A closer view of the site. You can notice at the bottom of the hill there is the ruins of a large Arabic house. Around it there are many caves from the Roman period.
On top of the hill there are traces of ruins of the Roman city - the foundations of the houses and walls that were fortified by Josefus.
Visit at the site:
Khirbet Beer Sheba:
In order to get there, you can drive from Acre or Carmiel towards east, and stop at the Hannania junction or in its vicinity. The ancient site is at the top of the steep hill, and so it will be easier to approach it from the upper side of the road that climbs up to Zephat.
Kefar Hannania:
South-east and south-west of the junction there are several holy graves where famous Jewish scholars from the Roman period are buried. This is the site of Kefar Hannania, a large village from the Roman period. The Jewish population lived here continuously for 25 centuries until the 16th C AD. See more...
Historical References:
(a) Josephus Flavius (Wars Book 2: 20:6)
Josephus was the Commander of the Jewish revolt against the Romans, and later a historian of the period. He writes that he fortified the city (Bersabee). Note that Selamis is the ancient village 5 KM down the Tsalmon creek, and Jotapata is Yodfat.
Josephus ... knew the Romans would fall upon Galilee, he built walls in proper places about Jotapata, and Bersabee, and Selamis; ...".
(b) Josephus Flavius (Wars 3, Chapter 3: 1)
In this text he describes the Galilee and mentions that the site is at the boundary between the upper and lower Galilee:
" Now Phoenicia and Syria encompass about the Galilees, which are two, and called the Upper Galilee and the Lower. They are bounded toward the sun-setting, with the borders of the territory belonging to Ptolemais, and by Carmel; which mountain had formerly belonged to the Galileans, but now belonged to the Tyrians; to which mountain adjoins Gaba, which is called the City of Horsemen, because those horsemen that were dismissed by Herod the king dwelt therein; they are bounded on the south with Samaria and Scythopolis, as far as the river Jordan; on the east with Hippeae and Gadaris, and also with Ganlonitis, and the borders of the kingdom of Agrippa; its northern parts are hounded by Tyre, and the country of the Tyrians. As for that Galilee which is called the Lower, it, extends in length from Tiberias to Zabulon, and of the maritime places Ptolemais is its neighbor; its breadth is from the village called Xaloth, which lies in the great plain, as far as Bersabe, from which beginning also is taken the breadth of the Upper Galilee, as far as the village Baca, which divides the land of the Tyrians from it; its length is also from Meloth to Thella, a village near to Jordan".
Etymology (behind the name):
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