In
the
Middle
Bronze
Age,
Tel
Beth
Shemesh
was
a
fortified
Canaanite
city-state,
surrounded
by
a
stone
wall
and
two
massive
towers
protecting
the
city
gate.
In
the
Iron
Age
II,
the
city
served
as
a
regional
administrative
center
of
the
Kingdom
of
Judah
and
a
border
city
with
Philistia.
The
Bible
mentioned
Beth
Shemesh
several
times,
the
most
notable
of
them
is
the
story
of
the
returning
of
the
Ark
of
Covenant
from
the
Philistine
captivity.
Beth-Shemesh
destroyed
by
the
Assyrian king Sennacherib in 701 BCE.
Today,
the
city
site
is
easily
accessible,
but
unfortunately
not
well
preserved.
You
can
see
the
Canaanites
and
the
Judahites
dwellings,
the
underground
water
reservoir,
the
Middle
Bronze
Age
gate
and
towers
and
a
beautiful
view
of
the
green
Shuruk
valley
and
the
Shfela
hills, were many of the Judge Samson biblical episodes, took place.
