BETHSAMES (Hebrew Bēth-Ēmef = "House of the Sun"). - Name of three Palestinian localities.

1. - A priestly city on the northern border of the tribe of Judah between Cheslon and Thamna (Josh. 15:10; 21:16), situated on Tell Rumejleh (or 'Ajn Şems) at the fork of the Wâdi Bulos with the Wâdi Surar (valley of Sörêq).

It was explored in 1911-12 by D. Mackenzie and in 1928-33 by E. Grant, who brought back to light the troglodytic-Canaanite (3000-1500 B.C.), Philistine (14th-12th cent.) and Israelite (11th-7th cent.) strata. The city had an area of 3 ½ hectares (200 x 150 m) like Jericho and Zakarijja, with solid fortifications; it seems to have been destroyed twice by fire. Two bâmôth were discovered (v. nâmâh): one in the center of the city with 5 maşşêhbôth torn down and one broken; the other with a well, pits, channels, maşşêhbôth, figurines of Astarte, which was replaced by a temple, and ecomycenean pottery. A gallery that served for the water supply outside the walls was also found. The Hyksos used B. as a supply center. Its golden period was at the time of the XIII dynasty. At B. the Ark rested after being returned by the Philistines to the Israelites (1 Sam. 6), and Amaziah, king of Judah, was defeated there by Joash king of Israel (2 Kings 14:11-13; 2 Chron. 25:21-23). Occupied again by the Philistines under Ahaz, it remained abandoned from the time of the exile.

2. - Frontier city of the tribe of Issachar between Tabor and the Jordan (Josh. 19:22); it corresponds to the village of el-'Abejdijjeh on the banks of the Jordan, or to Hírbet Şemân south of the lake of Tiberias.

3. - Fortified city of the tribe of Naphtali (Josh. 19:38; Judg. 1:33) identified with Hírbet Şem'ah, 4/5 km west of Şafed.

In Jer. 43:13 "B. which is in the land of Egypt" is evidently Heliopolis of Lower Egypt, whose name is literally translated into Hebrew.

Bibliography16 works

BIBL.: D. Mackenzie, in Palestine Explor. Fund. 1911, pp. 69-79, 132-34, 143-51; H. Vincent, The archaeological invocation of a biblical site-notes of a visit to the explorations at Beth-Shemesh ('Ain Shems), ibid., 1911, pp. 139-42, 169-72; 1912, pp. 125-27, 171-78; Annual of the Palestine Explor. Fund. 1 (1911), pp. 41-94; 2 (1912-13); E. Saarisalo, The Boundary between Issachar and Nephtali, Helsinki 1927; E. Grant, Beth Shemesh (Palestine), Progress of the Haverford archaeological expedition, Haverford (Pennsylvania) 1929; id., Beth Shemesh, ivi 1930; id., Ain Shems Excavations (Palestine) 1928-29, 1930-31, 1933, in Biblical and Kindred Studies Haverford College, ivi 1931-34; id., Découverte épigraphique à Beth Shemesh, in Revue Biblique, 39 (1930), p. 401 sq.; J. W. Crowfoot, Trois excavations récentes en Palestine: Telcuit Ghasul, Beth Shemesh, Megiddo, Londra 1930; H. Vincent, in Revue Biblique, 41 (1932), pp. 281-84; F.-M. Abel, Le monastère de Beth Shemesh, ibid., 45 (1936), pp. 538-42; id., Géographie de la Palestine, 2e ed., II, Parigi 1938, p. 282; L. Legendre, s. v. in DB, coll. 1731-36; E. Power, s. v. in DBs, I, coll. 975-81.

Bonaventura Mariani

@incollection{ec2_bethsames_ebr_beth_emef_casa_d, author = {Mariani, Bonaventura}, title = {Bethsames (Ebr. Béth-Émef « Casa del Sole »)}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {II}, pages = {1511--1513}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/bethsames-ebr-beth-emef-casa-del-sole} }

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