Bet Guvrin-Maresha National Park
Bet Guvrin-Maresha National Park encompasses approximately 5,000 dunams (1,250 acres) of rolling hills in the Judean Lowlands. The hills, approximately 400 m above sea level, consist mainly of chalk overlaid with harder rock called nari. For thousands of years people have been cutting into the rock beneath the nari as quarries, burial caves, storerooms, industrial facilities, hideouts and dovecotes. (See http://old.parks.org.il/BuildaGate5/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~25~~131474600~Card12~&ru=&SiteName=parks&Clt=&Bur=466258966)
Beit She'an
Beit She'an is a city in the North District of Israel which has played an important role historically due to its geographical location at the junction of the Jordan River Valley and Jezreel Valley.
Around 1100 BC, Canaanite Beit She'an was conquered by the Philistines. During a subsequent battle against the Jewish King Saul at nearby Mount Gilboa in 1004 BC, the Philistines prevailed. 1 Samuel 31 states that the victorious Philistines hung the body of King Saul on the walls of Beit She’an. King David was able to capture Beit Shea'an in a series of brilliant military campaigns that expelled the Philistines from the area, pushing them back to their coastal strongholds of Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath, Gaza, and Ashdod.
The Hellenistic period saw the reoccupation of the site of Beit She'an under the new name Scythopolis, possibly named after the Scythian mercenaries who settled there as veterans. The town played a role after the Hasmonean Maccabee Revolt: Josephus records that the Jewish High Priest Jonathan was killed there by Demetrius II Nicator.
Beit She'an was refounded and rebuilt by Gabinius. Scythopolis prospered and became the leading city of the Decapolis, a loose confederation of ten cities that were centers of Greco-Roman culture, an event so significant that the town based its calendar on that year. The city flourished under the Pax Romana, as evidenced by high-level urban planning and extensive construction, including the best preserved Roman theatre of ancient Samaria, as well as a hippodrome, cardo, and other trademarks of the Roman influence. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beit_She%27an)
Around 1100 BC, Canaanite Beit She'an was conquered by the Philistines. During a subsequent battle against the Jewish King Saul at nearby Mount Gilboa in 1004 BC, the Philistines prevailed. 1 Samuel 31 states that the victorious Philistines hung the body of King Saul on the walls of Beit She’an. King David was able to capture Beit Shea'an in a series of brilliant military campaigns that expelled the Philistines from the area, pushing them back to their coastal strongholds of Ashkelon, Ekron, Gath, Gaza, and Ashdod.
The Hellenistic period saw the reoccupation of the site of Beit She'an under the new name Scythopolis, possibly named after the Scythian mercenaries who settled there as veterans. The town played a role after the Hasmonean Maccabee Revolt: Josephus records that the Jewish High Priest Jonathan was killed there by Demetrius II Nicator.
Beit She'an was refounded and rebuilt by Gabinius. Scythopolis prospered and became the leading city of the Decapolis, a loose confederation of ten cities that were centers of Greco-Roman culture, an event so significant that the town based its calendar on that year. The city flourished under the Pax Romana, as evidenced by high-level urban planning and extensive construction, including the best preserved Roman theatre of ancient Samaria, as well as a hippodrome, cardo, and other trademarks of the Roman influence. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beit_She%27an)
Caesarea Maritima
Caesarea Maritima ("by the Sea") is located on the shore in the center of Israel, in the middle between Haifa and Tel-Aviv. It is the site of one of the most important cities in the Roman World, the Roman capital of the province of Judea at the time of Jesus, and a Crusader fortress along the road from Acre to Jerusalem. (See http://www.biblewalks.com/Sites/Caesarea.html)