Beit She'an Valley

Beit She'an Valley
Beit She'an Valley in Israel, marked red

The Beit She'an Valley (Hebrew: בקעת בית שאן or Hebrew: עמק בית שאן) is a valley in Israel.

The valley lies within the Beit She'an rift, part of the Afro-Syrian Rift (Jordan Rift Valley), which opens westwards to the Harod Valley.[1] It is a middle part of the Jordan Valley. The valley is bounded by the Mount Gilboa mountain range from the southwest, Jordan River from the east, Nahal Tavor from the north, the lower part of the Malcha Stream (Nahal Malcha), where it flows into the Jordan River, from the south.[2] It is named after the ancient city of Beit She'an.

During the Ottoman Period, the Beit She'an Valley formed part of Turabay Emirate (1517-1683), which encompassed also the Jezreel Valley, Haifa, Jenin, Mount Carmel, northern Jabal Nablus, Bilad al-Ruha/Ramot Menashe, and the northern part of the Sharon plain.[3][4]

The valley is abundant in springs. For this reason, in order to attract tourism, the Beit She'an Valley Regional Council was rebranded as the Emek HaMaayanot Regional Council ("Valley of Springs Regional Council")[5]

It includes the Beit She'an National park in the northern part of Beit She'an.[6]

Panorama of Beit She'an and the surroundings
  1. ^ "Background on the Area: The City of Beit Shean, the Emek Hamaayanot, Gilboa and Lower Galilee Regional Councils"
  2. ^ "בית יגאל אלון. מוזיאון ומרכז חינוכי - אדם בגליל, מאגר מידע - אתרים עמק בית שאן". www.bet-alon.co.il. Archived from the original on 14 January 2010. Retrieved 22 February 2022.
  3. ^ al-Bakhīt, Muḥammad ʻAdnān; al-Ḥamūd, Nūfān Rajā (1989). "Daftar mufaṣṣal nāḥiyat Marj Banī ʻĀmir wa-tawābiʻihā wa-lawāḥiqihā allatī kānat fī taṣarruf al-Amīr Ṭarah Bāy sanat 945 ah". www.worldcat.org. Amman: Jordanian University. pp. 1–35. Retrieved 2023-05-15.
  4. ^ Marom, Roy. "Lajjun: Forgotten Provincial Capital in Ottoman Palestine". Levant. doi:10.1080/00758914.2023.2202484.
  5. ^ גלגולה החדש של בקעת בית-שאן: "עמק המעיינות" [The new incarnation of the Beit She'an Valley: "The Valley of the Springs"], Makor Rishon, June 13, 2008
  6. ^ national-park/ Meet Bet Shean National Park Take it slow in Israel’s Valley of Springs, Israel21c