(Bloomberg) Gwen Ackerman - Tel Beit Shemesh was the ancient meeting point of the Canaanites, Philistines and Israelites. The Bible describes it as the northern border of the Tribe of Judah. The area also features in the story of the return of the Ark of the Covenant, earlier captured by the Philistines. King Solomon ruled the district and it was the site of the battle between Joash and Amaziah, the respective kings of Israel and Judah. Archaeologist Shlomo Bunimovitz from Tel Aviv University and his team have uncovered the outer wall of what they say is an ancient temple, with a row of three flat stones. Beit Shemesh later became part of the Israelite monarchy, although the Bible never calls the people there Israelites, only the people of Beit Shemesh. Neil Silberman, a historian at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, notes: "What is interesting about Beit Shemesh is the concept of it not only being a border town between the Philistines and the kingdom of Judah, but also of the inevitable tension between the two."
2013-02-08 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive