Key findings that prove the Bible is true:

• Jewish conquest of Canaan (Judges 11:26): The “Armana Letters,” a series of 14th-century BC letters to Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten found at the site, describe a terrifying “conquest” of the Canaanite lands by a people called “Habiru” (Hebrew), matching the timeline given in the Bible.

• Evidence of unconquered Canaanites (Joshua 17:11-12, Judges 1:27): Excavations revealed that while the city of Luz was heavily influenced by Egypt in the 12th century BC, it remained a Canaanite-dominated city, as described in Joshua 17:11-12 and Judges 1:27, which state that the Israelites did not drive out all of the Canaanites.

• Late Bronze Age temples (1 Sam. 31:10, 1 Chron. 10:10): Excavations uncovered two adjacent temples dating to 12th century BC. These structures are believed to be the "House of Ashtaroth" and the "House of Dagon" mentioned in 1 Samuel 31:10 and 1 Chronicles 10:10, where the Philistines placed King Saul's body and armor after his defeat on Mount Gilboa.

• Tenth-century BC fortifications (1 Kings 4:12): Archaeologists discovered large public buildings, including a "fortress" or governor's residence, dating to the 10th century BC. These structures indicate a strong, centralized government administration, which matches the description of Beth She’an as a city under Solomon's rule that provided goods to the royal court.

• Evidence of Destruction (1 and 2 Kings): The site shows evidence of being destroyed by fire in the 10th century BC, which 1 Kings 14:25 tells us happened at the hand of Egyptian Pharaoh Shishak as part of his campaign to destroy Jerusalem, and later destruction layers associated with the 8th-century BC Assyrian invasion as discussed in 2 Kings 15:29.

Beth-She'an is one of the stops on our Covenant Journey tours of the Holy Land. The city is not far from Nazareth, meaning that it is almost certainly a place where Jesus, as a young man, worked as a carpenter with His earthly father, Joseph, and would have known well as an adult.

The massive site is amazing. Until a farm “accident” in the 1980s, everything we see today was buried by mudslides. The farmer who was plowing the land with a Ferguson replaced it with a John Deere, and the blade was just a few inches longer. Plowing the same ground, the blade struck an immovable object, which turned out to be the top of a column, which remained vertical — the only one among the many that were toppled. Since that time, archaeologists uncovered this incredible site.

Science, history and biblical truth converge here in Beit She'an — proving not only the Jews rightful historical claim to their own land but also the accuracy of the Bible.

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Mat Staver
Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel

YOU can visit Beit She’an on our October tour of Israel, along and so many of the other places the Bible discusses in detail. Learn more at CJTravel.org.

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SOURCES: 

“Beth Shean in the Bible and Archaeology.” Biblical Archaeology Society, March 14, 2024. Biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/beth-shean-in-the-bible-and-archaeology/. 

Mazar, Amihai. “The Beth Shean Valley and Its Vicinity in the 10th Century BCE.” Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology, 2021. doi:10.52486/01.00001.10. 

McKoy, Samuel. “Uncovering the Bible’s Buried Cities: Beth Shean.” Armstrong Institute of Biblical Archaeology, March 25, 2023. Armstronginstitute.org/860-uncovering-the-bibles-buried-cities-beth-shean. 

Steinmeyer, Nathan. “OnSite: Beth Shean.” Biblical Archaeology Society, January 22, 2024. Biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/bas-onsite/onsite-beth-shean/.