An ancient Jewish town and later a necropolis, Beit She’arim is now a shady park and a prime destination for visitors interested in the early years of rabbinic (post-Temple) Judaism.
For part of the late 2nd century CE, Beit She’arim was the meeting place of the Sanhedrin (the era's supreme council of rabbis), headed by Rabbi Yehuda HaNassi, who took on responsibilities both secular and religious and handled political affairs between Jews and their Roman overlords. He assembled Jewish scholars and compiled the Mishnah (the earliest codification of Jewish law) at Tzipori but asked to be buried here, inspiring others to do the same.
During the 4th century the town was destroyed by the Romans, presumably in the process of suppressing a Jewish uprising. During the following 600 years the many tombs were looted and covered by rock falls. Archaeologists stumbled upon the remains of Beit She’arim in 1936.
As you drive towards the entrance of the park, the ruins of a 2nd-century synagogue are off to the left. At the park itself there are 31 catacombs and a small museum in an ancient rock-cut reservoir. The largest catacomb contains 24 separate chambers with more than 200 sarcophagi. Note the variety of symbols and inscriptions carved onto the coffins, including epithets written in Hebrew, Aramaic, Palmyran and Greek. Some of the people buried here, it is believed, came from as far away as Persia and Yemen.
Beit She’arim is about 23km southeast of Haifa, mostly along Rte 75. By bus, you can take Nateev Express bus 301 from Haifa-Merkazit HaMifratz (13.50NIS, 15 minutes, three times a hour); tell the driver you want to go to Beit She’arim and they will let you off at HaShomrim Junction, which is 700m north of the park along Rte 722.
