(Communicated by the Ministry of Tourism)
Consisting of a series of catacombs, the necropolis developed from the 2nd century AD as the primary Jewish burial place outside Jerusalem following the failure of the second Jewish revolt against Roman rule. Located southeast of the city of Haifa, these catacombs are a treasury of artworks and inscriptions in Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew and Palmyrene.
The ancient Jewish town of Bet She'arim reached its zenith in the 2nd-4th centuries CE. The inhabitants of Bet She'arim hewed grand tombs deep within the hill, with rock-cut burial chambers and stone coffins (sarcophagi). The rooms and the sarcophagi feature an abundance of carved reliefs, inscriptions and wall paintings. Stone-carved doors, which imitate the style of wooden doors, were fashioned to close some of the caves.
In the third century CE, Bet She'arim became a renowned Jewish center due to the presence of the spiritual leader Rabbi Judah Hanasi, head of the Sanhedrin. The Roman authorities, who supported his leadership, gave him much property, including an estate at Bet She'arim. Rabbi Judah moved the Sanhedrin from Shefar'am to Bet She'arim, and towards the end of his life to Zippori. He was buried at Bet She'arim in 220 CE, garnering fame for its cemetery in the Jewish world throughout in the Talmudic era.
The Israel Nature and Parks Authority noted that the site is the oldest and most densely populated cemetery in Israel, and one of the most crowded burial sites in the Roman world, similar to the catacombs in Rome.
Israel Nature and Parks Authority through the Israel National Commission for UNESCO in partnership with the Education and Foreign ministries and with the support of the Tivon local council and the Jezreel Valley Regional Council filed for the site to be recognized at
UNESCO.
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She’arimwas one of 19 cultural sites around the world that were added to the list at the World Heritage Committee’s 39th Session, held in Bonn, Germany in July 2015. Other sites included the Bethany Beyond the Jordan (al-Maghtas) baptism site in Jordan, the areas of Maymand and Susa in Iran, Saudi Arabia’s Hail Region rock art and Turkey’s Diyarbakir Fortress, as well as sites in Italy, South Korea, France, Denmark, Mongolia, Norway, the United States, Singapore, Germany, the United Kingdom and China.
The other Israeli sites on the World Heritage Site list include Masada; the Old City of Acre; the White City of Tel Aviv; the biblical tels of Megiddo, Hatzor, and Beersheba; the incense route of desert cities in the Negev; and Baha’i holy places in Haifa and the Western Galilee as well as the Beit Guvrin- Morasha national park that joined this prestigious list in April 2015 .
Visitors can explore this World Heritage Site on a daily basis throughout the year. For more information on visiting hours and how to get there: