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Abel-Meholah

also known as: Abelmeholah, 'Ain Helweh

Meaning: meadow of dancing, or the dancing-meadow

This is the name of the birthplace and residence of the prophet Elisha, not far from Beth-shean (1 Kings 4:12), in the tribe of Issachar.

Residents of the Abel-Meholah were called Meholathites.

Here Elisha was found at his plow by Elijah on his return up the Jordan valley from Horeb (1 Kings 19:16).

This town was where a man named Adriel lived. He married King Saul’s oldest daughter Merab, who the king had previously promised to David as a wife (as a reward) with the assumption that David would surely first be killed by the Philistines.

Residents of this area were called Meholathites.

Beit She'an

also known as: Beth-shean, Tell Beth Shean, Beisan

Centuries later, Abel-Meholah was called 'Ain Helweh. Abel-Meholah was near where the Wady el-Maleh emerges into the valley of the Jordan River valley, the rich meadowland which extends about 4 miles south of Beth-Shean (aka Beit She'an, Israel) which is believed to be one of the oldest cities in the region.

“Beit She'an’s location has always been strategically significant, due to its position at the junction of the Jordan River Valley and the Jezreel Valley, essentially controlling access from Jordan and the inland to the coast, as well as from Jerusalem and Jericho to the Galilee.”

Beit She'an is where the bodies of King Saul and three of his sons were hung by the Philistines after the Battle of Gilboa.

“During the three hundred years of rule by the New Kingdom of Egypt, the population of Beit She'an appears to have been primarily Egyptian administrative officials and military personnel. The town was completely rebuilt, following a new layout, during the 19th dynasty. The Penn Museum excavations uncovered two important stelae from the period of Seti I and a monument of Ramesses II. One of those steles is particularly interesting because, according to William F. Albright, it testifies to the presence of a Hebrew population: the Habiru, which Seti I protected from an Asiatic tribe.”

After its later destruction by the “sea peoples” Egypt lost control and a Canaanite city was constructed on this site. Around 1000 BC the town became part of the larger Israelite kingdom. 1 Kings 4:12 refers to Beit She'an as part of the kingdom of Solomon. Archaeological dating efforts suggest that the first Israelite urban settlement was established either during the Solomonic period or, at the latest, in the early phase of the kingdom of Israel. It was probably destroyed around 935–900 BC.

“The Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom of Israel under Tiglath-Pileser III (732 BC) brought about Beit She'an’s destruction by fire.

During the Hellenistic period Beit She'an was known as Scythopolis, the leading city of the Decapolis. Scythopolis was destroyed by an earthquake in 749 AD. All of the columns and arches collapsed in the same direction, and the city was not rebuilt.

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Article Version: January 10, 2025