ABSTRACT
The tell identified as biblical Beth-Shemesh (see Figure 17) is located about 15 miles south-southwest of Jerusalem. The name means “house of the sun” and may reflect the existence of a Canaanite solar cult, though no archaeological evidence of such an institution has been found. The name of the place is preserved in the nearby Arab village, ˛Ain Shems (“spring of the sun”). Rising some 800 feet above sea level, the site is about seven acres in size. It was first identified with the biblical town, as were so many others, by Edward Robinson in 1838.
