Beit Shemesh

**Beit Shemesh** (, ; ; ) is a ceety in Israel's Jerusalem Destrict, wi a population o  in . Beit Shemesh haes been inhabitit syne pre-biblical times. The modren ceety o Beit Shemesh wis foondit in 1950.

## History
### Antiquity
The auncient ceety o Beit Shemesh ("hoose o the sun" or "temple o the sun" in Ebreu) wis oreeginally named efter the Canaanite sun-goddess Shemesh, which wis worshipped thare in antiquity. The ruins o the auncient biblical ceety can still be seen in the tell o Beit Shemesh, locatit near the modren ceety.

Several important an unique archaeological discoveries hae been made in recent digs at the tel. The maist auncient iron wirkshop in the warld wis discovered here in 2003. The anerlie remnants o a fortified ceety wi an advanced watter seestem, frae the time o the early Kinrick o Judah wis foond here. In aw layers frae this period, the bones o ainimals wur aw o kosher ainimals, in contrast tae nearbi auncient fortresses an settlements o that period sic as Maresha, Azeka or Lachish, suggestin an early Jewish settlement an advanced kinrick in the early biblical "keengs" period.

Durin the destruction o Judea bi the Babylonians, the waterwirks o Beit Shemesh wur sealed an covered, an wur no uncovered till 2004. Sicweys durin the first Jewish return, kent as the Seicont Temple period, thare wis nae revival o the ceety, as opposed tae mony ither places in the vicinity sic as Beit Guvrin, Maresha, an ithers. Consequently, the sma touns o Dayr Raban an Dayr Rafat haed uised seicontar rocks for biggin, frae this vera auncient soorce. An aa foond nearbi is a prehistoric Megalith circle, probably the structur responsible for the name Beit Shemesh.

### Biblical references
Beit Shemesh is first mentioned in the Beuk o Joshua 15 as a ceety in the territory o the tribe o Judah on the mairch atween thair territory an that o the tribe o Dan. Later in Joshua 21 Beit Shemesh is mentioned as haein been set aside a ceety for the priests o the tribe o Levi, the Kohanim. The ceety is mentioned notably in chapter 6 o the beuk o Samuel I as bein the first ceety encoontered bi the ark o the covenant on its wey back frae Philistie efter haein been captured bi the Philistines in battle. In the beuk o Keengs II, Beit Shemesh is again mentioned as bein the site o the battle atween Amaziah keeng o Judea an Jehoash keeng o Israel.

### 1948 War
Durin the 1948 war o unthirldom, the Egyptian airmy invadit the aurie an set up a fortified post ("*Mishlat*") on the hill that wad later acome Beit Shemesh. The post chynged haunds several times durin fechtin. The Harel Brigade occupied pairt o the post for several months givin rise tae the name "the joint post" or the "Mishlat HaMeshutaf" wi 60 meters dividin them an the enemy forces. The Mishlat wis finally taken bi the Harel force in the "HaHar" offensive durin the nicht o 19–20 October 1948.

Beit Shemesh is the pynt frae which the famous Convoy of 35, or Lamed Heh, set oot tae relieve the besieged Gush Etzion. On 15 Januar 1948 a group o 38 Palmach volunteers set oot frae the Hartuv aurie near Beit Shemesh. Suin efter thay set oot, ane o the sodgers sprained his ankle an the convoy o 35 continued on towards the besieged kibbutzim. Thair presence wis discovered efter thay met wi an Arab shepherd an thay wur aw killed in an ensuin battle.

### State o Israel

On December 6, 1950, the Hartuv displaced bodys camp "Ma'abarat Har-Tuv" wis established on the site o the current-day Moshav Naham. The first indwallers wur Jewish Bulgarian immigrants. Thay wut jynt bi mair Jewish immigrants frae Bulgarie, Iran, Iraq, Romanie, Morocco an Kurdistan. In 1952 the first permanent hooses wur biggit in Beit Shemesh. Prior tae 1948 the Ramat Beit Shemesh neighborhuid aurie wis the site o the Arab veelage Beit Natif. This veelage wis biggit on remnants o an auncient Judean toun, wi various remnants o Jewish settlement frae the time, sic as a mosaic floor, wineries an ither remains, especially frae the period o the Hasmonean keengs an earlier. This aurie is currently unner dispute aboot preservation, haein been subject o a grassroots campaign.

In its early years, Beit Shemesh came tae typify the "Development Toun" wi a largely North African immigrant population. In 1977, follaein a writeup in Haaretz newspaper, Beit Shemesh wis perceived as the main ootpost for Menachem Begin's Likud pairty. He promised tae rehabilitate neighborhuids an when Likud came tae pouer that year, investment in the ceety increased.

Wi the lairge-scale immigration frae the Soviet Union in the 1990s, new neighborhuids wur biggit at an acceleratit rate in the ceety as the population grew rapidly. Ane parteecular group who settled in Beit Shemesh wis made up o Jews who haed convertit tae Judaism in twa veelages twa centuries prior, an kept the releegion in secret unner the Soviet regime. An aa in the 1990s, a lairge nummer o Ethiopian Jews stairtit arrivin in Beit Shemesh thegither wi affluent new immigrants frae Inglis speakin kintras. Later, in 2002, a lairge congregation o Ethiopian Jews o the Falashmura reached Beit Shemesh.

In the 1990s, new neighborhuids wur biggit: Nahala UMenucha, a Haredi neighborhuid, Ramat Beit Shemesh Alef an Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet, which doubled the size o the ceety. In 2002, follaein tensions atween the Haredi an non-releegious population, plans wur drawn up tae big anither secular neighborhuid,  HaShachar, as a separate ceety. Wirk began at the entrance tae Ramat Beit Shemesh, but acause o legal problems an a continued dispute ower the population o this new ceety, the plan wis abandoned.

## Demographics

Accordin tae CBS, in 2003 the ethnic makeup o the ceety wis 100.0% Jewish an ither non-Arab, wi nae significant Arab population.  See Population groups in Israel. In 2005, thare wur 32,900 males an 33,000 females. The population growthe rate in 2005 wis 6.4%.

In 1952, olim frae Iran, Iraq, Romanie, Morocco an Kurdistan settled in Beit Shemesh. In the 1990s, the ceety saw a lairge influx o new immigrants frae the umwhile Soviet Union, Ethiopie an Inglis speakin kintras.

Syne the 1990s, Beit Shemesh haes acome increasingly Orthodox, wi a lairge Haredi sector.  Mony synagogues an yeshivas hae been biggit in the community. Releegious communities representit in Beit Shemesh include Ger, Belz, Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok, Satmar an Neturei Karta.

In recent years, thare haes been a dramatic increase in the nummer o Inglis speakin Israelis who hae moved tae Beit Shemesh. Considerable nummers hae come frae North Americae, the Unitit Kinrick, Sooth Africae an Australie. This population tends tae be Orthodox, educatit an frae middle income groups. The main auries o "Anglo" settlement are the Dolev aurie o RBS, Sheinfeld, Nofei Aviv an Migdal HaMayim. The Anglo immigration wave haes seen real estate prices skyrocket in Beit Shemesh in general, an in the Anglo neighborhuids in parteecular.

## Sports
Beit Shemesh is hame tae numerous sports clubs aw unner the main sport associations (Beitar, Hapoel, an Maccabi). The ceety haes soccer teams includin juniors seniors an ower-35s teams an an' a' boastit a franchise in the Israel Baseball League. The Beit Shemesh Blue Sox representit Beit Shemesh in the league's ae saison, tho thay played thair gemmes at Gezer Field in Kibbutz Gezer due tae a lack o proper facilities in Beit Shemesh. Thare is an aa a vera active Little League in Beit Shemesh an Ramat Beit Shemesh, wi ower 300 members. 
In the field o judo, Elitzur Beit Shemesh haes wan mony prizes. Israel Kung Fu an warld Nunchaku champion (2001) Eli Ivgi wis born in an lives in Beit Shemesh.

## Twin touns - Sister ceeties
*  Cocoa, Florida, Unitit States
*  Nordhausen, Germany
*  Lhasa, Cheenae
*  Ramapo, New York, USA

## References

## Freemit airtins
* Places To Visit in Beit Shemesh 
* Shemesh OnLine
* ShemeshDirectory