Bet Alfa Attractions

The kibbutz of Bet Alfa, at the foot of Mount Gilboa, 6km/4mi west of Bet Shean and 19km/12mi east of Afula, was established in 1921. Its main claim to fame is the almost completely preserved mosaic pavement found nearby in a sixth century synagogue. The mosaic, found by chance in 1928 during the construction of an irrigation canal on the neighboring kibbutz of Hefzi Bah, ranks with the one at Tiberias-Hammat as one of the most important evidences of synagogue-building in the Byzantine period. The synagogue, which lies within the area of the Hefzi Bah kibbutz, bears the name of Bet Alfa since it belonged to the ancient settlement of that name.