Beit Jann

Beit Jann בֵּיתּ גַ'ן‎‎ بيت جن‎
Hebrew transcription(s)
• ISO 259	Beit Ǧann
• Also spelled	Beit Jann (unofficial)
Beit Jann cityscape
Logo
Beit Jann
Coordinates: 32°57′55″N 35°22′46″E / 32.96528°N 35.37944°E / 32.96528; 35.37944Coordinates: 32°57′55″N 35°22′46″E / 32.96528°N 35.37944°E / 32.96528; 35.37944
Grid position	185/263 PAL
District	Northern
Founded	13th or 14th century (as Druze settlement)
Government
• Type	Local council
Area
• Total	4,650 dunams (4.65 km2 or 1.80 sq mi)
Population (2015)
• Total	11,426
Name meaning	"The house of the genie", or "The garden house"

Beit Jann (Arabic: بيت جن‎‎; Hebrew: בֵּיתּ גַ'ן‎) is a Druze village on Mount Meron in northern Israel. At 940 meters above sea level, Beit Jann is one of the highest inhabited locations in the country. In 2015 it had a population of 11,426.

Beit Jann is an ancient village site at the top of a hill. Old stones have been reused in village homes, and cisterns and tombs carved into rock have also been found.

In the Crusader era it was known as Beitegen. In 1249, John Aleman transferred land, including the of Beit Jann, Sajur, Majd al-Krum and Nahf to the Teutonic Knights.

According to local legend, Druze families in the area lived in scattered colonies in the hills near sources of water until the 13th or 14th century. Two hunters looking for hyraxes stumbled upon a cave where they found an ancient cistern filled with water. Concluding that this was a good place for permanent settlement, several families settled on the site of what would become Beit Jann.

In 1517, the village was incorporated into the Ottoman Empire with the rest of Palestine, and in 1596, Bayt Jinn appeared in Ottoman tax registers as being in nahiya (subdistrict) of Akka under the liwa' (district) of Safad. It had a population of 102 households and 5 bachelors, all Muslims. They paid taxes on silk spinning (dulab harir), occasional revenues, goats and/or beehives, olive oil press and/or a press for grape syrup.