Beit Jimal

Beit Jimal بيت جمال / الحكمه
Beit Jimal - general view
Beit Jimal
Coordinates: 31°43′30″N 34°58′35″E / 31.72500°N 34.97639°E / 31.72500; 34.97639Coordinates: 31°43′30″N 34°58′35″E / 31.72500°N 34.97639°E / 31.72500; 34.97639
Grid position	147/125 PAL

Beit Jimal (or Beit Jamal; Hebrew: בית ג'מאל‎; Arabic: بيت جمال / الحكمه‎‎) is a Catholic monastery run by Salesian monks near Beit Shemesh, Israel. The monks identify the site with the Byzantine town of Caphargamala, and believe that a cave there may have been the tomb of St. Stephen or to have conserved his relics.

The Palestine Exploration Fund's Survey of Western Palestine in 1883 described Beit Jimal (alt. sp. Beit el Jemâl) as possessing a natural spring three-quarters of a mile to the east, while to the south were caves. Natural brushwood consisting mainly of oak, buckthorn and mastic trees can be seen on the adjacent hill country lying to its south. To the east of Beit Jimal at a few hours' walking distance was the Arab village, Bayt Nattif. The monastery is located in the Judean hills next to the city of Beit Shemesh.

Ancient cisterns have been found here. In Arabic and Hebrew the site is known as Beit Jamal – the monastery is sometimes referenced as Beit Gemal or Beit Jimal. The name of the site is said to be from its local name (in years past), Kfar Gamla, purportedly so named for Rabban Gamliel I, or Gamaliel in Greek – president of the Sanhedrin. The Christian tradition believes that Gamaliel was buried here, as were St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr and Nicodemus. In 415 their remains were disclosed in a dream and discovered by the priest Lucian, and removed at the orders of John, Bishop of Jerusalem, for depositing in the Church of Hagia Sion on Mt. Zion, at the site of today's Abbey of the Dormition. Thanks to the excavations carried out by Andrzej Strus on site, it is now largely accepted that in Byzantine times this was considered to be the burial site of St Stephen, Gamaliel, Nicodemus and Gamaliel's son Abibos.