Biblical city
Bethel
Beitin, West Bank · Ephraim / Benjamin border
Bethel is where Jacob saw the stairway to heaven and named the place "house of God." It later became one of Jeroboam's two calf shrines and a target of prophetic denunciation.
History in Scripture
Jacob dreamed of the ladder here and named the place "house of God"; Abram had earlier built an altar nearby. After the division of the kingdom Jeroboam set up one of his golden calves at Bethel, making it a rival sanctuary that the prophets denounced and Josiah later destroyed.
The ancient city
Bethel stood on the watershed ridge road about twelve miles north of Jerusalem, on the border between Ephraim and Benjamin — convenient for pilgrims from the north and a deliberate alternative to the Jerusalem temple.
The site today
The Palestinian village of Beitin preserves the name, with excavated remains nearby; the site is modest and largely of scholarly rather than tourist interest.
Key passages
Sources & notes
Description summarizes standard historical and archaeological reference works. Imagery is added separately and is labeled by type.