Beth-she'mesh. (house of the sun).

1. One of the towns which marked the north boundary of Judah. Joshua 15:10. It is now 'Ainshems, about two miles from the great Philistine plain, and seven from Ekron.

2. A city on the border of Issachar. Joshua 19:22.

3. One of the "fenced cities" of Naphtali. Joshua 19:38; Judges 1:33.

4. An idolatrous temple, or place in Egypt. Jeremiah 43:13. In the middle ages, Heliopolis was still called by the Arabs Ain Shems.