Beit Netofa Valley

Long and narrow and ringed by steep hills, the valley soil is fatty clay relatively impermeable to water,[4] leading to seasonal winter flooding, a phenomenon already described in the 14th century by medieval Arab geographer Al-Dimashqi.

At the southwestern edge of the Beit Netofa Valley it reaches the two Eshkol reservoirs, where the water is cleaned and tested before flowing south towards the Negev.

The earliest, Netofa I and II, date from the Chalcolithic period and are found on its hilly western flank near Kafr Manda.

[1] At the valley's northeastern edge stands the site of ancient Beth Netofa, its name preserved in the Arab place name, Khirbet Natif.

[2] Nearby, next to Highway 65 that runs along the eastern edge of the valley, lies Hurvat Amudim, another Roman-era Jewish settlement.

Khirbet Qana, on the north edge of the valley, has long been recognized as the biblical Cana of Galilee, the site of Jesus' first miracle (John 2:11).