Beit Jimal

Beit Jimal
بيت جمال
Beit Jimal - general view
Etymology: "House of the Camel"
Beit Jimal
Beit Jimal
Coordinates: 31°43′30″N 34°58′35″E / 31.72500°N 34.97639°E / 31.72500; 34.97639
Grid position147/125 PAL
Country Israel
DistrictJerusalem

Beit Jimal or Beit Jamal (Arabic: بيت جمال, romanizedBayt al-Jamāl, lit.'House of the Camel') is a Catholic monastery run by Salesian priests and brothers near Beit Shemesh, Israel. The Christian tradition identifies the site with the Roman- and Byzantine-era Jewish village of Caphargamala (כפר גמלא), and believe that inside a cave in the area, there is the tomb of Saint Stephen or to have conserved his relics. An alternative spelling and etymology for the name is therefore Beit Gemal or Beit Gamal - the House of Rabban Gamaliel the Elder.