'''Eleutheropolis''' ("city of the free") was the Greek name of a Roman city in Palestine (modern km southwest of Jerusalem. Its remains still straddle the ancient road to Gaza. Though no secure identification can be made with any site in the Hebrew Bible, the site&mdash; already rendered as '''Baitogabra''' in Ptolemy's ''Geography''&mdash; was called '''Beit Guvrin''' and '''Bet Gubrin''' in the Talmud.<ref>[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=173&letter=E ''Jewish Encyclopedia'', ''s.v.'' "Eleutheropolis"].</ref> Edward Robinson identifies the depopulated Arab village of '''Beit Jibrin'''. 

In the AD 68), Vespasian&mdash; still a general&mdash; slaughtered or enslaved the inhabitants of ''Betaris'', according to Josephus:
<blockquote>''when he had seized upon two villages, which were in the very midst of Idumea, Betaris, and Caphartobas, he slew above ten thousand of the people, and carried into captivity above a thousand, and drove away the rest of the multitude, and placed no small part of his own forces in them, who overran and laid waste the whole mountainous country.''<ref>  [http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/sources/sources084.html Josephus, ''De Bell. Jud.'', IV.viii.1]</ref></blockquote>  

The settlement was demolished once again in Bar Kokhba's revolt, 132&ndash;135. 

In Eusebius in his ''Onomasticon'' adopted the Roman milestones that employed Eleutheropolis as a central point from which the distances of other towns were measured<ref>*[http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/ECG_EMS/ELEUTHEROPOLIS_Gr_EXEvOiparats.html ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' 1911:] "Eleutheropolis"</ref>   

The city was a "City of Excellence" in the fourth century<ref>Kloner 1999</ref>  and a Christian Council of Nicaea in 325.     

Epiphanius, the bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, was born at Eleutheropolis; at Ad nearby he established a monastery which is often mentioned in the polemics of Jerome with Rufinus and John, Bishop of Jerusalem.  

At Eleutheropolis, according to the hagiographies fifty soldiers of the garrison of Gaza who had refused to deny Christ were beheaded in 638: later a church was built in their honor. <ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05380a.htm ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' 1908, ''s.v.'' "Eleutheropolis"]</ref> In 796 the city was again destroyed in civil warfare.

thumb|right|200px|Bet Guwrin
'''Bet Guwrin''' (hebr. ) ist ein Kibbuz im heutigen südlichen Israel nahe der Grenze zum Westjordanland an der alten Straße von Askalon nach Jerusalem. Die Siedlung befindet sich in unmittelbarer Nähe der antiken Stadt '''Eleutheropolis'''. Weitere Varianten des Namens sind ''Bethogabris'', davon abgeleitet ''Bet-Dschibrin'' und selten ''Beth Gebrin''. 

Die antike Besiedlung reicht bis ins 6. vorchristliche Jahrhundert zurück. Damals war Bet Guvrin eine Nachbarstadt der edomitischen Hauptstadt römischen Herrschaft. Sie blühte vor allem infolge der ihr von griechisch: „freie Stadt“). In den folgenden Jahrhunderten war Eleutheropolis der Verwaltungssitz des größten römischen Bezirks in Palästina.

Die im 12. Jahrhundert an der Stelle der alten Stadt erbaute Kreuzfahrerburg Gibelin wurde 1187 von Saladin erobert. 

In späteren Jahrhunderten existierte ein arabisches Dorf. Seit 1921 fanden Ausgrabungen statt, bei denen man unter anderem verschiedene  Mosaiken fand. 