Overview

Bibliography

Beth She’an consists of two related sites: the large mound with sporadic occupation from the Neolithic through the Crusader periods and the large Roman–Byzantine city at the foot of the mound. The site is one of the area’s most strategic sites in antiquity: it is located at the junction of the main west-east road from the Mediterranean to the Jordan, though the Jezreel and Beth Shean valleys, and the north–south road along the Jordan River. It is mentioned in numerous Egyptian texts, especially those of the New Kingdom during which Beth She’an served as an administrative center for the Egyptian control of Palestine. It is mentioned in the biblical text as a Philistine city, a city in Solomon’s fifth district, and one of the cities conquered by Shishak (usually identified with the pharaoh Shoshenq I).

Tell Beth She’an was excavated from 1921–1933 by C. S. Fisher, A. Rowe, and G. M. FitzGerald for the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. Extensive parts of the mound were uncovered during these excavations. The mound was briefly excavated by Y. Yadin and S. Geva in 1983, and the modern excavations were resumed in 1989 by Amihai Mazar for the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

The remains of numerous mudbrick structures are still visible on the mound, but they are in a very poor state of preservation. One building, however, has been restored and preserved, namely the Egyptian governor’s residence designated Building 1500. The structure exhibits Egyptian building techniques and follows a standard plan that can be seen at other sites across Israel. An inscription on the lintel identifies the governor as Ramses Weser Khepesh, who probably administered the city during the period of Rameses III (1186 BCE–1155 BCE).

From the 1950s through 1983, numerous small-scale excavations and surveys were conducted in the large Roman and Byzantine city surrounding the tell. From 1986 through 2002, large scale excavations were funded by the State of Israel, conducted under the auspices of the Israel Antiquities Authority by the Beth She’an Archaeological Project, under the direction of R. Bar-Nathan and G. Mazor, as well as Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology, directed by G. Foerster and Y. Tsafrir. Attention was primarily given to the civic center south of the tell, with other smaller excavations undertaken elsewhere on the site.

Nysa-Scythopolis, as the city surrounding the tell was known, was founded in the Hellenistic period as a military stronghold for Ptolemy II Philadelphus. During the Roman period, Nysa-Scythopolis became the largest city of the Decapolis, during which time its civic center was established around a large agora. The city continued to flourish throughout into the Byzantine period, as several churches, monasteries, and two synagogues were added along the periphery of the city; nevertheless, the civic center maintained its Roman character. By the mid-sixth century, the city was in decline and transitioned peacefully into the Umayyad empire, during which time the civic center was used largely for industry. A massive earthquake in 749 CE destroyed the city, bringing an end to the civic center and leaving only scattered inhabitants around its periphery.

The archaeological strata uncovered at the site, as illustrated in the site plan, date to the following periods:

	Umayyad Period
	Roman–Byzantine Period
	Late Bronze Period