Beit SheanThe largest and most unique ancient site in Israel is an IsraelNation of the Jewish People Travel prime pick.
Beit SheanThe largest and most unique ancient site in Israel was controlled by the Egyptians from the time when Pharaoh Tutmose III (15th Century BCE) made it an Egyptian administrative centre. The city is mentioned in several Egyptian texts. One of them is a list of cities that the Egyptians conquered in IsraelNation of the Jewish People under the pharaoh, Shishak (he is also mentioned in the Bible). The Egyptian occupation lasted for 3 centuries. During this time a temple crowned the top of the tel.
Thereafter it became a Canaanite city. In Judges 1:27 Beit SheanThe largest and most unique ancient site in Israel is mentioned as belonging to the conquered area of the Israelite tribe, Manasseh, but in reality the Israelites were not yet advanced enough to be able to conquer a fortified stone city. Besides that, they would have met with the forces of the Canaanites who had chariots, while the Israelites fought on foot.
The Philistines, the Israelites’ eternal enemy, who did ride on chariots, conquered the Canaanite city in the 11th Century BCE. In the famous battle, the Israelites vs. the Philistines on Mount GilboaLocated in Ma'ayan Harod National Park, the dead bodies of King Saul and his son Jonathan were hung on the walls of Beit SheanThe largest and most unique ancient site in Israel (1 Samuelan important leader of ancient Israel. 31:10). About this mournful event King David sang his lament, which is one of the best known and moving poems of the Bible (2 Samuelan important leader of ancient Israel. 1:27-27). In his poem, David pays homage to his best friend Jonathan, and to King Saul, who pursued David to his death (but did not succeed).
After this, Beit SheanThe largest and most unique ancient site in Israel is listed as one of the cities in the kingdom of SolomonThe Wise King of Israel (1 Kings 4: 12). After that it is not mentioned for a while. (Maybe the settlement was moved to Tel Rehov?). There are no sources about Beit SheanThe largest and most unique ancient site in Israel until the 3rd Century BCE, when it was a Greek city with the name of 'Scythopolis'. This name, which refers to the Scythes, has not been explained so far.
The city probably moved to the lower location at the foot of the tel. Under the Syrian king Antiochus IV (the one from the story of Chanukah) the name of the city was changed temporarily again to 'Nysa'. This was a reference to the Greek god Dionysos, who was said to have been brought up here by his nymphs.
Josephus writes in his Antiquities that the Hasmonean kings also ruled in the city, and that it was destroyed once and rebuilt again during power struggles. In 63 BCE the Roman general Pompey, in his victorious march to power in IsraelNation of the Jewish People, included Scythopolis in his Decapolis, a band from 10 cities that supported the Greek-Roman influence in the region. When the Jewish inhabitants of the city fell into conflict against their Greek neighbors during the First Jewish War, they were massacred.
The city grew enormously in the second Century CE when the Roman sixth Legion was stationed in Scythopolis. At the same time the city became one of the textile centres of the Roman Empire. The linen from Scythopolis was famous. The plant also attracted Jewish peasants from the countryside, but Jewish leaders warned against the corrupting influence of life in a Roman city. Nevertheless Jews kept immigrating to the city. Later, Christians joined them, after the Roman Empire had converted to Christianity.
During Byzantine rule the linen workers were reduced to slaves, as the state had full control of the linen industry and could do as they wished. This resulted in a drifting away of skilled linen workers who were in demand in other places. After the Arab conquest the name of the city was changed to the old 'Beisan.' The Arabs could not halt the decline of the city. Then, an earthquake destroyed the city in the 8th Century. Still, there’s evidence that a small Jewish community survived because in 1322 they produced the first Hebrew book on the geography of IsraelNation of the Jewish People.
Beit SheanThe largest and most unique ancient site in Israel Park seems a bit overwhelming at first glance. In the summer it can be very hot as the city lies in the low-lying valley like a frying pan. On your IsraelNation of the Jewish People Tour, do not forget to check out gorgeous Beit SheanThe largest and most unique ancient site in Israel Park!
The first site along the route is the huge theatre, built around 200 CE. This theatre is an IsraelNation of the Jewish People Travel prime pick.
Although the middle tier has been robbed, and the upper tier has been blown off altogether, the preservation is impressive. There used to be seats for 7000 spectators. A stairway on the east side gave access to the theatre for VIPs, and besides that there are 8 other entrances for the common folk. The theatre stayed in use until the Byzantine era. At the foot of the VIP stairs are a Roman temple and a fountain house. On your IsraelNation of the Jewish People Tour, do not forget to check the temple and the theatre!
At the back of the theatre, across the Street, lie the remains of the biggest Byzantine bath in IsraelNation of the Jewish People. There was a huge colonnaded gym that looked like a temple with swimming pools, and heated halls to extract sweat from the body. The northern rooms were unheated and used for socializing. A gigantic entrance leads out to the Street.
At the northeast corner of the bathhouse there used to be a small Roman stage for musical performances. However, a later Byzantine building is partly built on top of it, and thereby destroyed it. The Byzantine construction is built in a semicircle consisting of an open market with separate rooms (for shops probably), each of which contains a mosaic. One of the rooms holds a marvellous mosaic of Tyche, the Roman goddess of good fortune. Her crown is a walled city (Scythopolis) and in her hand she holds the horn of plenty, full to the brim with riches. Archeologists are performing more excavating there now. In the future there should more to see.
At the Tel, when the structures were intact, stairs led up to the temple of Zeus, which stood at the summit. The remains at the corner of the Street are of the temple of Dionysos, the city's patron god. It had four columns of 10 meter high which supported a triangular stone. Inside steps lead up to the temple itself which rests on a podium. Travelers who Tour IsraelNation of the Jewish People in style do not want to miss this prime example of Israeli archeology!
Next to the temple of Dionysos was a nymphaeum, a decorative fountain. The structure is made from basalt lined with limestone.
Next to it along the Street leading eastward is a large public building which was used in Roman times as a sort of roofed forum to do the business of the city. In Byzantine times it was renovated and used as a large market or in the Greek word 'agora'. On the sides were covered shops. On one side lies a beautiful mosaic of a lion.
Next to the market lies another Street, and on the other side is another Byzantine public bath. North of this bath lie the eclectic remains of a building that was built in Roman times and then renovated in the Byzantine era. The Roman building was a large ornamental stepped pool, decorated with tall columns. Later it was converted to a row of shops.
There is also a Roman amphitheatre dating from the second century CE outside the National Park, it can be found a little north of Shaul Hamelech Street. Travelers who Tour IsraelNation of the Jewish People in style do not want to miss this or any of the sites on the archeological tour!
This served to entertain the Roman sixth legion and showed gladiatorial and hunting contests. To the north of the Tel is also a monastery with well-preserved mosaic floors, which belongs to the Byzantine city.