Scythopolis (Beth Shean)

Bronze Age

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  Situated in eastern Galilee, dominating a plain that descends eastward to the river Jordan
• East-West route (Jezreel plain)
• A hill with fifteen strata, the oldest going back to the Neolithic
• Bronze Age
• Thutmose III (r.1479-1425), who conquered large parts of Canaan, made this one of the Egyptian residences; however, Rehob always was more important
• Crisis in the s.XII; statue for Ramesses III; Egyptian rule until after 1150 BCE; the site was abandoned after a great fire

Iron Age

• The Bible mentions Beth Shean as one of the towns of the tribe of Manasseh, adding that it was defended by the Canaanites^note[Joshua 17.11-12; Judges 1.27.]
• Occupied by an enemy that is called Philistine.^note[Implied in 1 Samuel 31.10.]
• After the battle of Gilboa, in which Saul and Jonathan were killed, the Philistines hung the bodies on the walls of Beth Shean.^note[1 Samuel 31.10.]
• Part of the kingdom of Solomon^note[1 Kings 4.12.]
• Later, kingdom of Israel; remains s.VIII have been excavated
• City burned down; perhaps Assyrian invasion^note[2 Kings 15.29]

Beth Shean, Canaanite stele with a lion and dog	Beth Shean, Dedication to Mekal	Beth Shean, House of the Egyptian governor, Doorpost tablet with the cartouches of Sety I	Beth Shean, House of the Egyptian governor

Hellenistic City

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  The city was refounded by Ptolemy II Philadelphus (r.282-246 BCE), who called it Scythopolis, "city of the Scythians". Because Coele Syria, as this part of the Ptolemaic Empire was called, was contested with the Seleucid Empire, it is possible that Scythopolis had a military function and the Scythians were mercenaries. Another Ptolemaic settlement of this period was Philadelphia (Amman in Jordan).
• After the area had been conquered by the Seleucids, Antiochus IV Epiphanes (r.175-164) gave the town the rank of polis and renamed it "Nysa", after the place where Dionysus was born.^note[Pliny the Elder, Natural History 5.74.] (The Greeks believed that the Jews venerated Dionysus.^note[Cf., Plutarch, Questions during Dinner 672.]
• The Hasmonaean high priest Jonathan was killed in Scythopolis^note[Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 13.vi.1-2.]
• 107 BCE: taken over by the Hasmonaean leader John Hyrcanus (r.134-104), who sacked it.^note[Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 13.280.]

Roman City

• Refounded by Roman official Gabinius; temple of Zeus Akraios on the hill
• 63 BCE: Roman commander Pompey conquers Judaea and creates the Decapolis
• Temple of Dionysus; theater (capacity 7,000)
• Like Sepphoris, the town remains pro-Roman; during the great war against Rome (66-70 CE), it fights for Rome; the inhabitants are massacred
• City flourishes in the second century CE, when soldiers of the Sixth Legion Ferrrata dwell in Caparcotna in the neighborhood
• s.II: Basilica; reconstruction theater; amphitheater (capacity 6,000)

Scythopolis, Theater	Beth Shean, Roman baths with hypocaust	Beth Shean, Roman forum	Beth Shean, Roman baths

Late Antiquity

• Famous for its textiles, which are mentioned in the Edict of Maximum Prices by the emperor Diocletian (early fourth century)
• s.IV: Christians (a/o Epiphanius of Salamis)
• s.IV: Palladius Street and Nymphaeum next to it
• Capital of the province Palaestina Secunda
• s.V: Renovation of the bathhouse; amphitheater closed; stones used for houses
• s.VI: Cyril of Scythopolis
• The Monastery of the Lady Mary was built shorty before 567 BCE, when it is mentioned in an inscription
• 614 CE: Persian invasion and brief occupation
• After the Arab conquest, the name Beth Shean suddenly reappears ("Beisan"), which must haven been used for centuries in the spoken language; theatre used as quarry
• 749 CE: Earthquake; some Umayyad repairs and new buildings, but essentially abandoned