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Beit-Shean

Scythopolis
Israel3000 BCE1000 CEEarly Bronze Age — Medieval32.50, 35.50
About the site

One of the oldest cities in the world, Beit-Shean was a strategic crossroads and the site where the bodies of Saul and his sons were displayed. It later became a major Hellenistic and Roman city (Scythopolis) with a large Jewish population.

Principal findings
  • iTemple of Amun-Ra from the Egyptian period
  • iiExtensive Roman theater and colonnaded streets
  • iiiSynagogue mosaics with Hebrew inscriptions
  • ivEvidence of the Philistine occupation

Excavators — William F. Albright, Amihai Mazar