Beit-She'an has withstood settlement, destruction and re-settlement since the fifth millennium B.C. Perhaps the city saw its most glorious days during the Roman-Byzantine period. In fact, I felt as though I were standing in the middle of Rome or Athens as we explored the remains of this once glorious city.

Today, Beit She'an is a major archaeological site with an immense tel "fortress mount" rising 160 feet above the Jordan valley. (A tel is an accumulation of layers of rubble spanning thousands of years-the remains of settlements built on the site and destroyed or abandoned over the course of time.) Tel el-Husn contains some twenty layers of settlement. The modern Israel city of Beit She'an was re-located to the outskirts of the original city during the Middle Ages and Ottoman period.

Only one year after the State of Israel was established in 1948, the city of Beit She'an was settled, mostly by North African immigrants. Excavations of the original location began in 1985 after under the auspices of the University of Pennsylvania. With the exception of the theatre, virtually the entire area was covered with eucalyptus trees.

Author Stan Wilson poses in front of the columns which lined the stage area of the Amphitheatre. The entire theatre was covered with a removable ceiling to protect patrons from the elements. Two earthquakes damaged Scythopolis greatly, and the top 1/2 of the amphitheatre is simply missing.

Some of the buildings unearthed and excavated include the Theatre with seating for 7,000 from the 1st Century AD, the western bathhouse built around 324 AD with hot and cold bathing halls, Palladius Street which was a 500 foot long colonnaded street built during the Roman time, remains of shops along Palladius Street, the eastern bathhouse, a public lavatory with 40 seats built during the Byzantine period, a Roman Temple near the center of the city and the Amphitheater from Roman times located outside the city limits.

Ruins atop Tel el Husn have also been discovered with 20 layers of strata beneath. Remains include five temples of a walled Canaanite city, public and residential buildings, and a round church built during the Byzantine period (324-640 AD.)

The original settlement was somewhere about 4,000 BC, but it wasn't until about 1500 BC that the city began to flourish. At this time, the city became the seat of Egyptian rule. Incursions by the Sea Peoples and the Israelite tribes let to the breakdown of Egyptian rule around 1100 BC.

The Israelites settled among the Canaanites and Biblical references to Beit She'an cover the period from Joshua until the united Monarchy under David and Solomon. In 1 Samuel 31:1-10, the Philistines impaled the headless bodies of King Saul and his three sons to the wall of Beit She'an around 1005 BC. In 1 Samuel 31:12, David's men took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the city wall and buried them at Jabesh. In 1 Kings 4:12, King David conquered Beit She'an with Megiddo and Tanach, and during the reign of King Solomon, the city became the administrative center of the region. In 918 BC, a huge fire engulfed the city. Israelite control continued until the Assyrian king Tiglath-pilesar III destroyed the city in 732 BC after which Beit-Shein virtually ceased to exist.

Beit She'an was resettled after the conquest of the East by Alexander the great around 300 BC. At this time it became a polis (Greek City-state) and it was moved to the foot of the mound. (The area that we actually explored). It then took the name of Scythopolis. By this time, the tel had become some 160 feet tall, and became an acropolis for a temple dedicated to Zeus.

Around 150 BC, the city was conquered by the Hasmoneans and its citizens were given the choice of converting to Judaism or leaving the city; they chose to leave. The name of the city was returned to Beit She'an and the city was repopulated.

After conquering Israel in 63 BC, the Roman general Pompey declared Beit She'an to be a Roman city and he changed the name back to Scythopolis. During the Roman period, the population consisted of pagans, Jews and Samaritans. During this time, an amphitheater, baths and a theater were built.

There is no specific reference in the Gospels that Jesus visited Scythopolis, but Mark records that Jesus passed through the Decapolis region and thee healed a man who was deaf and could hardly walk. Matthew records, "large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him." The road from Galilee to Jericho and to Jerusalem passed through Scythopolis.

With the arrival of Christianity, the city's architecture and lifestyle gradually changed. The amphitheater, scene of cruel contests between gladiators and animals was shut down. In 363 AD, the city was destroyed by an earthquake. The Christian inhabitants chose not to reuse the damaged pagan buildings. Rather, they built churches on the edge of town. Around 409 AD, the city reached a peak population of 30 to 40,000.

The city was conquered by the Persians in 614 AD and the city's downward spiral continued with the Muslim conquest some 21 years later. Another earthquake hit the area in 749 AD and virtually devastated the city and it became a pile of ruins.

The city was repopulated by the Arabs, was conquered by the Crusaders about 1099 AD and was re-taken by the Muslims in 1263. After Egypt conquered Palestine in 1830, many Egyptians took residence in the town. It remained just a small town until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.

If reading of my tour has excited you just a little, I suggest that you visit www.goisrael.com for further information about Israel and tour information. This is the official website of the Israel Ministry of Tourism. They offer several "virtual tours" online and you can get complete information and find links to help you make your plans. You can actually spend days just navigating the website in preparation for your "trip of a lifetime." Yes, I'll go back...and take my wife. Tours are actually much less expensive that I had thought. One of the tourism magazines that we received featured several all-inclusive tours including airfare from New York for $1200 to $1500. Of course, putting together a tour with members of your church would just be the icing on the cake. Shalom!

Stan Wilson is a lifetime journalist after graduating from college in 1970 with a B.A. in journalism. He worked in various positions in newspapers in Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas prior to starting Southwest Kansas Faith and Family in 2001. Faith and Family is a monthly Christian newspaper serving Dodge City, Garden City and 18 other surrounding communities. He can be contacted by email at stan@swkfaithandfamily.org