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Progress in the Beit Shean excavation project: "The Institute of Archeology - the cutting edge of research in Israel"

To the east of the Jezreel Valley lies Beit Shean, a book town with about 20,000 inhabitants that is known today mainly for its past full of infiltrations from Jordan. However, in the territory of the modern Beit Shean, which was built in 1949, there is a settlement with the same name dating back to 4000 BC and mentioned in the Bible.

Beit Shan excavation site from the Roman period. Illustration: depositphotos.com
Beit Shan excavation site from the Roman period. Illustration: depositphotos.com

To the east of the Jezreel Valley lies Beit Shean, a book town with about 20,000 inhabitants that is known today mainly for its past full of infiltrations from Jordan. However, in the territory of the modern Beit Shean, which was built in 1949, there is a settlement with the same name dating back to 4000 BC and mentioned in the Bible.

The presence of the ancient city in the heart of a fertile agricultural area, the abundance of water sources in the mainly hot area and the fact of its location at an international crossroads of those days, made Beit Shan a settlement of utmost importance from the biblical period, and later in the Byzantine period to the capital of the late Roman province: "Palestine The Second" or "Nisa-Scythopolis" as it was called then (around 400 AD). Today, the magnificent remains of that forgotten past from the Roman and Byzantine periods - a Roman theater, a mosaic floor, baths, streets of columns - are surrounded by the Beit Shean National Park and enable a fascinating journey through time to that glorious past.


The Beit Shean excavation project, founded by the late Prof. Yoram Tzafir, who passed away in 2015, and worked for years on the preparation of the final publication volumes, received the philanthropic support of the GTI Foundation's financial strategist, Ofer Levin. The supported project includes locating and concentrating the relevant findings and recruiting expert researchers to complete the related research (ceramics, the study of coins, the study of inscriptions and engravings, etc.). Volume 3 A of this eye-opening project was written by Benny Erobs, and is in the advanced stages of editing for its publication together with the accompanying report published by Kedem on behalf of the Institute of Archeology at the Hebrew University.

"The Hebrew University and the Institute of Archeology have been at the forefront of research in Israel for years. The excavation project at Beit Shan reveals another touch from the past and helps us to outline more clearly the lifestyles of the ancient inhabitants of this land," Levin concluded.