"Beit Shean"

Beit Shean is located about 20 miles from the Sea of Galilee, but I think it took more like 45 minutes to drive there because of the terrain. In a nutshell, Beit Shean was the most extensively excavated site we went to, outside of Jerusalem. In Biblical times this was known for being the area near where Gideon gathered with his army and then pursued the Midianites.

What we toured however was the ancient city of Sythopolis, which was very pagan and culturally Greco-Roman. The ancient city of was founded by Scythians. These were a Cossack like people living near modern day Russia. Alexander the Great bought their services as excellent soldiers and then rewarded them with land in what is now Beit Shean. Hence the very strong Greek influence on the old city. As we toured the site the large pillars, “Cardo”or Main Boulevard, houses, amphitheater, etc were very, very impressive no doubt. But for me it just lacked a bit of meaning outside pure history. Nevertheless, Beit Shean/Sythopolis would have been the largest most important city in the northeastern part of Israel for centuries. Located in the junction of the Jordan and Hadar Valleys, it was a very fertile area and thus agriculturally prosperous. It also maintained a central location on the eastern trade route from the coast to Damascus. You would have to Google Beit Shean and look at all the images to really appreciate how large a city it was and all the amazing excavation that has been done in the last few years. It really is amazing.

Modern Beit Shean was founded by Moroccan Jews in the early 1950’s, making the modern city very young. Modern Beit Shean is gorgeous with a lot of red tile roofs and white washed walls giving it a very Mediterranean look. I could live here very easily as far as the modern city is concerned. Climate, location near the Galilee and all would make this a good place to send Henry on a mission trip….
Another clash of modern an ancient history: the hill above Beit Shean has a dead tree that is a actually a prop from some scenes from the movie “Jesus Christ Superstar”. Not really a movie I would recommend…

I would easily go back to Beit Shean and tour it again and again as an example of Greco-Roman architecture and all that, but where I would go to feel a touch of Jesus or simply be in awe without a tour guide would be any number of places in Israel other than Beit Shean.