Archeological excavations, preservation and reconstruction at Bet Shean National Park reveal the spectacular city, once known as Scythopolis, devastated by an earthquake in 749 C.E. Bet Shean, Israel. 09/02/2011. Extending over 400 acres, the Bet Shean National Park includes the ancient city of Bet Shean - Scythopolis and Tell Bet Shean, a hill covering the remains of ancient settlements. First excavations were conducted in the 1920s by the University of Pennsylvania under C. S. Fisher, A. Rowe, and G. M. FitzGerald. At that time, almost the entire top five levels on the summit of the tell were cleared. Major work began in 1986 in a joint project run by the Israeli Antiquities Authority and the Hebrew University directed by Amihai Mazar. To date, only about one tenth of the city's area has been uncovered. Excavations at the site are ongoing and reveal no less than 18 successive ancient towns. Ancient Bet Shean is one of the most impressive Roman and Byzantine sites in Israel, and it attracts approximately 300,000 tourists annually.

Located at a strategic location and controlling ancient highways from north to south through the Jordan River Valley and from east to west through the Jezreel Valley, Bet Shean was always a much desired asset. It is first listed among Thutmose III's conquests in the fifteenth century BC. The Bible mentions Bet Shean as a Canaanite city within the tribe of Manasseh in the Book of Joshua, chapter 17, verse 11 (also Book of Judges 1:27), and its conquest by David and inclusion in the later kingdom is noted, and large Solomonic administrative buildings destroyed by Tiglath-Pileser III were uncovered from this period. Its ninth century BC biblical capture by the Pharaoh Shishaq is corroborated by his victory list. In 107 BCE, the Hasmoneans conquered Scythopolis. The pagan inhabitants, who were given the choice or converting or leaving, chose exile, and Jews resettled there, restoring the old biblical name Bet Shean.

Pompey and the Romans rebuilt Bet Shean in 63 B.C. and it was renamed Scythopolis ("the city of the Scythians"). It became the capital city of the Decapolis (a loose confederation of ten cities that were centers of Greco-Roman culture ) and was the only one on the west side of the Jordan. The city was favored, evidenced by its high-level urban planning and extensive construction including the best preserved Roman theater of ancient Samaria as well as a hippodrome, cardo, and other trademarks of the Roman influence. Mount Gilboa, 7 kilometers (4.3 mi) away, provided dark basalt blocks as well as water via an aqueduct. During the Great Revolt of the Jews against the Romans (66 CE), the Jews of Bet Shean were murdered by their pagan neighbors, who took over the city and gave it back its pagan name. It developed greatly during the reign of Emperor Hadrian (117–138 CE) and Marcus Aurelius (161–180), and during the Late Roman period, Jews, pagans and Samaritans lived together there. Grand public buildings were built, adorned with inscriptions and statues. In the fourth century, when Christianity became the religion of the empire, the city's life-style changed again. The amphitheater where gladiators had fought was neglected, although the theater and the bathhouses continued in operation. Churches were built, but the center of town retained its pagan character for a long while.

After the Arab conquest in the first half of the seventh century, the city gradually declined, losing its hegemony to Tiberias. Then, on January 18, 749 CE, an earthquake rocked the region and devastated Bet Shean - its evidence was prominent everywhere in the excavations - dozens of massive columns that toppled over in the same direction. The name Scythopolis was eventually forgotten and the place became known as Beisan, recalling the ancient biblical name.

The Abbasid period saw a village established here. In the Middle Ages, settlement focused mainly on the rise to the south of the old city center, and the Crusaders built a fortress east of the destroyed amphitheater. During Mamluk rule, Bet Shean was the principal town in the district of Damascus and a relay station for the postal service between Damascus and Cairo. It was also the capital of sugar cane processing for the region. Jisr al-Maqtua', a bridge consisting of a single arch spanning 25 feet and hung 50 feet above the Harod Stream, was built during that period.

During the 400 years of Ottoman rule, Beisan lost its regional importance. During the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II when the Haifa-Damascus extension of the Hejaz railway was constructed, a limited revival took place. The local peasant population was largely impoverished by the Ottoman feudal land system which leased tracts of land to tenants and collected taxes from them for their use. The Swiss-German traveler Johann Ludwig Burckhardt described Beisan in 1812 as "a village with 70 to 80 houses, whose residents are in a miserable state." In the early 1900s, though still a small and obscure village, Beisan was known for its plentiful water supply, fertile soil, and its production of olives, grapes, figs, almonds, apricots, and apples.

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