Ancient Beth Shan

Town in northeast Palestine 19 miles southeast of Nazareth. One of the oldest settlements in ancient Palestine -- Beth Shan shows evidence of having been inhabited in the fourth millennium BC. It has always been of importance because of its strategic location. King David took Beth Shan from the Philistines. The Assyrians - Scythians - Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucids all held it in later years. After the conquest of Palestine by the Romans in 64 BC Beth Shan was one of the 10 cities of the Decapolis - a confederation of Greek cities formed for protection against the Jews and Arabs ...

The History of the Ancient Near East Electronic Compendium