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A colonnaded street on the Roman period, leading to the northwest city gate. A staircase ascended from the street to Tel, which served as the Acropolis of the city. On the other side was a resplendent passage to a large Roman compound, surrounded by columns (a temple?). During the Byzantine period, most of the columns were taken down and a public building paved with mosaics was erected on the spot.
The summer months pulsate with heat in the Bet Shean Valley. at its heart, in the ancient city of Bet Shean were discovered the remains of bathhouses, fountains, (2nd Century C.E., remodeled in the 4th century) and ornamental tools - echoes of a past rich in water resources. Ancient Bet Shean was situated in surrounding blesses with an abundance of natural springs. The ripple and flow of water, the splashing of the fountains and the shimmer of clear pools refreshed the burning air for the Roman and Byzantine residents of the town, and enabled them to reap the soil’s bounty. Ashtori Hafarti, who lived there in the 14th centruy, hundreds of years after the batthouses and foutains were destroyed in an earthquake, named the city “gateway to paradise”.
Some twenty settlement strata were uncovered on the Tel the most ancient dating from the Neolithic period (5th millenium B.C.E.) and the most recent, from medieval times. Discovered among the remains of the walled Canaanite city were five temples, one constructed on top of the other, public and residential buildings, a governor’s house and basalt monuments with inscritptions from the period of Egyptian rule. A citadel as well as residential and administrative buildings erected by the kings of Israel were destroyed in the Assyrian conquest. The Tel was resettled during the Hellenistic period. A temple of Zens, some of whose column drums and Corinthian capitals can be seen, was built in the roman period. During the Byzantine period, a round church was constructed on the summit and in the Medieval period the Tel was surrounded by a wall. The top of the Tel provides a vantage point over the city and it surroundings.
view to Jordan
Originally, the street was a Roman road flanked on one side by a monumental colonnade. A marble-reveted pool was built parallel to the road. During the Byzantine period, this Roman road was overlaid by a new street, and a new hall was erected on top of the pool, its ceiling supported by the colonnade. This street was named “Silvanus Street” by the excavators after a lawyer named Silvanus, mentioned in inscriptions as having been involved in the hall’s construction. In the Early Muslim period, this hall fell into disuse, and was prelaced by stores fronted by a portico of columns and arches. The earthquake of 749 C.E. leveled columns and structures along the street. A segment of the store’s facade has been restored and reconstructed, but the portico’s arches still lie in the heap of ruins.
It was built in the Roman period and renovated during the Byzantine period. A caldarium and hypocaust were uncovered on it eastern side. On the western side, excavation revealed a square structure with 4 pillars adorned with niches at its corners, supporting a stone vault. Cold water pools attest to its apparent function as a frigidarium (cold water bath hall).
Built next to the bathhouse for the benefit of theater visitors and bathhouse users, the structure encloses a courtyard decorated with columns.
The compound of the 1st to 2nd centuries C.E., comprises a temple, altars and Nymphaeum. The temple was built on a square raised podium with a stairway leading up to it. The altars are engraved with inscriptions.
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