Since ancient times, the valley of Beth Shean been a crossroads connecting the vast east to west valley of Jezreel and the Via Maris to the Rift Valley Road to Jericho. Villagers who settled the valley, which gets its name from the ancient city of Beth Shean, were blessed with plentiful sources of fresh water from the adjacent springs of Mt. Gilboa. Beth Shean grew and prospered, figuring prominently in the history of the Land of Israel.

The city is mentioned a number of times in the Bible. The fall of King Saul to the Philistines at Gilboa is thus recorded: "The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. They cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and they sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people. They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shean" [1 Samuel 31:8-10].

In recent years archeologists have carried out massive excavations at the site. The archeology has yielded 2 cities: the biblical site of Beth Shean at the site of the tel (or arch mound), and the sire of the Greco-Roman city Scythopolis, founded in 250 B.C.

At the time of the Great Revolt against Rome (66-73 A.D.), many cities rebelled againsttheir Roman masters, but the Jewish residents of Scythopolis decided they could trust their non-Jewish neighbors. They remained unarmed and were brutally massacred at the hands of their neighbors.

Excavations have unveiled a remarkable city, one which incorporated all the 'glory that was Rome' and the best of Hellenistic culture. A typical Roman cardo, or main commercial thoroughfare, connected the upper city with the forum, marketplace, Roman bathhouse, and theater. This Roman theater dominated the city. Still in use, it is one of the most impressive so far discovered in Israel. Adjacent to the theater is an amphitheater, where gladiators fought their battles and men were thrown to the lions. The entire city was destroyed in October of 749 A.D. by a massive earthquake. There have been minor settlements on or around the fallen city throughout the centuries. Excavations of the Roman ruins began in the 1920s.