Scythopolis/Beit She'an

My breath has been taken away... by a city. Not a city that I'd paid much attention to in the Bible (though it's mentioned in Joshua, Judges, and Samuel - it's where the Philistines hung Saul and Jonathan's head over the walls). Our initial walk up to the Tel had lots of the Canaanite ruins I've come to expect to see - rock walls held together with gravity and minimal mortar. These were much like the ruins at Zappori - I'm starting to recognize building styles! The houses are small, but multi-leveled, and the proximity to the river would have made easy work for collecting water (a precious resource in this rocky desert)

At the top of the Tel was a surprise: an Egyptian ruin, made of mud-brick and containing hieroglyphic inscriptions on stele and statues! The Egyptians controlled the city in the middle of the second millenium BCE. This ruin is the remains of the Egyptian governor's house - which would have been huge, and due to its placement on the top of a hill, visible from the road below and to the ancient city on the next Tel over.

The Egyptian presence alone would have made this a worthwhile visit, but once we hiked up the next Tel, I understood why we and so many others had come to this location:

Scythopolis, originally a Greek city, but later controlled by the Romans. Columnades, bathhouses, Agora (marketplace), and straight roads - the Cardo and the Decumanus Maximus (Roman names, yes - but think of two busy streets connecting at right angles). Archeologists have set the columns back in their places, and from the top of the Tel, the city ruins below are simply breathtaking.

We spent some time exploring the city: Of interest, the Cardo was divided into two levels: a lower level for vehicles and an upper level for foot-traffic. The walkway was originally covered by fabric, and connects directly with fountains and the Agora - a rare bit of Roman engineering to ensure that there were enough market stalls despite a short Cardo!

The theatre is remarkably well preserved, and deserves mention. Our group stood on the stage (restored out of wood) and sang Hava Nashira (Let us Sing!), and were impressed with the acoustics that remained in the old Theatre location.

In the Holy Land, it is completely evident that certain locations are useful for city after city, empire after empire. Have you ever asked why cities are placed where they are? Why do you live where you do?

Bonus What-if questions: If the United States fell apart, and each state maintained its own sovereignty, how would you protect yourself? Would you work for or against your state? What if you were threatened with invasion? Or actually invaded?