As I stepped out of the visitors’ center at Beth Shean, my eyes widened in shock at the picturesque Roman cardo stretching out before me, leading to the base of the site’s towering ancient mound in the distance. Having visited many of Israel’s impressive archaeological sites but never Beth Shean, all I could think was, “Why haven’t I been here before?” Located at the confluence of the Jordan and Jezreel Valleys, Beth Shean boasts an archaeological resume that is hard to match, even in a country where ancient sites pop out of the landscape every few miles. Perhaps the best-preserved […]
