Beth Shan/Scythopolis Theater and Amphitheater

Beth Shan was a major Canaanite city allotted to Manasseh that is located in or near Issachar (Josh 17:11; 1 Chron 7:29), 15 mi. SSW of the Sea of Galilee. But the tribe of Manasseh was not able to drive out its inhabitants (Josh 17:16; Judg 1:27). It served as an Egyptian administrative center in Canaan and eventually it became a Philistine stronghold—where bodies of Saul and Jonathan were hung on its wall (1 Sam 31:10, 12; 2 Sam 21:12). It was located in 5th Solomonic district (1 Kgs 4:12). In the Hellenistic period it was called Scythopolis and Nysa.