Beth-shan or Beth-shean

House of safety. Three miles from the Jordan River on the edge of the plain of Jezreel, on the road from Damascus to Egypt, and to Jerusalem via Shechem (Josh. 17:11, 16; Judg. 1:27; 1 Sam. 31:10, 12; 2 Sam. 21:12; 1 Kgs. 4:12; 1 Chr. 7:29). It was at Beth-shan that the dead bodies of Saul and three of his sons were fastened to the city wall (1 Sam. 31:10–13). It was afterwards known as Scythopolis and in our Lord’s time was one of the cities of Decapolis. Beth-shan has been an extremely fruitful archaeological site, containing Egyptian and Canaanite ruins of early Palestinian history.