EXCAVATIONS have now been resumed at Beisan, Palestine, after a lapse of a year and a half, with the expedition again under the leadership of Mr. Gerald M. FitzGerald. It will be remembered that the mound at Beisan is the site of Beth-shan, a place of outstanding importance in Palestine from Bronze Age days or earlier. Here the early Israelites struggled with their Canaanite neighbors; here Egyptian pharaohs built fortresses and temples. It was at Beth-shan that the Philistines, after the defeat of Saul, ‘put his armor in the house of their gods and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon’- wherefore the city was later sacked by King David in revenge. With the coming of the Roman supremacy in the Near East, Beth-shan came to be called Scythopolis and was the capital of the League of Ten Cities. After Christianity began to be firmly established the city became a Metropolitan See.
The discoveries of the remarkable round church of the Byzantine era, the beautiful mosaic pavements of Roman times, the Canaanite temples-all found during the Museum’s excavations in previous seasons-have by no means exhausted the resources of the great mound. Many strata and much additional area remain to be investigated, and the present season may be expected to be no less fruitful than those of the past.
The resumption of excavations at Beth-shan coincides with the founding of an organization that should have a wide-spread appeal not only to Museum members, but to all who are interested in the fields of archaeology and of Biblical history and literature. There has been established The Beth-shan Society to the end that its members may gain knowledge at first hand of the progress of the work and enjoy close contact with every future step taken at this important Palestinian site.
Among the unusual privileges of membership in the Society are included: admission to the Beth-shan Study Rooms at the Museum, and to the site of the Excavations during the field season; illustrated monthly reports of the progress of the excavations and sets of photographs at the close of the season; the right to borrow once a year a set of especially prepared lantern slides with accompanying text for a lecture on the work of the Expedition and its place in Biblical history; the right to purchase pertinent publications at reduced prices; the privilege of obtaining without charge one or more authentic reproductions of original objects found during the season. Complete details concerning membership, including special memberships for clubs and other organizations, may be had from the Society’s office in the Museum.