Jet Lag and Roman Ruins

My internal clock doesn’t want to go back to Missouri time! Going east to Israel, I adapted quickly, but coming back has taken longer. I’m longing for bed at 3:30 in the afternoon and waking up anywhere from 2 to 4 in the morning ready to go! So I did a little research and found out that it’s harder for “older” people to make the adjustment. How come somethings become more difficult when one gets older?! 

Since my circadian rhythms want to stay on Israel time, could it be because I still have more to share about our time in Israel?? Then I best get on with this blog! 

Spectacular Roman ruins can be found throughout Israel as the Romans once ruled this small but extremely important country. Bet She’an, not far from where the Sea of Galilee empties into the Jordan River, is one of these. It was our last site to visit Sunday, June 2^nd. 

Ruins of Bet She'an With Partially Restored Main Street

This place intrigues me. (This blog title's background photo shows the columns along the main street here.) I find the ruins of its magnificent theater beautiful. Constructed in the first century, the 7,000-seat theater once had three tiers of seats, but only the lowermost was preserved intact. 

Restored Columns at the Front of the Bet She'an Theater

The backdrop for the stage, which is now gone, once rose about 65 feet. In 2009 the stage was being readied for the use of the Pope who was visiting Israel at the same time we were. 

 

Stage at Bet She'an Theater

At various intervals behind the seats are alcoves where copper drums were filled with water to improve acoustics. 

Acoustics Alcove at Bet She'an Theater

Elaborate bathhouses can almost always be found among Roman ruins. Bet She’an has a couple of these complete with a heating system and floors paved with marble slabs and mosaics. They also had public restrooms—no dividers between facilities! Quite different from our notions of bathroom privacy! Theater-goers most likely used the public lavatory shown below as it is conveniently situated next to the theater. 

Public Latrine at Bet She'an

Bet She’an was first settled around the fifth millennium B.C. on the tel rising behind the Roman ruins. Later, an account in first Samuel chapter 31 gives a graphic picture of the death of Saul and his sons and relates that the Philistines hung the bodies of Saul and his sons on the "wall of Beth-shan."

Tel of the Original Site of the Earliest Settlements in Bet She'an Rises Behind the Roman Ruins

Later, King David conquered the city, and it became an administrative center in King Solomon’s time. Through the years various groups settled here: Greeks, Romans, Jews, Samaritans, and Christians in the Byzantine period. But in AD 749, a severe earthquake destroyed the city, and only in recent years has a new community developed, due in part to the archaeological excavations which continue to this day.

Earthquake Destruction Still Visible

It is now time to make our way to Tiberias, a city on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where we stay our final three nights in Israel. I am excited to be returning to the beautiful Galilee area! A serenity and peace permeates the sites we visit there. Stay with me as I continue this blog about where Jesus lived and healed and preached and taught.