‘A Night on the Town’--in Roman Times : Diggings at Israel’s Bet Shean Reveal an Ancient City That Visitors Can Still Step Out In

BET SHEAN, Israel — From high in the stone seats of Bet Shean’s old Roman theater, an outdoor arena nestled in a treed valley just off one of the historical crossroads of the ancient world, the question was irresistible: Who would have come here and what would they have watched when this was an outpost of the Roman empire?

Certainly, it would not have been a performance by the Hungarian State Opera of “Rigoletto,” Giuseppe Verdi’s 19th-Century melodious crowd-pleaser for whose overture some friends and I were waiting.

What was the popular fare of a provincial Roman theater in the 2nd Century? Likely, it was old classics, slapstick comedies by Plautus and Terence, possibly revivals of Greek dramas by Aristophanes, Euripides and Sophocles and undoubtedly other plays now lost in dusty antiquity. Who filled the 7,000 seats this 2,000-year-old open-air theater then had? Merchants, provincial officials, army officers? Did the Romans, the Jews, the Samaritans and other residents of this ancient city have common interests in drama? Who were the impresarios of that era? And who designed, built and paid for a theater whose layout and acoustics amaze today’s experts?

More than Rome or Athens, the archeological excavations at Bet Shean rather unexpectedly inspired my musings, for the ruins of Scythopolis, as the city was known in ancient times, are extensive but on a quite human scale.

“More than most, these excavations are understandable--graspable, if you will,” Prof. Gideon Foerster of Hebrew University, one of Bet Shean’s principal archeologists, had said earlier as we stood atop of the site’s tell, the mound that contains the remains of 18 layers of human settlement going back 7,000 years, well before even the founding of Scythopolis.

“Although we have only uncovered a fraction--less than 10%--of the city, you can already understand what it was, where things were, how it was laid out and, with a bit of imagination, how people lived.”

Israeli friends, knowing my interest in Roman history, had told me that Bet Shean, about 60 miles north of Jerusalem, was a must. The ruins were spectacular, they said, and it was all “new”--uncovered only in the last few years.

But when I told a colleague that I was going to the opera in Bet Shean, he was incredulous. “ ‘Rigoletto’ in Bet Shean?” he said, as if I had suggested the Vienna Opera was performing in proverbially provincial Dubuque.

A decade ago, Bet Shean was indeed one of Israel’s dusty “development towns,” a resettlement center for Moroccan Jews, one of the very biggest dots on the country’s “unemployment map,” a place to which its youth rarely returned after military service. Bet Shean’s best years, most people thought, were clearly behind it--by at least 15 centuries.

But the excavations by Israeli archeologists over the past six years of the ancient Roman city, which lies next to the present-day town of Bet Shean, are turning the Bet Shean National Park into an increasingly popular tourist attraction; this year, more than 300,000 visitors, Israeli and foreign, are expected.

“There may have been a gap of 13 or 14 centuries, but Bet Shean is becoming a crossroads again,” Martin Karp, chairman of the Bet Shean Foundation for Culture and director of the Los Angeles Jewish Federation’s Israel office, said as we walked around the theater before the performance, both trying to imagine what “a night on the town” meant in Roman times.

One of the world’s largest archeological excavations--30 amazing acres of Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine ruins--Bet Shean offers visitors the opportunity not only to see the buildings already uncovered but to watch the ongoing work of teams from Hebrew University and the Israel Antiquities Authority. Those who want to help dig can volunteer through the Antiquities Authority.

To this, the Bet Shean Foundation added an annual arts festival four years ago. With the ruins dramatically lit in the background, the ancient theater is transformed into a spectacular venue for the nighttime performances, which this year included not only “Rigoletto,” but symphonies, modern dance, Gypsy guitarists and rock concerts. This year the festival ran about 10 days from late April through early May. Dates are not firmed up yet for next year’s festival, but sponsors say it will be around the same time.

By next spring, there will also be “gladiatorial contests,” 45-minute performances, two or three times a day, in a nearby Roman amphitheater--the only part of the archeological excavations that lie within the modern town--that is now being restored.

“We’ll stop short of throwing men to the lions, but otherwise it will be very realistic,” Karp joked. “Bet Shean can make history live.”

Walk the streets of the excavated portion of the old city, poke your nose into the houses, the stores and the public buildings, and you do get a sense of people having worked, lived, shopped and played here.

As we wandered along “Valley Street,” a colonnaded, Roman street paved with basalt stones from the city’s northeast gate to the center, Foerster paused to watch younger archeologists uncover a Byzantine vase from the sandy brown soil in the floor of a house they were excavating.

“Quite nice, quite nice,” Foerster said. “You uncover something like that and you think, ‘It’s been lying there hundreds of years just waiting for me to find it.’ You know, in 1986, the only part of this (old) city that was visible was a portion of the theater--the rest was trees.”

Foerster was guiding my archeologist daughter, Danielle, through the site, and they were deep into highly technical discussions. As a classics major at university, I was simply pleased that, 30 years later, I could still read the Latin and Greek inscriptions on the principal buildings and streets.

Although Israel has a number of historical sites from the Roman, Byzantine and Crusader eras, most visitors, naturally enough, come to the places associated with the three great monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam--and pass up almost everything else.

But Bet Shean is now on many of the bus tours that go through the Jordan Valley to the Sea of Galilee, and for those not traveling in groups it is a two-hour drive from Jerusalem or Tel Aviv.

(A cautionary note: The security situation on the occupied West Bank, to the south of Bet Shean, can change from day to day, and those driving through the area should check the safety of the roads before setting out. Drivers should also be on the alert for military checkpoints, especially at night.)

Despite the increasing number of visitors, Bet Shean is not overrun by tourists, and what I found most rewarding on my two visits here was the chance to move at my own speed, not hurried along by advancing groups.

What added to my sense of Scythopolis as a sizable provincial city in the far-flung Roman empire was the ongoing restoration of the theater, a temple, the city baths, the gladiators’ arena and several streets, including one example of what appear to have been rather smart shops from the Byzantine period.

But the park needs expert, multilingual guides who can explain, as Foerster did for us, how the pieces of this city fit together, what the archeologists are looking for as they dig, what will be reconstructed and what will be left as it was found.

Visitors at present are expected to guide themselves through the park with less than adequate brochures, maps and signs; while some group guides are capable of briefing visitors, individual tourists must try to arrange for guides through the Israel Antiquities Authority and may be disappointed.

“Are we, or are we not, Hollywood?” Marty Karp asked with mock seriousness after the audience gave the Hungarians a standing ovation for “Rigoletto.” The theater itself creates an unmatchable atmosphere--stars overhead, the baths and basilica and colonnades lit in the background, a cool breeze bringing the smell of pine trees and for me, despite an audience of 2,500 settling into steeply terraced seats, an enveloping calmness that brought on all those questions about life in provincial Scythopolis.

This year, in addition to “Rigoletto” by the Hungarian State Opera, the festival featured performances by the Pilobolus Dance Theater from the United States, German contralto Brigitte Fassbander and other international and Israeli artists.

For the next two years, festival artistic director Barry Swersky is thinking of jazz and chamber music in the odeon, a small theater on the site, using the Roman temple and basilica for other music and dance performances and adding exhibitions and seminars.

But the plans to use the amphitheater once again for “gladiatorial contests” are something else--and could prove quite controversial, even as mock battles, in view of the historical Jewish opposition to them as murderous and pagan affairs.

Bernard Alpert, whose Jerusalem-based Archeological Seminars Inc., will stage the contests, using actors to simulate the man-to-man and man-versus-beast combat, and he promises they will have the pageantry and ferocity that the Roman crowds loved in the ancient competitions.

“The guy on the bottom will get a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down, just as it happened in Roman times,” Alpert said, surveying the half-finished reconstruction of the amphitheater. “We see it as educational, not just entertainment. There will be a processional, an ‘emperor’ to preside, vestal virgins and gladiators whom spectators will root for . . . .

“All this was part of life then and reflected the values people held. There were counter views (then), of course, among Jews because these were pagan events, and we will have rabbis conducting street debates on whether it is appropriate to attend in order to vote ‘yes’ and try to save a life.”

I shuddered involuntarily at the prospect of reviving, even for educational purposes, such killing for entertainment.

But Alpert was enthusiastic. “Archeology is not all pretty buildings,” he insisted. “To understand them and the culture, you really do have to know what went on there.”

As we walked to the top of the tell for a view of the whole site, Foerster briefly ran through the history of one of the oldest cities in the ancient Near East.

Scythopolis was named for the Scythian bodyguards of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and revelry who, according to legend, had buried his nurse, Nysa, here.

“Bet Shean has a long Jewish history, too,” Foerster recounted. “After the Philistines defeated the Israelis at the Battle of Mount Gilboa, they displayed the heads of Saul and his sons on the city walls. Pretty gory that. David later conquered the city, and Solomon made it an administrative center.

“But what we are excavating here is a splendid city founded in the Hellenistic period, that flourished under the Romans and grew even larger during the Byzantine period. In that way, it’s a summation of the history of those three empires as seen in the provinces, one period of history piled on another.”

The Bet Shean excavation, one of the largest digs in the world, has also uncovered a Roman temple for Dionysus, the city’s patron; a basilica; an elaborate fountain; a Roman colonnade; a Byzantine street of shops and, according to one suggestion, a Roman bordello.

And there is more--ruins of an Egyptian garrison, Bronze and Iron Age remains from the Canaanite and Israelite periods, a residential neighborhood, two synagogues (one Jewish, the other Samaritan), a large Christian monastery, a pottery workshop from the early Arab period and a Crusader fort.

Restoration is under way on many of these structures. Shattered columns are being pulled back together, a major road has been repaved and several buildings are being reconstructed according to architectural patterns preserved in their masonry.

“In its day, say 16 or 17 centuries ago, Scythopolis mattered a lot,” Foerster said, gingerly picking his way along the ruins of Palladius’ Street. “Then, about 10 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 18, in the year 749, there was a massive earthquake in the Jordan Valley that destroyed the city but, paradoxically, left the ruins in a fairly good state of preservation . . . . That is probably some sort of moral lesson for us all.”

Foerster, like the other Israelis directing the excavation, is an internationally renowned archeologist, and he grimaces a bit as he talks about the Israeli Tourism Authority’s reconstruction plans.

“There is a natural tension between archeology and tourism,” Foerster said with a good-natured growl about plans to reconstruct the Byzantine-era street of shops. “We want to leave everything where we find it, and they want to put it all back the way it was, or they think that it should have been. And government money is involved.

“In the end, we usually find a compromise, but it’s tough. This is history, after all, not an American theme park.”

With that, Foerster delivered a loud harrumph--and smiled.

GUIDEBOOK

Israel’s Sure Bet Shean

Getting there: Most private tour companies take groups to Bet Shean en route to or from Tiberias, about 30 minutes north of Bet Shean on the Sea of Galilee (known locally as Lake Kinneret). Egged, a major bus line, runs regular service to Tiberias from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and buses on that route stop in Bet Shean. From Tiberias, arrangements to visit Bet Shean can be made through Galilee Tours, 10 Hayarden St., Tiberias, call from U.S. telephones 011-972-6-720-330, or 720-550, or through Egged Tours at Central Bus Station, Tiberias, tel. 011-972-6-720-474.

Bet Shean National Park: Open daily 8 a.m.-5 p.m. (Fridays until 4 p.m.). Adult admission about $3.60, children about $1.80. Group rates are available. Self-guiding brochures are distributed in Hebrew, English, French and other languages at the entry. English-speaking guides can be hired through the Israeli Antiquities Authority, P.O. Box 381, Bet Shean 10900; tel. 011-972-6-585-367, fax 011-972-6-585-840. Guided group tours, in Hebrew only, are offered on Saturdays.

For information on next year’s Bet Shean Arts Festival, contact the Bet Shean Foundation for Culture, 13 Shtruman St., Bet Shean; tel. 011-972-6-587-059, fax 011-972-6-581-385.

Where to stay: Most accommodations are in Tiberias; prices are for double rooms per night with breakfast.

Hotels:

Caesar Hotel, 103 Hatayellet St., Tiberias; on Lake Kinneret, two swimming pools, five stars; tel. 011-972-6-723-333, fax 011-972-6-791-013; $150.

Galei Kinneret Hotel, 1 Elazar Kaplan St., Tiberias; on Lake Kinneret, private beach, swimming pool, five stars; tel. 011-972-6-792-331, fax 011-972-6-790-260; $179.

Moriah Plaza Hotel, Habanim Street, Tiberias; on Lake Kinneret marina, near bathing beach, private pool, five stars; tel. 011-972-6-792-233, fax 011-972-6-792-320; $184.

Quiet Beach Hotel, Derech Gdud Barak, P.O. Box 175, Tiberias; on Lake Kinneret, swimming pool for children, four stars; tel. 011-972-6-790-126, fax 011-972-2-790-261; $115.

Kibbutz guest houses, which rent rooms or small cottages, provide breakfast and perhaps dinner, charge much less than hotels and are favored by many Israelis:

Kibbutz Kfar Ruppin, Emek Beit Shean 10850; tel. 011-972-6-589-396, fax 011-972-6-585-344.

Kibbutz Heftiba, Hagilboa 19135; tel. 011-972- 6-534-468, fax 011-972-6-534-467.

Where to eat: Prices are for lunch or dinner for two persons, without wine.

Galei Gil, on the Old Tayellet on Lake Kinneret; fish and Middle Eastern cuisine; open 10 a.m.-midnight daily; telephone locally 720-699; $32.

Kohinor, underneath the Moriah Plaza Hotel on the old wharf; Indian food; lunch noon-3 p.m., dinner 6:30 p.m.-midnight; tel. 724-939; $44.

Pagoda, on Lido Beach of Lake Kinneret; Chinese, kosher, very popular; lunch and dinner 12:30-11:30 p.m.; tel. 792-353; $38.

Habayit (The House), opposite the Pagoda, same owners; Thai and Chinese, not kosher, even more popular; lunch only, Fridays noon-5 p.m., Saturdays 1-5 p.m. only; tel. 792-353; $38.

Vered Hagalil, wayside inn in holiday village above Kinneret, north of Tiberias; grilled and smoked meat and fish specialties, great American hamburgers; open daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner; tel. 935-785; $34.

Picanti, Shaul Hamelech Street, Bet Shean, close to park entrance; Middle Eastern food; snacks and light meals, 8 a.m.-late night.

For more information: Call or write the Bet Shean Archeological Project, P.O. Box 381, Bet Shean 10900; from U.S. telephones 011-972-6-585-367, fax 011-972-6-585-840. Or the Valleys Tourist Board, M.P. Gilboa, Gan Hashiosha; tel. 011-972- 6-585-913, fax 011-972-6-585-803. Or the Israel Government Tourist Office, 6380 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1700, Los Angeles 90048; tel. (213) 658-7462.