After leaving Jerusalem we drove through the Jordan valley (the West Bank). This area was conquered from Jordan during the 6 day war that was forced upon Israel in 1967, and later claims to this area was relinquished by King Hussein. There was a long stretch of patrol roads and fences and many “danger” signs. We also passed Jericho, known as the city of palms, which is believed to be one of the oldest cities in the world. While archeologists have not found the fallen walls of Jericho from the bible, they have determined that the city existed up to 10,000 years ago. We then arrived at Bet She’an, to visit the excavations of this Roman Decapolis city that existed between the 3rd century BC to the 8th century AD. It was a typical Roman city with the main Cardo (north/south) road, an amphitheatre, hippodrome, baths, and complete with columns. The amphitheatre was located outside of the city center due to the bloodiness of the games. Prior to that, the Canaanites lived in the area depicted by art on stone tablets from 14th century BC and the walls from the fortress existed at the time of King David and King Solomon. The Egyptians arrived in the 12th century BC. After the Romans, the Byzantine Empire ruled during the 6th century AD followed by the Islamic period a century later. Until about 15 years ago, the majority of the city was covered with sand and debris except for the tops of some columns.